Ron Dunn, executive director of the Downtown Mission, settles in for a 24-hour bench chat outside the mission Wellness Centre on Ouellette Ave, Windsor, October 25, 2017. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.Ron Dunn, executive director of the Downtown Mission, settles in for a 24-hour bench chat outside the mission Wellness Centre on Ouellette Ave, Windsor, October 25, 2017. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Windsor

Downtown Mission Director Spending 24 Hours Outdoors

The head of a local relief agency is spending a day outside to start a conversation about homelessness.

Downtown Mission Executive Director Ron Dunn is spending 24 hours in the elements and inviting people to stop by and chat with him about the issues surrounding poverty and homelessness in Windsor-Essex. He is also raising money for the Downtown Mission Wellness Centre's Challenge Campaign, in which each dollar donated will be matched by local philanthropist Al Quesnel.

Dunn has set up a bench and a tent outside the Wellness Centre on Ouellette Ave., across from the Windsor Public Library. He says it's important to remember that the vast majority of homeless people are not spending time outside by choice.

"I'm choosing to be out here tonight and many people are not," says Dunn. "I'm doing it to raise awareness but I'm also hosting what I'm calling 'bench talks'. Bench talks is exactly where you're sitting, on the bench with me in front of [a] building, and I'm asking people to come out and talk about homelessness, poverty, the epidemic of addiction and mental health issues in our city."

Once night falls, Dunn will spend the night sleeping in the tent. He says the point of that is to show empathy for those who are living on the streets every night.

"I really want to connect with those that I serve," says Dunn. "Also, I wanted people maybe to understand, or myself to understand, what it might be like if there was no mission. We have 103 beds and 100 of them were full last [Tuesday] night."

The mission is hoping to use some of the money raised to open and support a free dental clinic at the Ouellette Wellness Centre. Dunn says the clinic is vital because studies show dental health is linked to people's overall wellbeing.

Various first responders, social workers, health care professionals, and others are expected to stop by the Wellness Centre during the 24-hour period. Dunn says Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter and Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick are expected to pay a visit, along with Sally Olczak of the Alzheimer's Society of Windsor-Essex County and Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare president and CEO Janice Kaffer.

Dunn will be outside the Wellness Centre continuously until 11am Thursday. For more information on the Downtown Mission's services, click here.

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