The Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) is a family-friendly charity walk that takes place during February each year when tens of thousands of Canadians step outside the warmth and comfort of home to shine a light of welcome and compassion in their communities. The third week of February statistically is the coldest night of a Canadian winter and this night is chosen for the walk as awareness for those who do not have a place out of the cold of a Canadian winter. Remarkably, the Coldest Night of the Year has raised over $56,000,000 in 166 communities across Canada since it began in 2011 (learn more about the history of event on the CNOY official website). The Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby has been a participant of CNOY since 2017.
CNOY Burnaby is hosted jointly by The Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby and Burnaby Community Services to raise money for our programs serving people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness. CNOY is our largest annual fundraiser that provides us the financial support required to maintain and operate all of our programs and services throughout the year.
See our official CNOY Burnaby page here.
Every July, we host a summer bbq at our flagship Thursday Outreach Resource Centre to give our guests a festive summer event to attend. Local community partners help us set up a bbq grill onsite to serve a freshly grilled bbq lunch to our guests, as well as provide additional services to our outreach.
Each year in mid-October, we join communities and organizations throughout the region to mark Homelessness Action Week (HAW). HAW is an annual event which focuses on bringing public awareness and understanding to the issue of homelessness in the Greater Vancouver region. During HAW week each year, we host a Homeless Connect event at our Thursday Outreach to provide additional support and services to our guests, as well as raising awareness for homelessness in Burnaby.
Every December, our Thursday Outreach Resource Centres hosts a Christmas celebration for our guests, inviting community partners to join us in giving our most vulnerable neighbours a chance to get into the Christmas spirit. Guests have a chance to meet and take photos with Santa, get a pancake breakfast cooked and served onsite by our volunteers, receive christmas gifts (donated to us by local community partners), as well as receive additional support and services for their needs.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, donor, or local community partner for any of our annual events, please get in touch with us at info@burnabyhomeless.org
A "One-Stop Shop" of services for our vulnerable neighbours so they can easily access basic life necessities and resources for social aid in one convenient location. Our 3 locations operate weekly Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Burnaby.
Our Food Hub is a safe, non-judgemental space where our community’s most vulnerable can receive essential grocery items with dignity. We operate weekly on Tuesdays, except for assistance cheque issue week.
We offer our guests weekly access to the necessity of a hot shower to help people maintain their health and wellness. It also helps to combat the stigma caused by poor hygiene common amongst those living outside or couch-surfing. Guests are provided with fresh towels, hygiene supplies and clean gently used clothes. They are also linked to the Outreach Resource Centres and other services.
EWR makes safe spaces available when the weather is severe enough to pose a higher health risk to people who experience homelessness. It operates during times of extreme heat or cold. These collaborative initiatives bring the wider community together to reduce the harm to the most vulnerable. Our cold weather service provider is Lookout Housing and Health Society.
