We are living in times of fear and uncertainty. Many, myself included, have been hyper-focused on the death, destruction and misery that seems to be spreading all over the world. Rising case numbers, fatalities, increased restrictions on our ways of life, economic uncertainty; it's hard to see a light at the end of that tunnel.

Yet we need not only be concerned with the negatives. During times of difficulty, the human spirit has a remarkable ability to overcome, to rise above, to go through the difficulties, becoming more resilient than ever.

Dark Times for Toronto's Homeless

With many of Toronto's shelters closing or severely restricting their client base, over 5,000 homeless men, women and youth are left without essential supports such as bedding, food, clothing, and shower facilities. To make matters worse, all restaurants in Ontario are either closed, or only open for take-out. Their bathrooms are of course closed too.

"We used to go into Tim-Horton's for instance, order a coffee, and have a place to sit for a couple of hours, and access to a bathroom. And most coffee shops had no problem with this, as long as we were paying customers" said Sam, a friend of mine who has been homeless for close to three years.

"Even the gyms are closed, I had a membership there so I could use the showers. Now I have nowhere I can shower, save for paying for a motel room every single night."

With more people practicing social distancing and staying at home, handouts to those living on the streets have become a rarity. I spoke to a number of individuals who hadn't eaten in days.

With a total collapse of the pre-existing suppourt network, these individuals have been left to fend for themselves, in a world of increasingly shrinking opportunities.

Our Response

Coins 4 Clothes' mission has always been to provide clothing to those who are unable to access this basic necessity. As the charity evolved, we added on-boarding new users to Bitcoin Cash as an equally important goal.

Users would donate gently used clothing to pre-approved charities in their city, and earn some Bitcoin Cash for their donations.

Given the current Covid-19 situation, many charities in Canada have stopped accepting and distributing gently used clothing. And considering the immediate demand for relief for those living on the streets, we decided it was time to act.

On March 25th, we announced that all BCH donations would be used to suppourt people on the streets.

The Plan

I didn't want to wait around for Amazon orders to arrive (using purse.io and paying with BCH), in fact I was able to find many of the items for a lower price at Walmart.

I bought bread, peanut butter, strawberry jam, toothbrushes, toothpaste, water bottles and the highly prized necessity among those living on the streets: fresh socks. I paid with Fiat, after transferring the BCH to my own personal wallet. No one new on-boarded, sure. But at least the funds were being put to use to help those in need.

We got busy making PBJ sandwiches. I got in touch with my buddy Sam, to let him know we were doing something for homeless folks, and for him to let folks know where to show up.

We decided we would meet at a pre-arranged time in Mississauga (a suburb close to Toronto), and distribute food, clothing and supplies to those in need. Sam got in touch with contacts and let as many of them know to come by.

"How are you going to get in touch with them?" I asked.

"A phone is one of the most important things for a homeless person. Just because we're homeless doesn't mean we don't have access to a phone".

Saturday came around, and we ended up seeing 6 or so individuals. Not everyone needed everything we were offering.

"I just need socks man, and water. I have food for the next couple of days so I'm good"

"I don't need anything brother. I may be homeless but I have a job. See- I even have money on me and in the bank" Stephan pulled out $30 from his wallet. "I just can't afford a place. I don't do drugs, I work and I still can't afford a place."

"Save that stuff for someone who needs it". Stephan eventually came around and admitted he could use a new pair of socks, and a PBJ sandwich didn't sound too bad.

All the while, we were sure to respect the health and dignity of everyone involved. We maintained a reasonable distance from each other, without treating each other like lepers. A few minutes later, everyone was on their way with their goodies.

We packed up and headed to downtown Toronto.

It was time to distribute some care packages to people directly on the streets.

We pulled over and prepared a few packages. We figured we'd prepare more if we needed to. I had no idea what to expect. I had heard that most of the homeless folks in Toronto were living out-of-sight. Hiding in public forests and parks, staircases, and abandoned buildings.

We did manage to find a number of individuals who were homeless or economically destitute. We would pull over, hand the package over, smile and be on our way. The response we got was incredible.

"Thank for doing this man - I've been eating nothing but bread for the last few days" said one gentleman.

In total we gave out over 20 care packages in Toronto, and about 6 in Mississauga. We will be returning this weekend for round 2.

