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Street store to help the homeless pops up in Montreal

Click to play video: 'Montreal street store aims to help those in need'
Montreal street store aims to help those in need
WATCH ABOVE: A street store popped up at Parc Emilie-Gamelin in Montreal Sunday, not only to offer clothes to those in need but to change people's perception of the store's clientele – Oct 23, 2016

It was a cold morning in Montreal Sunday and while temperatures didn’t hit the freezing mark, gusts of wind served as a reminder winter is just around the corner.

So it was a perfect day for Leila Ghaffari and others from the Montreal Toheed Society, to set up a street store at Parc Emilie-Gamelin.

READ MORE: Montreal vows to protect homeless, names first ombudsman

A street store is an outdoor shop where people in need can come to pick out some clothing that suits their needs.

“The concept is to hang up the clothes that we don’t need, so that people who need it can pick [it] up,” Ghaffari said.

The group is hoping not only to satisfy some very basic needs, but also to send a “message of peace and kindness to the world.”

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READ MORE: Volunteers distribute 500 roses to nurses at Montreal General Hospital

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The aim of Sunday’s event was also to change people’s perception of the homeless.

“We may not be able to change their lives by doing this, but we may be able to put a smile on their face,” Ghaffari said of the store’s customers. “And then, we may be able to change the point of view of some people who pass by, so they don’t just walk away or ignore them.”

“The point is to show that we see them.”

READ MORE: Teen charged after allegedly assaulting homeless man

Ghaffari believes that shift in perception is a necessary precursor to meaningful change.

“We wanted to show that homelessness is a problem and we can solve it if we stop seeing the homeless as the problem,” she said. “We want to acknowledge their presence in our society, as a group in our society, not a problem that should be solved.”

READ MORE: Montrealers rally for more funding to address homelessness

While Ghaffari admits that handing out clothing is just a small gesture, she said it was a way for the Toheed Society– a not-for-profit student organization — to create contact with the homeless community in hopes of starting a dialogue.

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Street stores have been popping up around the world as part of an international movement with Montreal hosting the 535th shop, according to Ghaffari.

 

 

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