Last fall, Halifax resident Kaylah Gormley and her fiancé met a young man living on the streets and took him to a restaurant.
They ate, listened to his story, and drove him to a local shelter when they were done.
“He was actually denied a bed because they were at full capacity,” she told Global News. “We drove around and the other shelters informed us they were also at full capacity, so this young man had nowhere else to go.”
Concerned, Gormley turned to social media and spoke with advocates to find out more about homelessness in Halifax. She learned that the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced shelter capacity in the city, making it increasingly difficult for those in need to find a place to sleep.
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With a bit of online research, she says she discovered Sheltersuit — a wind-proof and waterproof coat that can be used as a sleeping bag and rolls up into a duffel bag for easy transport.
It was created in the Netherlands in 2014, and since then, the Sheltersuit Foundation has given out more than 6,000 of the garments to those experiencing homelessness or living in refugee camps around the world.
Four months later, Gormley obtained one — the first in Atlantic Canada, the foundation confirmed — and she’s giving it away to someone in need next week, with help from a local shelter.
“This isn’t the cure, this isn’t the solution, it’s not an alternative to a shelter,” she said. “But I truly believe, if we were able get Sheltersuit out here there would just be warmer homeless folk in Canada.”
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According to the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness in Halifax has more than doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic — from around 150 to 375 as of November 2020. Chronic homelessness means a person has been without adequate housing for six months or more.
Altogether, about 477 people are now homeless in the city.
“I think it’s great when you have people making awareness of the struggles that people face,” said Eric Jonsson, program co-ordinator for Navigator Street Outreach, of Gormley’s initiative.
“I do try to work to get people into housing as much as I can because that’s what they really want and they really need, but sometimes housing doesn’t happen right now. It takes time, it takes a few weeks — it takes months now, lately.”
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Gormley said she wants to spark a larger conversation about homelessness in the city. She encouraged other residents who are concerned to write to their local MLAs and advocate for affordable housing, and if they can, donate a small sum to Sheltersuit, and a larger sum to a local shelter.
Jonsson said it’s important to keep those experiencing homelessness involved in the conversation about their needs and to continue pushing legislators to make “deeply” affordable housing available.
“Not affordable housing as in 80 per cent of the market, but affordable housing as in, what’s affordable to somebody who’s on income assistance, because that is a completely different topic,” he explained.
“It’s not very glamorous and it’s not something you can come to without a lot of sustained investment, but it’s really what we actually need.”
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According to the Sheltersuit Foundation website, Sheltersuits are made of “upcycled materials,” including old sleeping bags and donated tent fabric.
The organization also says it employs refugees and others struggling to access the labour market in the garment’s manufacturing, and it costs roughly €300 — about $460 — to produce a suit.
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