Stepping into the world of youth homelessness is making a difference

Homelessness is a significant and growing problem across Canada. Young people, ages 14-26 are particularly vulnerable which is why organizations like 360°kids continue to raise money to support safe housing, education pathways and employment programs as well as health and well-being services for young Canadians who are at risk of ending up on the streets.

For the last five years, Hyundai Auto Canada and its York Region dealers in Ontario have taken an active role in partnering with 360°kids to support the critical work they do. Since first getting involved Hyundai and its dealers have raised more than $330,000 [including over $60,000 in 2026 alone] in support these initiatives.

Additionally, each winter, Hyundai Canada executives and team members participate in the 360°Experience Challenge, in which they spend a winter night outdoors in the freezing cold, to experience what many young people dealing with homelessness have to contend with.

When we look at what’s happening overall, our commitment to Canada and Canadians continues to be strong, and there’s been no shortage of investment in our operations in this country. – Kirk Merritt, Director of Network Planning, Performance and Customer Experience, Hyundai Auto Canada

To gain further insight, Autosphere sat down with Kirk Merritt, Hyundai Auto Canada’s Director of Network Planning, Performance and Customer Experience, who also took part in this year’s 360°Experience Challenge on March 5-6. Here’s what he had to say:

Autosphere: Congratulations on doing this for the fifth year in a row. During that time, what have you learned and seen regarding the challenges homeless people in Canada face?

Kirk Merritt: Every year, the experience is different. But each time we take part it’s a shocking reminder of the life that some young people are forced into. 360°kids specifically looks into the needs of young people at risk on the streets and as a parent it really hits home. I was lucky to be privileged enough to have strong family support and a warm, welcoming home growing up, and I can’t imagine my own kids not having that either, but the fact remains there are youth today that don’t have that and end up homeless and on the streets. What’s interesting about the 360°Experience Challenge is that it focuses on real life situations that people have encountered and we get to step into those situations and feel what those young people felt when they were kicked out of the house and/or had no place to go. We go from shelter to shelter, get an explanation of what these facilities do but each time there is no room and we have to find our way to the next one by foot or on the bus and often have to take refuge outside in the freezing cold. During each 360°Experience Challenge we visit around 2-3 shelters during the course of the night, but that can take hours, since a lot of these places are not close to each other and that can be exhausting. It really brings home just how harsh and precarious life for young people who are homeless can be.

AS: Given that homelessness has become a very significant issue this decade, what do you think is essential to spread awareness and ensuring there is a growing support network and system to help young and vulnerable people dealing with this problem?

KM: For the 360°Experience Challenge and Hyundai’s partnership with 360°kids, two key aims are fundraising and awareness. The awareness aspect is a big component and each year we do this, we post on social media and talk about our experiences sleeping on the streets, how it hits home, and why we need to do everything we can to tackle this issue. This year we saw a ton of people talking about it following the 360°Experience Challenge and when we can all spread awareness and talk about youth homelessness it helps fuel our efforts to help these young people, since the more awareness there is, the more help we can receive and the bigger difference we can make.

AS: Can you tell us about how Hyundai first got involved with this initiative, and some of the key milestones since then?

KM: It’s quite an interesting story. I’d been aware of 360°kids for some time and through some of the work I do outside my role at Hyundai Auto Canada. One year I decided to email our CEO at the time, Don Romano, to see if he’d be interested in getting involved. And that’s how the 360°Experience Challenge really started for us. That first year, Don, his wife Marilyn and myself took part. It was – 15°C and bitterly cold. In the second year, we had the whole executive team take part, walking around Aurora, Newmarket and Richmond Hill with our sleeping bags, grabbing a few hours sleep where we could and coming into work the next day. I was very proud to be part of that and continue to be in each year we take part. Last year we had one of our Korean colleagues join us and he’s become a huge supporter. In 2026 we had three teams take part and each year it’s really encourage to see everyone get involved and the support continue to grow.

AS: Going forward, is there anything you’d like to share regarding working with 360° kids, and how through initiatives and partnerships like this, we stand a chance of making a difference in peoples lives?

KM: It really is about getting involved and creating a new type of partnership and backing it up. At Hyundai we provide support as the presenting sponsor of the 360°Experience Challenge. We also put teams in the event, sponsor those teams and ensure our people fully participate and really gain an understanding of what we’re supporting and why. And for me that represents a different level of partnership that goes beyond donating money, writing cheques or taking part in photo-ops. It’s about being active in supporting your local community and at Hyundai, we take great pride in that. I also think initiatives like this represent a great model for other organizations to get involved and support local communities across the country.

AS: Any final thoughts?

KM: Again, just stressing the importance of being actively involved and not just giving money. When you truly participate in events like this it provides a whole host of benefits and it’s a great source of pride for us here at Hyundai Auto Canada. By experiencing something like this firsthand it hits home and drives us to really make a difference in the lives of others.