On May 25 & 26, 2023, community leaders will attempt to live as if homeless for 36 hours on the streets of Saskatoon as part of the Sanctum Survivor 36-Hour Challenge. In teams of two, Survivor participants will be given tasks to complete. Each task will aim to demonstrate certain challenges that society is often unaware of, but which are an everyday reality for those who are homeless with HIV. Participants will wear donated clothes and shoes. They will not be allowed any personal belongings other than a phone (to update the public on their journey). The event itself is both powerful and unprecedented. It attempts to shed light on the intense hardship faced by people who experience poverty, homelessness and chronic illness here in Saskatoon.
Sanctum Care Group acknowledges that the 36-hour homelessness experience by no means accurately depicts the numerous barriers and complex issues faced by persons who survive daily in poverty and homelessness; however, Sanctum Care Group believes that drawing awareness to some of the many challenges will be a catalyst for real and lasting change.
Sanctum Survivor is an event to raise funds and awareness for Sanctum, Saskatchewan’s first HIV Hospice and Transitional Care Home and Sanctum 1.5, which will be Canada's first HIV and high risk Prenatal Home. Individuals who access services at Sanctum are most often homeless, and have fallen through the cracks of the traditional health care system.
