There's a raw, brutalist element to the streets of Toronto and in winter it gets cold. Throughout the Downtown area thick, grey concrete reaches for the sky; concrete built to withstand the frigid and uncaring, Canadian winters.
This style of architecture travelled across the pond, as it lent itself to Ontario; being an affordable, attractive and inexpensive way to construct buildings with which climate control was easily regulated.
The buildings can make you feel inferior, in a city that can easily chew you up and spit you out.
All around you are the sights, sounds and smells of a big city. Traffic. Sirens. Garbage. People heading somewhere, in a daze, heads down, headphones shoved in ears. Nobody is looking for a conversation, nobody looks to connect, unless it is digitally.
The immersive digital world has become both a blessing and a burden to our societies. Many elements of digital technology have made us close off to the outside world, scared to venture outside of our own, digital communities.
Figurative horse blinkers, in the form of mobile phones, make many of us ignore problems like homelessness. Most of us would say we are were caring people, and yet many of us choose to ignore social problems; either overwhelmed by them, or simply overexposed into indifference.
Throughout downtown Toronto, men and women clutch onto signs of desperation; visible cries for help which often go ignored. It is as if they exist in a different dimension.
Some of us allow ourselves to believe the myths or assumptions about homeless people that are so ingrained in our society. They do not deserve our help - it's their fault for being on the street. They're probably on drugs; too picky about jobs; too lazy; there out of choice. The real causes and pathways to homelessness are more complex.
But homelessness can affect people from all ages, genders, classes and races. For some people, the experience of homelessness may be a one-time crisis and for others a life-long struggle.
Digital communities are plugging the gaps in services by coming together
Luckily, more and more online, digital communities are fighting a battle against food insecurity and providing for those in need - showing that the digitalisation of our lives isn't all bad news.
Seeing how bad some people have it, through people telling their stories online is a way in which more people are able to feel more compassion towards the plight of others and then offering help in whatever whey they can.
This compassion is shining through in many forms via Bunz.
Bunz's rapid expansion over the past year is directly because of its ability to act as a medium through which a community can communicate. A collection of individuals are wanting to live in Toronto and feel a community spirit, not wanting to see anybody else struggle. Essentially, it began as a group of people on Facebook; an invitation only group, which people could only access if they knew somebody already in the group.
But the beauty of Bunz is that you don't have to be an active user to help others.
Amanda Eston hadn't even heard of it when her friend suggested that she use it to gather donations towards care packages she was making for homeless women.
Care packages for homeless women's shelters
Amanda Easton had been creating care packages for homeless women's shelters. Using her own money, she had started to make packages of items to help women who found themselves homeless, or in need or feminine hygiene products that were too expensive.
"I was watching CBC News and they were talking about the adversities that homeless women face. They mentioned how hard it was for some homeless women to get a hold of feminine products, so I thought I'd start collecting things on my own," Amanda said.
On a friend's suggestion to do so, she reached out to the Bunz community to ask for supplies and donations in order to help put the packages together. She didn't quite expect the volume of those wanting to help her: "The bags are focused on women's needs during their menstrual cycle.
"So my friend posted in the group, and people were super receptive. I have to say, what a great group of people."
Amanda found feminine hygiene products at a fraction of the price on the shelves of Toronto stores
Amanda had begun to research ways she could buy expensive products for women in bulk, so that she could donate them to women. The 29 year-old, who finished Law School last year, searched on Alibaba.com and found reusable menstrual cups for $1.30 USD - products that usually retailed at $30 CAD in city supermarkets. "I purchased 13. That's virtually how it started, and from there I started collecting things.
"I was going to create the kits entirely on my own," she said.
"Originally my plan was to go downtown and find women who needed stuff. But when I went, around July, it seemed like everyone disappeared, or I was in the wrong area. I also didn't feel comfortable approaching people either because I thought, maybe they're not homeless, or in need."
The packages consist of an array of feminine hygiene products, reusable underwear, flushable wipes and toiletries. All of which can prove both difficult and expensive to those who find themselves out on the streets.
Amanda has since been in contact with women's homeless shelters, like Nellies, who provide a list online of items they need, and hygiene products were labelled "urgent" as many similar organisations across the city do. She plans to drop off the first batch of these care packages to a women's shelter in the near future.
