News

Give this Christmas and have your gift matched, doubling your impact in the Downtown Eastside!

*Name has been changed to respect the privacy of the individual.

We first met Paul* during the Oppenheimer Park decampments in January, when temperatures got to 13 degrees below freezing. He was unhoused and sheltering at the park. We gave him a new sleeping bag so he wouldn’t freeze to death.

The next day, park rangers took Paul’s property, including the brand-new sleeping bag we’d just given him the day before, because they claimed it was “soiled.”

We came back to Oppenheimer the next day to give him another one. And when they confiscated the new one, we returned the following day with another. We ended up giving him a total of three new sleeping bags because the City kept taking them.

Our neighbours in the Downtown Eastside urgently need your help.  

Another winter is fast approaching, and we need your help to make sure we can provide enough survival items for our unhoused neighbours as weather conditions become deadly in the Downtown Eastside.

Will you give today to help save lives this Christmas? Now is the time to act. Help keep our DTES neighbours alive this winter. Your gift will be matched, doubling your impact!

Give to help the DTES and have your donation matched.

It was heartbreaking to see Paul so distraught as his possessions were repeatedly taken from him. That’s why we continued to show up with a new sleeping bag. And with your donation, we’ll be back this winter to give Paul as many sleeping bags as he needs to survive.

We need to raise $350,000 by the end of the year. Your gift will provide crucial life-saving services to help people like Paul stay alive this winter.

Plus, donations made by December 31st will be matched up to $185,000, doubling your impact in the community!

We’ve met many people in Paul’s position. We’ve witnessed the distress and shame that our unhoused neighbours face while being kicked out of public spaces over and over, with nowhere else to go. We’ve seen the frustration and embarrassment they have to deal with when their only possessions are taken and thrown out for no good reason.

Our unhoused neighbours are disproportionately affected by extreme weather conditions. They shouldn’t be punished for trying to survive. It is overwhelming to witness.

But at FIRST UNITED, when it comes to the people in this community, we don’t give up. And we need you to not give up either.

Will you join us and make a gift to show our neighbours that we will be here to help this winter?

Because Paul deserves so much more. He deserves to thrive. But first he has to survive. He needs to know that he isn’t alone. That we aren’t giving up on him. But we can only do this for Paul with your generosity.

We can’t do it alone. We need your help. Give today to show the DTES that you won’t give up on them either.

There is power in solidarity, as a community we can come together to show the DTES that we stand with them.

Please act now. We need your help to save lives today.

Make a gift today and double your impact in the DTES.

Thank you for not giving up on our neighbours this Christmas.