Help-A-Homie club aims to support individuals facing poverty

Help-A-Homie is a non-profit student club at the University of Alberta aiming to support individuals facing poverty and homelessness. Founded in 2022, the club conducts weekly Sunday outreach in the Edmonton area.

The club’s name comes from its mission of “giving a helping hand to people, like we would a friend or a homie,” Help-A-Homie President Jonah Rivette said.

“It puts a spin on just thinking of people as homeless people. Thinking of them, instead, as people we could help the same way we would help our friends,” he said.

Help-A-Homie primarily conducts its outreach by providing lunches, fundraising, and winter clothing drives, Vice-president (external) Jhonajoy Adalem said.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to give somebody a smile through a lunch or through a bottle of water. That can really make a difference,” she said.

The initial idea for Help-A-Homie came from Rivette’s experiences encountering poverty in his small town “where it’s the norm to help your neighbour.” Along with other friends from the U of A, Adalem and Rivette decided to form the club as a way to give back to their community.

“If I went downtown to buy lunch and saw someone experiencing homelessness on the streets, I would buy them a lunch. Coming to Edmonton and seeing poverty on a mass scale, I thought if we could fundraise donations and make 70 to 100 lunches every Sunday, maybe we could have an impact,” he said.

“It’s more than just a club to us. It’s a movement,” Rivette says

Help-A-Homie’s mission prioritizes community building in its approach to support. By handing out lunches and speaking with individuals in need, the club seeks to build connections with those it serves.

“We want people who are experiencing homelessness to feel like they have some hope in their lives, they’re not alone, and that there is a community surrounding them,” Rivette said.

“Being able to have that connection with people who society normally shrugs off is really meaningful to me,” he added.

For Adalem and Rivette, the connections made through their community outreach motivate them to continue their efforts.

“We go out there so often that it becomes something that you don’t want to give up on,” Rivette said.

“I want to be a part of something bigger than myself and I was fortunate enough to meet like-minded individuals who share that same value,” Adalem said.

Moving forward, Help-A-Homie plans to expand the reach of its impact through more fundraising. The club also wants to possibly expand the organization to other Canadian universities.

“It’s more than just a club to us. It’s a movement,” Rivette said.

As Help-A-Homie grows, the club aims to prioritize their personal approach to outreach.

“Hopefully, when we’re on a bigger scale of operations, we won’t forget that personal touch,” Adalem said.