'It would amaze many to see how they could change a person’s life and the entire community for that matter, with a little compassion and understanding'

From left, Rhonda Kent and Tim Kent from Redwood Park Communities, Coun. Keenan Aylwin and Redwood's Jennifer van Gennip with the yard signs you can purchase to show your support for ending homelessness, May 27, 2019. Shawn Gibson/BarrieToday

From left, Rhonda Kent and Tim Kent from Redwood Park Communities, Coun. Keenan Aylwin and Redwood's Jennifer van Gennip with the yard signs you can purchase to show your support for ending homelessness, May 27, 2019. Shawn Gibson/BarrieToday

With hopes of getting everyone involved in the conversation on how to end homelessness, a flag-raising ceremony was held at Barrie City Hall on Monday morning to officially launch YIMBY Week.

Approximately 20 people gathered in the city hall rotunda to discuss what can be done locally to end homelessness before moving outside to raise the YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) flag.

Tim Kent, from Redwood Park Communities, told BarrieToday what YIMBY week is all about.

“Redwood decided we wanted to bring the community together to talk about and co-ordinate this community effort toward creating safe and hopefully affordable housing spaces,” said Kent.

“We feel homelessness can be solved if we come together as a community to solve it," he added. "That is essentially the idea behind YIMBY week: getting out into the community and get the conversation and action started.”

Redwood has been involved in many local projects, one of the newest being Lucy’s Place at 170 Essa Rd. Lucy's Place is a motel that was converted into a 12-unit living space for those who have been experiencing homelessness. They are also partnering with the Salvation Army to build supported housing for families at a new facility on Lillian Crescent. Construction on the $3-million project is expected to begin in June and be completed in late 2020 or early 2021.

“We’re all human, we’ve all had pain in our lives and many of us had support around us when we have gone through those dark time, but lots haven’t,” said Kent.

“It would amaze many to see how they could change a person’s life and the entire community for that matter, with a little compassion and understanding," he added.

You can contact Redwood Park Communities to purchase a yard sign that shows your support for YIMBY by going to this link.