The Blue Shed Podcast
We recently had the chance to work with an amazing group of young people from Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam. A team of five students from the Con X Leadership program chose to focus their term project on finding a way to help combat homelessness in their community. They were driven by a shared concern and empathy for people they saw struggling on the streets.
The Episodes
The Blue Shed team learned about the misconceptions of homelessness and addiction directly from people who have experienced it first-hand. They built a stronger understanding of why people become homeless.
To hear more from these students and explore their conversations with Hope for Freedom leadership and outreach workers, check out their podcast episodes below.
“I noticed a lot of my peers and I looked away when we saw homeless people, but by exploring these individual stories, we discovered how unique each person is. And it was deeply humanizing.
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Initially the students wanted to create a safe physical space – a place they called The Blue Shed – where people could come to rest, warm up, get hot chocolate and have conversations. The students envisioned a welcoming place where people could connect and find some respite from the struggles of being on the street.
We know the value of these welcoming spaces, and while we love this idea, we understand why it wasn’t possible for students to bring this beautiful idea to life.
Instead, they pivoted to a podcast, with the same vision of fostering empathy and combating stigma about homelessness.
In the end, with sound advice from Coquitlam Councillor Matt Djonlic, they found their way into story-telling. Through conversations with members of our team and folks from other organizations, they shed light on what it’s really like for people to live without a home and so began The Blue Shed Podcast.
Thank You
We are grateful to The Blue Shed Podcast team for sharing our stories and bringing attention to challenges we work on every day. You inspire us and bring hope for the future!
“Our hope is to spread empathy and understanding for people who are so often overlooked. It’s by starting conversations and making these stories more visible that we can achieve real social impact.”
— Mahtab, The Blue Shed Podcast
