The annual Bench Talks will continue at the Downtown Mission this morning.
Each year, the Downtown Mission invites the public to attend its Bench Talks event which is a 24-hour awareness and fundraising initiative aimed at sparking dialogue around homelessness, poverty, and community support services.
This event sees Downtown Mission staff, community advocates, and City of Windsor representatives spend the 24-hours outside on a single bench to engage with the public, share stories, and raise awareness.
Guided tours of the Mission's facilities also take place throughout the event.
The event kicked off at 11 a.m. on Thursday and will wrap up at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Ruksini Ponniah-Goulin, Executive Director of the Downtown Mission, says there are a couple of different goals with this event.
"Spread awareness about the work that we actually do and the struggles that people are actually facing in our community, and across the world let's be honest. But, it's also to help us try to raise some funds."
She says the funds mainly go towards their programs.
"Our Windsor Youth Centre program for young people, and also our food bank here at the Mission, and both of those programs depend solely on donations. There's no funding at all for them, from any level of government, and we depend on the kindness and generosity of our community members."
Ponniah-Goulin says the demand for services continues to grow.
"Unfortunately we've seen record numbers of young people coming to the Youth Centre for different services, whether it be just a meal, or getting help with housing applications, educational applications, anything like that. And also our food bank, we've seen record numbers of people accessing food banks this year."
This year's fundraising goal is $50,000, which will directly support the shelter and drop-in services, the food bank and meal programs, youth and mental health supports, and emergency infrastructure needs.
Those interested in attending the Bench Talks event can do so until 11 a.m. at 875 Ouellette Avenue.
-with files from CTV Windsor's Chris Campbell