Moms Stop The Harm setting up trees of hope at homeless shelters, KGH

Photo: Helen Jennens

Moms Stop The Harm will be setting up white and purple Trees of Hope at Kelowna General Hospital and homeless shelters across Kelowna.

Moms Stop The Harm is doing its part to bring some festive cheer to people living with homelessness in Kelowna.

The organization that advocates for changes to failed drug policies and provides peer support to families that have lost loved ones to overdoses, is setting up launching its Trees of Hope for a fifth year.

One will be in the lobby of the Royal Building at Kelowna General Hospital and the others will be set up in six homeless shelters around the city. The aim is to ensure all 380 residents of the shelters have a gift for Christmas.

The trees are white with purple decorations (purple is the colour for overdose awareness). Some of the balls are clear with the photos of group family members who have died. Shelter residents will also be able to write on the balls or tags to add the names of their loved ones to the trees.

The Trees of Hope campaign was started by Darlana Treloar, an Moms Stop the Harm member in Powell River.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Moms Stop The Harm Kelowna would collect donations and buy gifts for shelter residents. During the pandemic, they decided to buy a small box of Rogers chocolates for each person, with Rogers paying shipping costs and giving them a 25% discount.

This year funds are low but they will still be making sure all 380 people seeking shelter get a gift which will be distributed during the Gospel Mission Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day.

“We do this because we recognize the struggle for the homeless, their mental health and substance use. We want them to know someone out there cares. To give them a little human kindness and a ray of hope, to tell them all lives matter,” said Helen Jennens, Moms Stop the Harm leadership member for the Okanagan.

Jennens says if anyone would like to donate to Moms Stop The Harm they can send cheques to her at 101-539 Sutherland Ave., Kelowna V1Y 5X3. She also encourages Central Okanagan residents to drop off warm gear at any of the local shelters as well as House of Hope.