Ryan's Hope continuing to help support Barrie's most vulnerable

Christine Nayler is continuing to work to help some of the most vulnerable citizens in Barrie.

Ryan's Hope is an organization in memory of her son, whom she lost to an overdose. The group held a car wash Saturday to raise funds for its community outreach program.

"We have a breakfast-to-go program that operates seven days a week outside of Collier United Church, and we serve breakfast to people that are unsheltered or food insecure and then we do street outreach every evening," says Nayler.

It comes at a critical time. In less than two weeks, the emergency shelter motel program will end with no backup plan in place.

"We are in a crisis situation; it's an emergency," says Nayler. "We're going to have an extra 100 people living outside in addition to the ones already living outside, which is about 75 in Barrie; they have nowhere to go."

With no further funding from the province, the Busby Centre and Elizabeth Fry Society have been working with the city and the County of Simcoe to come up with a solution.

"I think it's really important that the provincial government and federal government realize that post-pandemic, we don't have a proper transition in place for the increase in homelessness throughout the pandemic," says Busby Centre Executive Director Sara Peddle.

Peddle says the shelter is a band-aid fix and that it ultimately comes down to the affordable housing crisis.

"We are going to see more and more people out on the street and in encampments and tents on the side of highways if we don't actually start to invest and look at real solutions," adds Peddle.

For Nayler, who knows the struggles many of the city's most vulnerable go through firsthand, it's all about remembering these are human beings in need of help.

"They are members of our community, and they are struggling for survival, and we need to be there to support them as a community."

For more information about Ryan's Hope you can click here.