Another Night of Eye Opening Experiences

It is hard to believe that just 4 weeks ago, on the night of March 5^th, over 35 community leaders participated in our 7^th Annual 360ºExperience. That evening, participants took to the streets to spend just one night experiencing some of the challenges a young person in our Region must face when not having a safe home to go to.  While Mother Nature was quite cooperative that evening, giving us warmer than usual temperatures for the groups, it was still a challenging and educational evening for most.  Participants braved the evening cold temperatures, and had the chance to visit and learn all about some of our most essential community partners helping vulnerable populations around York Region.  We couldn’t be more grateful to those who participated and helped us raise over $100,000 to support our programs at 360°kids. Thank you for your hard work and fundraising efforts!

This year we were excited to see a lot of new and many past participants sign up for the 360ºExperience, including three of our youth clients and two canine friends who were paired with our groups!  It was another year of eye-opening experiences for our participants, with one team even getting invited back to an abandoned home where many homeless youth stay together! The night served as another reminder of how we still have so much work to do to end youth homelessness.

OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt was quoted saying:

“I was shocked how youth lived in these conditions, with million-dollar condos being built all around them”

A special thanks to our wonderful sponsors of the event:

• 9 The Region – Official Media Sponsor
• DMCC Holdings Inc. – Support Teams Sponsor
• Nellas – Breakfast Sponsor

In the morning, participants were invited to enjoy breakfast which was sponsored by Nellas and prepared by Chef Myles Chalk, who at one point found himself homeless as well and talked about his struggles as a young person and how a place like 360°kids to help youth is so valuable to our community.