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Vol. 6 Edition 37
YOUR Independent Community Newspaper THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
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Another positive experience
A night on the street
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
Sarah Schofield/The Chatham Voice
Chatham-Kent residents gathered inside the Chatham Capitol Theatre for a chance to win $10,000 on Positivity Day and outside on King Street West for the Downtown In The City Extravaganza on Sept. 13. Inside the theatre, attendees were treated to performances by locals including Crystal Gage and The Universe featuring Ray.
Just seeing volunteers setting up for a night of simulating homelessness moved Johnathan Fournier to tears. He knew he had to be part of Friday night’s Boxes and Blankets event where about two-dozen people spent the night in cardboard boxes to simulate part of what a homeless person endures. “As soon as I came here (to the Boxes and Blankets event) I knew I had to be part of it,” he said. “I
couldn’t just walk around and turn a blind eye. But others are. Look around. People are hurting.” Boxes and Blankets is an annual event, organized by Chatham Hope Haven, in which people sleep for a night on the street, with only boxes and blankets. The objective is to shed light on the issue of homelessness, as well as raise money for the mission, which opened last November. Fournier is all too familiar with the grim reality of being homeless.
Continued on back page