No one should have to sleep outdoors

I've been told Aurora doesn't have any drug addicts, litter bugs, musicians, gays, members of the Green Party of Canada or homeless people.
If this is true, it must be a very dull town.
Newmarket, on the other hand, has it all.
While a move was recently on to close down the local crack houses, I hunch a few drug addicts stayed behind. I haven't heard of any attempt to rid Newmarket of musicians, people who pitch garbage every which way, environmentalists, gays or the homeless.
In fact, if you're homeless and turn up in Newmarket, you're offered a warm bed.
Don't worry. If by some weird fluke, you find yourself homeless in Aurora, head north. That's where you'll be offered a soft place to land for the night. 
Did you know: If you put Canada's homeless in one town, it would be twice the size of Newmarket?
Tonight, 150,000 homeless Canadians will try to find a warm place to sleep. With Ontario's temperature expected to plunge to at least -15C, it will be a cold winter's night.
Nobody should be sleeping anywhere outdoors. This is Canada, a cold and affluent country. I fail to understand why we, as a society, look the other way when fellow Canadians sleep on the street. It's unCanadian and it's inhumane.      
While I rant about it, volunteers at Newmarket's Inn From The Cold shelter are doing something about it.
Tonight, between five and eight overnight guests are expected to arrive at the shelter in the basement of Trinity United Church on Main Street. It is, indeed, a comfortable and safe place to enjoy a meal, some company and a sleep.
While attending Inn From The Cold's annual open house in late November, I met a few volunteers and a couple of homeless people. We had a coffee and a sweet and talked about the shelter.
It's run predominately by volunteers from the end of November to the end of March. It opens at 8 p.m. and closes at 8 a.m., four nights a week. If the temp drops below -15C, the shelter opens regardless of the day.
The guests arrive: enjoy a meal, take a shower, are given clothes if needed and a clean warm bed. In the morning, the guests have breakfast, are offered a packed lunch and leave by 8 a.m.
The shelter operates on three shifts from 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. Most volunteers cover one five-hour shift once a month.
Since Inn From the Cold opens its doors to homeless from anywhere, including Aurora, and Bradford, the number of homeless turning up at the door is on the rise. As the numbers go up, so does the need for volunteers.
The homeless are just people. Some are very pleasant, some are exceptionally gifted, some are sick, some are very lonely and some are annoying.
The majority, however, are just plain folk once they're warm, fed and welcome.
If you're interested in volunteering at Inn From The Cold a few hours once a month, call 905-853-2347.