LONDON, ONT. -- It is a disturbing video that captures a man pushing a burning shopping cart down Trafalgar Street in the middle of winter.
By all appearances it is another sign of the struggle facing those who are homeless in London.
The images upset Shelby Sims who saw it online.
“It was just like wow what the heck is going on and then after a little more thought you start to think wow that's really sad.” says Sims.
She turned her emotions into action and decided to raise money online to help and she chose Unity Project on Dundas Street.
Sims says, “It got so many views that I thought well since I have an audience maybe I can turn this into something positive and with the assumption that possibly this person is homeless.”
Posted by Shelby Rae Sims on Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Chuck Lazenby is the executive director at Unity Project and says, “at every turn when a citizen in London decides to take action like that we're grateful.”
Lazenby says every bit helps because the homelessness issue in the Forest City is far too real.
“It's a crisis in our community, we have a housing and homelessness crisis in this community and we need to see it for the seriousness it deserves and to take action,” adds Lazenby. She is urging people to show some compassion for those who are struggling by not posting similar videos online.
“These kinds of videos, these kinds of images and photos are not okay,” says Lazenby.
“I think that we really need to stop participating in that as a community, we need to stop thinking that it's okay to create a spectacle out of someone's hardships.”
