‘Wall of Kindness’ to keep Montreal’s homeless warm with winter jackets

Do you have a winter jacket you don’t need? Well, someone else could really use it.

Head to the ‘Wall of Kindness’ and hang up a coat – and help the unhoused keep warm.

The non-profit Renaissance and the Old Brewery Mission are coming together for the project, in partnership with Publicité Sauvage.

They’ve setup a ‘Wall of Kindness’ at Iberville and Masson – and another wall going up Tuesday at the corner of Sainte-Catherine and Bourbonnière.

“Winter is coming. As you can see, this morning it’s a bit chilly. It’s just the start of the winter season,” said Marie-Pier Therrien, spokesperson for the Old Brewery Mission. “So, if we think about the fact that there’s over 3,000 people in the streets every night, we know some of them might have to spend some nights unfortunately, outside this winter, the only thing the least we can do collectively is to make sure that they’re staying warm and everybody can put a hand on that by giving out a coat.”

“When the marketing team suggested this concept, inspired by a social assistance project, I gave it the green light without a second thought,” says Éric St-Arnaud, CEO of Renaissance. “Giving back in this way is a small gesture that can make a big difference in people’s lives.” For him, joining forces with the Old Brewery Mission is a particularly important ingredient of the project: “We use a social economy approach which draws on the strength of the partners and the sum of their missions to support even more sustainable, even more environmentally responsible development.”

The project runs until November 27 – when Renaissance will collect all the winter coats and give them to the Old Brewery Mission – who will then distribute them to those in need.

The ‘Wall of Kindness’ concept, born in the Middle East in 2015, has spread around the world.