Do what we can, summer will have its flies.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

While serving lunch to the homeless on Sunday one of the “brown-bag lunch” people commented about the weather that “summer is better than winter.” A few days earlier I received and e-mail from the editor of www.somethingcool.ca who having read “Water and Shade” was wondering about an article on summer weather and the homeless to go with his “Winter in Hell” series. I am sure that many people would, greatly mistakenly, believe as these people did that it is only winter weather that poses a threat to the homeless and that summer weather is enjoyable. I would remind all that Hell is a hot place, a damn hot place and that winter weather effects would not stand “a snowballs chance in hell”.

The ability to luxuriate in hot, sunny weather is taken for granted by most people who have access to shelter from the elements and access to luxuries like running water. I will not attempt to compare winter vs. summer for the two seasons present very different survival challenges to the homeless. I will bring to the reader’s attention some of the realities of “summer in the city”.

Number one on the list, and by far the most threatening to health and life, is WATER – the very stuff of life. The homeless obviously have no convenient taps to step up to and fill a container with water to drink. They cannot afford to step into the store and buy bottles water. How often have you seen a sign stating “Washrooms are for Customer use only”, aimed at banning the homeless from using these PUBLIC washrooms, denying the homeless access to a source of life giving drinking water. Some use the denial of access to water as a method of “encouraging” the homeless to move along – to another neighbourhood. Yes, you need drinking water in the winter but your system does not need nearly the same amount of water in the winter. As the weather warms up the human body requires more and more water to sustain life. On a blazing hot sunny day you need liters of water to avoid heat stroke or death. Part of the difficulty is that water is heavy, as demonstrated by the many items such as portable basketball nets that use water as ballast. You cannot carry a days supply of water with you which means you need to refill you water containers regularly or risk your health. The brown bag lunch people from above are aware of this and on Sunday they did not bring hot coffee but instead provide iced tea. On previous hot Sunday’s they have even brought bottled water, perhaps a bit of an expense but in truly hot weather a necessity for people.

During periods of sunny weather the sun itself becomes an enemy, with sunlight threatening to inflict serious burns on those who lack shelter from the deadly rays. If you cannot afford to buy drinking water you have no money for sunscreen. Compound this with the current practice of the Abbotsford police to drive the homeless from place to place and I have been seeing many bad, painful sunburns. Speaking of police harassment, winter weather tends to discourage them from leaving the shelter of their cars. So as the weather improves the police are more comfortable out of their cars and so can spend more time on homeless harassment. The suns rays serve also to heat you up further in addition to the heating caused by the air temperature. Again you face the very real threat of heat stroke as your core temperature climbs and you lack both water and shelter.

Summer hot weather brings with it numerous headaches. Insects, from mosquitoes to poisonous spiders, all plaque the homeless who have no place to seek refuge from their attacks as summer flourishes. Food spoils so fast. Winter is a little cool, but that coolness helps prevent food spoilage and when you have no mechanical refrigeration you depend on nature. During winter you can keep any foods such as fruit or vegetables handed out by the Salvation Army for several days. During hot muggy weather even bread can go moldy after just one day. What this means is that you must find food every day since you cannot keep any food from quickly spoiling.

Summer means sweating. You really need to shower more often and wash you clothes to avoid smelling badly. Hot sweaty sticky weather makes your feet sweat heavily. Without new socks or the ability to wash the few pairs (IF you have more than one pair) your feet blister, sometimes badly and the person is reduced to a painful hobble to move around. Without somewhere to be able to get off your feet and let them heal they just get worse. Socks (the shelter could easily give out 12+ pairs a night – if they had that kind of supply) and bandages for blisters are items much in demand at the Salvation Army emergency shelter. For those who are unable to get their feet looked after there is only pain, until they reach the point that they are hospitalized. Which is an expensive result of not investing in a preventative measure – the distrubution of free socks.

Then there are the general side effects of hot weather. Bad tempers. Fatigue because it is to uncomfortable to sleep. Heat exhaustion or heat stroke when you cannnot find a place to either cool down or shelter from the intense heat. Like a series of rainy days can wear on you and cause your mood to be negative, so to do a series of hot sunny days stress you – to the point you are looking for rainy days for relief.

Personally I myself found the weather of winter to be less of a problem than summer, with the effects of winter weather easier to counteract and live with.