"Essentially what I put in here were tampons, menstrual cups, lip balm and the flushable wipes. Most of the rest of the items were donated from Bunz."
Alena Dervisevic, who suggested that Amanda reach out the the Bunz community, also helped her collect the items from the people who donated. She said: "Amanda is extremely generous and caring and puts a lot of her own time in to helping others.
"Bunz is a great place to reach out to people."
"Initially, I was going to create the kits entirely on my own, using money to purchase items. However, a friend suggested posting on Bunz and I have to say, what a great group of people."
Sistering are an not-for-profit organisation, similar to Nellies, who provide a safe haven for marginalised and low-income women throughout Toronto.
Charlotte Empey, a spokesperson for them, praised this kind of selfless giving as vital to the sustainability of such organisations: "Many not-for-profits, Sistering included, are lean operations that focus resources - human and capital - on delivering the much-needed program that serve their communities."
She added that this often means they are not in a position to take full advantage of the opportunities available via digital communities.
"The digital community [Bunz] is uniquely placed to reach out to a wide circle of potential Sistering supporters - volunteers and donors - in ways that significantly impact both the people who want to engage with Sistering and the women we support." Charlotte Empey, for Sistering.
"We serve a diverse group of women aged 16 to 80 plus: women with substance use and mental health issues; sex workers; women who have interactions with the criminal justice system; women who have experienced, or are experiencing, trauma and violence; immigrant and refugee women; women with health issues and disabilities; and women without legal status," she said.
The organisation serves women across Toronto, women who may be without homes, sleeping outside, living in Out of the Cold programs or shelters, or those who are poor and at risk of becoming homeless. Research undertaken by the organisation highlighted that the number of homeless women in Toronto is up by seven per cent since 2006.
According to the City of Toronto website, an estimated 5,253 people are currently sleeping rough - either out on the streets, in emergency shelters or in health or correctional facilities across the city.
Due to the transient nature of those who are homeless, the real figure might be much higher, as the reported rates are believed to be underreported. They also fail to capture the extent of the current problem and take into account issues like hidden homelessness.
To lay the blame for the deaths of people who are homeless, or the reason they are homeless in the first place, would be imprudent. But it is safe to say that they are being failed. According to the Toronto Star, as of March this year there had been 27 homeless deaths in the city in just three months. This is a rate of more than two people dying each week.
So while interventions to reduce homelessness exist, they are not always adequate or successful. Whether this is due to the lack of adequate housing support models or the struggle for people to break out of cycles of poverty if they grew up in it, an open minded community spirit can only help.
Bunz is helping people from all backgrounds combat food insecurity
So Bunz, a mobile phone app with humble beginnings, is bringing warmth to an otherwise cold city. It is a collective, online community, working together to plug the gaps in services in the city. No one wants to see people starving, in pain or socially isolated. And every day there are positive stories posted in these groups about how individuals have used Bunz to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Bunz recently shared a manifesto online. Eli Klein, Brand Development Manager at Bunz HQ, said: "We put it on Twitter. We defined our ethos because it wasn't clear, necessarily." It was founded of the idea of a community with more neighbours, less strangers.
Many of the Facebook groups are independently set up, however, and thought they borrow the ethos and ideals that Bunz was founded upon, they are not directly affiliated with the app.
Bunz is expanding way beyond the streets of Toronto, and has even left the shores of North America to reach Tokyo, Nairobi, Kenya and Tel Aviv. Many of these Facebook groups begin organically, as Eli explained to me: "The reach of the Facebook groups is actually quite amazing. In Nairobi there was a Canadian woman who thought it would really thrive there. And it seems to be."
Tackling food insecurity across the city
GoodFood Help is yet another example of community altruism, facilitated by Bunz. Kate Salter had been looking on Bunz when she had seen a request for groceries, from an individual who was struggling to find food to eat. They had peanut butter and tuna, but couldn't face another day of having to eat the same ingredients.
She was so taken aback by the sheer volume of people experiencing food insecurity in Toronto, that she decided to post an offer on Bunz to cook for anyone who needed it.
This post received thousands of likes and a flurry of requests, eventually becoming GoodFood Help. It is almost entirely self-funded and is one of the ways Bunz is inspiring people to help those who need it, in ways relevant to their skillset.
