Homeless advocate puts out call for help as temperatures drop 

By Lethbridge Herald on November 19, 2021.

Alvin Mills, right, founder of the Kii maa pii pii tsin (Kindness to Others) organization, hands out sandwiches Thursday afternoon downtown. With the winter months set in, Mills is looking for coats, toques and mittens to help the city’s vulnerable. Herald photo by Dale Woodard

Dale Woodard – Lethbridge Herald

With the winter months settling in and the temperature dropping, an initiative is underway to get warm items of clothing to the cities vulnerable.

Alvin Mills, founder of the Kii maa pii pii tsin (Kindness to Others) organization, is putting out the call for winter clothes for the homeless.

And with reports of a sleeping agent being mixed in with opioids, making the drugs that much stronger, he says the need for help has become even more dire.

“Right now, I would like to make a call out for jackets, gloves and toques for the ones struggling in the City, given that they’re struggling with addiction and now the drugs are getting stronger,” said Mils. “So I see them sleeping in all parts of the city. The Watch and the security guards have been doing a good job at locating these individuals who have succumbed to the effects of the drugs.”

Which heightens the need for clothing as the winter months advance.

“Anything that will help with the oncoming winter that they could wear because once you start feeling the effects of what they’re doing because sometimes they’ll nod off anywhere,” said Mills. “So we’re encouraging them to not be alone and to be together.”

Mills said he is trying to start a patrol between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to scour the city for overdoses.

“I did it solo, but I want to talk to The Watch and the City about that because we do need somebody to watch out for them. Given the circumstances of the drugs getting a lot stronger,” said Mills, adding he heard about the sleeping agent being added about three months ago.

Meanwhile, Mills said the homeless situation is the worst it’s been.

“We’re getting a large influx of the Indigenous coming in from the reserve and into the city and they’re getting younger,” he said. “Something has to be done, because as the weather gets colder the situation is going to get a lot more dire than how it is right now.”

Those interested in donating winter clothing can contact Mills at (403) 331-3768.

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