Summer is here. For most of us, this means fun in the sun while staying hydrated, taking air-conditioned breaks or cold showers to escape from the sweltering heat.

For people with no home, the next two months are the most dangerous of the year. It’s easy to imagine unhoused people suffering throughout the winter months, but the reality is that more people die every year of heat-related illnesses than they do of cold-related ones.  

In Toronto alone, about 120 people die of extreme heat exposure-related illnesses every summer. Most of these happen during multi-day heat episodes, and at peak times of low air quality. 

Heat stroke starts with sunburn, excessive sweating, dehydration, and dizziness, and can quickly lead to headache, vomiting, rapid and weak pulse, muscle cramps – and eventually, seizure, and a full loss of consciousness. This is the risk that people face in the summer without proper care and support. 

You can help them survive the heat. 

When you support our outreach vans, you help people in our city who have nowhere to go to escape the heat. Daily visits from Ve’ahavta’s outreach van ensure that people in need are watched carefully and receive the regular supply of fresh water, electrolyte drinks, weather-appropriate clothing, hats, sunscreen, and other items that can mean the difference between life and death. 

Please donate today.

Thank you,

Cari Kozierok,
Executive Director, Ve’ahavta