May is Leave a Legacy Month!

Did you know that one of the most effective ways you can help end homelessness in Victoria is by leaving a gift to Cool Aid in your will? 

If you have ever wondered how to leave a gift to your favourite charity while ensuring your life expenses and loved ones are taken care of, now is the perfect time to find out. This month the Canadian Association of Gift Planners is offering free events and information sessions for anyone considering leaving a gift through wills or estates for the first time.

What impact can your gift to Cool Aid have on homelessness, and how do other donors feel about their gifts? Click the picture below to watch a short interview with Cool Aid supporter and noted philanthropist Dr. Joyce Clearihue.

In our community, homelessness matters.Thanks to a recent survey comissioned by the Coalition to End Homelessness, we now have a good idea how much!

To learn more, check out what other people are saying about the survey at:

• Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness web site
• The Times Colonist
• Victoria News
• CFAX 1070

...and raise $$$ for Every Step Counts

This time of year we can start to run out of steam with New Year's Resolutions. So Cool Aid has an offer to help make Every Step Count for you and for our clients. (The Every Step Counts running and walking program, launched by the Victoria Foundation, has helped to empower and support over 460 men and women who experience challenges with mental health, addiction, poverty, social isolation and other barriers.)  

What about committing to a little personal challenge to keep you on that straight and narrow walking and running path?  

• Do the TC10K & collect pledges for Every Step Counts. Double plus good. 
• Set up your own personal Giving Page on CanadaHelps to help your supporters make an easy, online donation to Every Step Counts
• Or make a pledge right now! (choose "Fund / Designation" as "Every Step Counts")

Create your own mini Every Step Counts team and join us for a monthly open session to see just what we do. Also if you are running for the team, come out for a post-TC10k celebration with the whole Every Step Counts team, wonderful food and great live music!

For more information please contact Gillie Easdon: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 250-882-5261, or www.CoolAid.org/esc.

If you are on Cool Aid's website, you probably already know that homelessness is a reality for many people in our community. To help us understand what that really looks like, the Coalition to End Homelessness has launched a series of installations showing where more and more people in our city are calling home every year.

Help spread the message that homelessness is unacceptable. Click here for the Unacceptable campaign web site, or tweet #unacceptableyyj to @homeforhope. Together, we can end homelessness.

"It’s estimated that more than 600 youth and young adults are experiencing homelessness in Greater Victoria. As many as 80% of homeless youth do not sleep rough on the streets, but are ‘hidden’. They may couch surf, or sleep in cars." - Coalition to End Homelessness