Hidden homelessness: Why this group dragged suitcases around Corner Brook streets
Advocacy groups say people are couch-surfing, carrying their possessions from space to space
About 20 people dragged suitcases and reusable bags as they walked the downtown streets in Corner Brook on Wednesday, trying to raise awareness of homelessness in the city on Newfoundland's west coast.
Jade Kearley of the Community Mental Health Initiative said there's a lot of "hidden" homelessness in the city, with people without homes of their own going from one temporary accommodation to the next.
"Folks are couch-surfing, moving from space to space," said Kearley, adding many people use emergency accommodations much longer than they they're meant for.
The housing march took place over lunch hour on some of the busiest streets in Corner Brook to mark National Housing Day.
Paula Sheppard, co-chair of the Community Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, said the demonstration was meant to convey the sadness, frustration and hopeless feeling of being homeless.
"That's visually what we wanted to represent here," she said. "The idea that wow, what a burden that is you have to carry everything that is important to you with no real sense of when that is going to end."
Click on the video above to see the group's demonstration.
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