The pressure is mounting for volunteers extending a helping hand to those living in encampments around the Halifax area.
They say they’re burnt out because they provide long hours of support.
Lee MacDonald, a volunteer at Green Road Park, has dedicated a majority of his waking hours to those living in encampments for more than eight weeks.
He works his regular job, and in his downtime, he stays at the encampment with his wife, Pam Taylor, to help.
“There’s times I have to work seven days a week just to put food on the table and keep the bills paid and when we are up here, we spend six or eight hours a day,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald personally lives paycheck to paycheck. Despite that, he has extended his hours helping.
While his commitment to help is unyielding, the toll on his well-being is starting to show.
“When you put your own life on the back burner to help out… then it’s just the stress of trying to keep both things balanced because we don’t want to end up into a predicament where we’re going to be out here as well,” he said.
MacDonald is not alone.
Volunteers at other encampments are beginning to experience burnout as well. Some even took time off to recharge.
“It’s been a long journey. We definitely need some time off. Matt is taking a mental health day today. The last couple of days, I’ve had to go recharge. You’re on the battlefield and sometimes it wears you down,” said Stephen Wilsack, one of the volunteers at the encampment at Grand Parade.
All of it is physically demanding and mentally draining, said MacDonald.
“After giving out supper, if we have leftovers we take them around the other tents in Dartmouth. When we get home, we’re online answering questions and trying to sort donations.”
Volunteers at some of the encampments have started looking at recruiting fresh volunteers.
“We are in the midst of trying to find more volunteers to have more hands on. Hopefully things start falling into place that we can get a bigger picture happening,” said MacDonald.
Other volunteers like Wilsack are looking for volunteers through people who previously lived at Grand Parade but have moved to indoor shelters.
“The alumni residents, we’re trying to get them to come in to volunteer and be part of the solution, and the more people that we can have help out, the better it is. It is an all hands on deck situation,” said Wilsack.
Volunteers said they expect the situation to worsen. Despite freezing temperatures, they have people asking for a tent every day.
However, despite the difficulties, they say they will continue pushing through until there are enough indoor shelters.