On Social Responsibility

There are some who have asked me if what we are doing is socially responsible. To that I answer that for people living on the street, they are living closer to life and death than ever before. While many experts warn to keep contact to a minimum, there are simply not enough services being provided to this population for them to be left to their own devices. They need our help now more than ever.

We wear gloves, we keep our distance, and we keep smiling. Our motto has become "Life over Death". We can conquer fear and apathy without being reckless or putting others at risk.

But I heard the cities in and around Toronto are offering motel rooms for the homeless to quarantine in. Is it true?

Before publishing this article, I had a phone call with Jay-R (pseudonym) , a homeless man who has been in government sponsored quarantine for the past 5 days.

He had been sleeping outside and had a cough, runny nose, and felt sick to his stomach. He went to the hospital and was prescribed antibiotics. A day later he started feeling worse, he called his outreach worker, and was sent for an assessment with a paramedic.

"Basically you go to or call the shelter first, they call paramedics for you, you are tested and if you meet criteria are quarantined for 14 days. You can't leave for a full 14 days."

Jay-R said he hadn't gotten a diagnosis yet. "You get 3 meals a day, but you can't go outside at all. If you leave the cops will be called to collect you".

Jay-R said that those in quarantine can go outside for supervised fresh air, so long as they don't leave the property. He said he often feels the urge to go outside, to take walks around the property, but he can't.

"I'd rather be in a shelter because at least there I can go outside". Despite this he insists that it isn't that bad. "I doubt I'll go psycho in here. It's just fourteen days. And honestly you can't take stuff for granted you know. At least I have 3 meals here and I'm inside."

"Still, a bunch of guys I know didn't want to go in there" Jay-R said. "They don't want to be holed up for fourteen days, they don't want to take orders. Some guys compare it to jail".

When I asked Jay-R what steps are taken for those who are addicted and want to be quarantined he responded "I'm not sure. I'm not hooked on anything, so it wouldn't effect me. I'm not sure how they treat guys with addictions or drinking problems. I know a guy who smokes cigarettes every 10 minutes, and he's really struggling. They don't want you going out of your room without permission."

Jay-R said the same gentlemen warned him "Once you're in here for a week, it gets harder. You run out of things to do or people to talk to."

When I asked how many people were at the motel, Jay-R replied "We don't see each other, or know who else is staying in the rooms. There's really no way to know [how many people are in there]."

When I asked him if someone could get in by pretending to have symptoms he insisted "that's why they get the paramedic to check you. You can't go in the shelter if you're sick, so they send you here. But if you're not sick, you still might not get into the shelter. They only have so many spots and they had to cut them down 'cuz of the virus".

Where do we go from here?

We are planning on feeding and clothing 40+ people this weekend. All donated clothes will be brand new (socks, and t-shirts) and the food will be made with love.

Since our meet-up was cancelled, we will be handing these t-shirts out to build our street level #BCHGANG. Thank you to Bitcoin.com for the donation. We hope we will have more funds in the future to purchase underwear and other essentials.

If you like what we are doing and want to support us, please feel free to leave a tip below. I would love to hear your thoughts and any suggestions you may have.

I'm hoping we can raise enough funds to order some underwear ($2 USD a pair with purse discount) from www.purse.io.

Here is a breakdown of what $1 USD means to someone living on the streets:

• 3 pairs of brand new socks OR

• Sanitary water for a week OR

• A nutritious lunch (sandwich + piece of fruit) OR

• A tooth brush, a bar of soap

A full care package costs less than $5 USD to put together. Our goal is to get this cost down as low as possible, but that typically involves buying items in bulk.

We will also be working towards better transparency beginning this weekend:

• Posting Hash/block to go along with our photos, whenever possible.

• Posting cost breakdowns and tracking exact number of items/packages donated

So... are you giving up on on-boarding people to BCH?

Quite the contrary. Stay tuned, as we'll have details next week on how we plan to get people to donate gift cards, and earn Bitcoin Cash for doing so. This will give us better access to Walmart's prices (socks, bread, toothbrushes) which we will supplement with purchases from Amazon using www.purse.io (underwear, toilet paper, sanitary napkins etc). This will also allow people to help donate to our cause, and be introduced to Bitcoin Cash by doing so (who can pass up sound, deflationary money in this day and age, right?).

The lifeblood of our donations however, has and always will remain Bitcoin Cash donated from people all over the world. To all those who have donated in the past and continue to do so, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.