A New West mom is swapping out her warm bed for a sleeping bag and a piece of cardboard.
Diana Moric is one of 33 mothers participating in Covenant House’s fifth annual Sleep Out on May 5 in downtown Vancouver. The goal of the one-night event is to raise $75,000 for the charity’s outreach program, which sends youth workers out on the streets to make contact with vulnerable young people.
This year’s Sleep Out is the non-profit organization’s first “mother’s edition.” Previous events have been limited to executives and VIPs.
Moric is neither scared or nervous, she said. Instead, she’s “pretty excited.”
“I’ve never actually been to Covenant House, so I’m looking forward to having the tour and hopefully chatting with some of the kids who are in the programs there, and listening to their stories and what brought them there,” she told the Record.
Moric, mother to 17-year-old Jonathan, added she “jumped at the chance to be part of it.” She had done some volunteer work in early 2015, handing out care packages to the homeless population in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
“It just really hit home to me,” she said. “With having a son, I couldn’t imagine if he was on the streets, and not having a place to go, and not having these programs that Covenant House provides for these kids.”
The non-profit organization is 94 per cent privately funded, according to digital marketing coordinator Kristy Hayter, meaning initiatives like Sleep Out are vital. Of the $75,000 goal, more than $93,000 has been raised so far between the 33 moms.
Moric admitted she was initially intimidated by the $3,000 individual fundraising goal.
“I didn’t think I could do it,” she said. After a pub event, a 50-50 raffle and the many donations she received from co-workers, Moric surpassed the target.
Hayter, meanwhile, wasn’t sure what to expect when Covenant House put out the call to mothers to sleep outside.
“People were so excited to join. We had no trouble selling it,” she said, adding the May 5 date was chosen to coincide with Mother’s Day.
The evening begins at 7:30 p.m. Once the moms arrive to Covenant House, they’ll take a tour of the building and go through the women’s crisis program. They’ll also have a panel discussion with previous and current youth who have used Covenant House. The “sleeping” starts at 10 p.m. and concludes at 5:30 a.m. with a reflection exercise.
The response from past participants has been “incredible,” noted Hayter.
“It’s so impactful and meaningful for them. A lot of people get really emotional either from past stuff from their life or just to have a glimpse of how tough it is to be homeless,” she said. “We think it’s going to be the same for the moms.”
