Personal connection drives Huron County homeless fundraiser

Four years ago, Bernice Glenn starting making and selling, beach glass necklaces to raise money for homeless initiatives in Huron County.

"Gift cards were purchased, Christmas dinners were bought, and this is what ignited all this, along with the fact that homelessness has affected our family," says an emotional, Glenn.

Glenn’s son is currently homeless. She’s tried to help on many occasions, but to no avail. So, she helps her son, and Huron County’s more than 200 other homeless residents, by raising thousands of dollars for those on the front lines of the region’s growing problem.

"I do this to pay it forward. To help those people, vulnerable, the un-ignorable issues that are faced on our streets by families, not just today, but everyday," she says.

Glenn has raised over $13,000 this year alone for the United Way’s Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser, which isn’t until February 25th. That makes her the third highest fundraiser in all of Canada.

Beach glass necklaces sold at Around the House in Goderich - December 21, 2022 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)"She just gives a real sense of normalizing a very unfortunate circumstance, and that dignity that goes with it," says Michelle Field, United Way Perth-Huron, Community Development Manager, and organizer of Goderich’s Coldest Night of Year fundraiser.

In Huron County, funds raised at three Coldest Night of the Year walks will be put towards Goderich’s overnight homeless shelter, and new homeless Connection Centres in Wingham and Exeter, providing showers, food, and housing help.

"They’ll be access to those basic needs and then access to the social services that they need to connect with, as well," says Lisa Harper, United Way Perth-Huron Community Development Manager, and organizer of Wingham’s Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser.

For Glenn, the beach glass necklaces, that she sells from her Goderich store, All Around the House, are her way, of doing what she can for her son, and others like him, living on Huron County’s streets.

"A lot of families are just a crisis away from homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. That’s why I do it," she says.

To learn more about Bernice’s Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser, or the more than 100 similar events in Ontario, you can click here.