CANMORE – For Sean Krausert, washing his two sets of clothes in a small white basin in his backyard has become a weekly ritual.
The 40-year-old Canmore man is homeless – by choice.
For the past month he’s been living in a tent while his wife and two kids are just steps away indoors. He’s determined to live as primitive as possible.
“I don’t have a vehicle and I walk everywhere unless I can bum a ride,” says Sean.
“I do go inside to take meals and use the washroom but that’s it.”
Sean says it takes him longer to do certain things that others may take for granted but the biggest challenge has been psychological. He admits he’s taken a hit to his self esteem.
The social justice advocate and Anglican deacon is on a yearlong mission to raise awareness about the many faces of homelessness.
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“We need to know about how many people are hungry, how many people are in poverty. It’s in our own backyard! 10 per cent of Canadians are in poverty.”
He’ll call his tent home for a total of three months and then he plans to live on just $7 a day in the second phase of the project.
In the final three months, he’ll live on food rations like rice and soy beans.
Sean’s wife Janet was a little leery about the idea of her husband moving into the backyard but she says she understands the need to shine a light on the issue.
She’s acting as a soup kitchen, even getting some tips from the Mustard Seed.
“I’ll start thinking about him and worrying about him outside and it reminds me to think of the people on the street that have far less than he does,” says Janet.
Krausert has allowed himself one luxury – wifi. Remaining connected is a crucial part of his experiment as he strives to get others to start paying attention to those less fortunate than him.
“If everyone just does a little bit there would be no poverty.”
Sean is keeping a daily blog of his journey. You can follow him at www.thatpovertyproject.com.
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