Wall of Kindness: Montrealers donate more than 2,500 winter coats for the homeless community

The Wall of Kindness campaign came to an end on Tuesday.

Over 2,500 coats were donated in Montreal – hung up on walls outside and across the city for those in need.

Renaissance Marketing and Communications Director, Marie-Claude Masson, says, “Not all homeless people have an organization to look after them, so the idea was to try and help as many people as possible. So we’re super happy to give 2519 coats.”

This is the second edition of the Wall of Kindness, put on by Renaissance, in partnership with Accueil Bonneau and Itinérance Zéro.

Masson saying “people can leave coats at any time of day and we know that sometimes the walls are very full and that later on during the day, they are empty.”

Fiona Crossling, Executive Director of Accueil Bonneau echoing that a need is there, saying “We have friends who are sleeping in camps or literally on the street next to heating ducts, next to the buildings and so if that’s where you’re sleeping at night, you need warm clothes.”

More than $16,000 was given to Renaissance in donations for gift cards as well.

As part of the campaign, the public was invited between Nov. 13 and Nov. 26, 2023 to come hang a winter coat on one of the Walls of Kindness in Montreal and Gatineau to provide warmth to those in need. The coats are then donated to Accueil Bonneau in Montreal and Itinérance Zéro in Gatineau, non-profit organizations that help individuals experiencing homelessness.

Crossling saying, “Montreal becomes very aware of the homelessness situation because it gets colder. However, people are living on the street all year round and that’s not OK. We are one of the richest countries in the world and so we need to be massively investing in housing.”

This year four walls were set up in Montreal, at the corner of Iberville and Masson, Sainte-Catherine and Bourbonnière, Bellechasse and Christophe-Colomb, and at the corner of Saint-Viateur and Clark.

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