What’s UP… Summer is here!

Another public health crisis…

During this time, people experiencing homelessness are isolated in ways that further put their lives at risk. Overdose deaths have increased exponentially including from opioids as well as stimulants, and the numbers are staggering. In London, 101 individuals have tragically lost their lives. The loss and the grief weighs on participants and frontline workers daily.

The pandemic has taught us that we know how to respond if it is something we prioritize.

We will continue to have gaps despite advances in good programming, as long as we continue to see substance use as a moral or ethical issue. We need to see it as a health issue and address it in a comprehensive way, which means making options available to people as there is no one thing that works for everyone who may be struggling with the substances they use. The development of an overdose prevention site, and system for the safer supply of prescription drugs certainly help during this time, but it is still not broad enough and not enough resources are dedicated to ensure safe supply so that the toxicity of street drugs is not killing people. We know how to do this: We regulate two of the most damaging drugs – alcohol and nicotine – allowing people to use these substances of choice in a safer way.

We need to prioritize this tragedy and respond to it like the health crisis that it is.

With your help Unity Project will be hitting the greens to tee off against homelessness!

Follow this link to sponsor our Team in the Hockey Helps the Homeless reimagined Golf In Your Bubble event supporting Unity Project, Mission Services and Merrymount: http://tournament.hhth.com/goto/UnityProject

And/or … sign up to play yourself and help raise awareness and funds #FOREthecause!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

1. Join (free) a Sponsored Team (if recruited by a captain) or as a Free Agent for $99.
2. Once registered, you will be provided with personal profile page and the tools you need to start peer-to-peer fundraising to achieve a minimum of $500 before July 31st.
3. Once you reach your minimum fundraising goal, a ‘Golf in Your Bubble’ kit will be delivered to you. This kit includes two golf passes redeemable at either FireRock GC or Forest City National GC (so bring a guest!). Your guest is not required to register or fundraise but they can still help you! Green Fees are valid throughout the 2021 season and you are responsible for booking your tee time.

Golf In Your Bubble Kit is valued at approx.. $750 and includes: 
• 2 Green Fees (including cart)
• 2 Branded Golf Polos
• 2 Branded Golf Hats
• 6 Golf Balls
• Drink & Lunch vouchers
• $100 The Keg Gift Card
• Cineplex movie rental
• Barry’s Bootcamp free virtual fitness class
• Water Bottle
• Golf Towel

RAISE $750

• The option to play Angus Glen Golf Club or Lionhead Golf & Country Club in lieu of redeeming your round at Fire Rock Golf Club or Forest City National Golf Club.

RAISE $1,500

• Receive a CCM Jetspeed/TRUE AX9 Stick, OR CHOICE OF Titleist SM8 Wedge, Taylor Made MG2 Wedge, or Callaway Jaws Wedge.

RAISE $3,000

• Receive a pair of True XC9 Gloves OR CHOICE OF Titleist TSi Hybrid, Taylor Made Sim Max Hybrid, or Callaway Apex Hybrid clubs.

Donations must be received by HHTH no later than July 31, 2021 at midnight local time to count towards the fundraiser’s individual total. Fundraisers must hit their minimum in their respective tier ($750, $1,500, or $3,000) to qualify.

Only 1 gift per person. Items are subject to availability. HHTH reserves the right to substitute an item of equal or greater value.
More info: www.hockeyhelpsthehomeless.com or call Silvia Langer, 519.433-8700 ext 201.

Canadian developer and publisher Digital Extremes’ annual Warframe® conference, TennoCon, will broadcast on multiple streaming platforms for free Saturday, July 17. TennoCon 2021 is Digital Extremes’ quintessential free event of the year, packing a full day of game reveals, in-game activities, developer panels, the fan-favorite community art show and cosplay contest, and more, for a day of celebration with 60+ million players. Digital Extremes will once again broadcast TennoCon digitally from home due to COVID-19 health restrictions.

In partnership this year with Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness, Digital Extremes’ three TennoCon digital packs give players the chance to jump into the fun for a great cause.

Digital Extremes is proud to be making a donation to the Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness and we are honoured to be a part of this great event.

Jump into the fun, by visiting https://www.warframe.com/tennocon.

Thinking Of You enacts a site of mourning and calls for justice as we continue to learn about Canada’s Indian Residential School System and the impact of genocide on Indigenous peoples and communities as settler colonialism continues to unfold in Canada. Presented outdoors, on screens facing the Deshkan Ziibi/Thames River at the Centre at the Forks, Museum London, these images reference the Medicine Wheel teachings, the interconnectivity between all things—a source of healing, of medicine that is both spiritual and physical. The exhibition has gathered new meaning after the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found in a mass grave at the Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia.

This exhibition will be screened in August between sunset and sunrise.

In constellation with this exhibit, a window display at SATELLiTE Project Space 151 Dundas features Shelley Niro’s poem “HOME” and her T-Shirt “The Wild Ones And The Colonized”. Originally sold (in white) during UPwithART 2021, this new limited-edition T-Shirt in black can be yours for $50 with proceeds benefitting Unity Project and Museum London.

• Supportive Housing Saved Her Life, written by London Community Foundation
• 1290 CJBK radio interview with Chuck Lazenby, UP Executive Director, Chuck Lazenby and Scott Page, Director of Operations at Hockey Helps the Homeless
• YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) campaign for relief of homelessness in Barrie, ON
• Policing and evicting people living in encampments will not solve homelessness in Canada