Impact of Volunteering at the Warming Room (Peterborough) on Civic and Political Engagement

On any given winter night in Peterborough, Ontario, there are approximately 120 homeless people on the streets and in the emergency shelters like the Warming Room. The Warming Room, through numerous volunteers, provides meals, a safe place to sleep, comfort and support to its guests. This research addresses the Warming Room's goal of providing the volunteers with a more personal relationship with those who experience homelessness, and thereby giving them a deeper understanding of the depth and complexity of this subject. The Warming Room has approximately 50 overnight volunteers who facilitate overnight shifts and are the only volunteers who engage directly with the guests. We utilize quantitative research in the form of an online survey to which we received 36 responses, and qualitative research through the facilitation of 11 interviews to assess the impact that volunteering at the Warming Room has on volunteers. We found that volunteering at the Warming Room transformed individual's attitudes and opinions regarding homelessness, and that many volunteers desired to engage further, but were unsure how to do so. Through our research, we have made recommendations for the Warming Room to promote civic and political engagement in the form of collaboration, policy involvement and future research that focuses specifically on addressing how the Warming Room can provide opportunities for further engagement.