A walking tour of downtown Ottawa’s darker side Sunday gave about 25 people a taste of life on the street.

The 90-minute tour called “Homeless People: Their Ottawa” offered participants a street-level look at many of the places the local homeless population go to access a variety of services and support.

The tour was part of Jane’s Walk, a weekend festival featuring 45 free walking tours given by people who want to share with others the secrets of particular neighbourhoods in the city.

Anti-poverty activist Jane Scharf led the tour, which began outside the Shepherds of Good Hope, at the corner of Murray Street and King Edward Avenue.

Stops included Centre 454, Options Bytown — a non-profit supportive housing building at the corner of Cumberland and George streets — and the Salvation Army building next door.

Scharf said homeless people in Ottawa face a number of barriers, many of which are interrelated, including lack of safe, stable housing, addictions, mental illness and access to a family doctor.

She also noted how hard it can be for a homeless person to acquire something as seemingly simple as identification.

Joshua Cohen, who co-led the tour with Scharf, appealed to the group as taxpayers by saying it costs $85 a day to feed and house a person in the shelter system, but only $35 a day to provide them a space in social housing, if such space existed. Meanwhile, he said it costs $150 a day to keep a person in provincial custody.

Audrey Giles, who led a Jane’s Walk tour on Saturday, said she chose to participate in this particular walk because, as a professor at the University of Ottawa, she tries to connect the classroom to the real world.

She said there is a great disconnect between the privilege of the university and poverty that is, essentially, at the its doorstep.

Meanwhile, Marilyn Schimek said she and her daughter picked the tour for their Mother’s Day outing. The struggles and the stories she heard were shocking.

“I think every mother could see their kids could possibly be in that position,” she said, adding many are grateful that it hasn’t happened to them.

Cohen offered a similar message.

“Any of these guys could be you or me,” he told walkers, many of whom dug for spare change to give to some of the people they met along the way.

Cohen said he could tell many participants were affected by what they learned on the tour.

“It was nice to see the lights go on,” he said afterward.