A Winnipeg mother is helping expand the Red Cloth Ribbon Awareness Campaign into the city's suburbs.
Susan Abbott and her daughters tied red ribbons near her Southdale home on Monday to remember and honour missing and murdered indigenous women.
"I heard about this and I just think it's beautiful. It's a stunning representation to remind us of the people that are still missing and being murdered," said Abbott.
For Abbott, it's a topic that hits close to home, as she was homeless at a point in her life and hitchhiked across the country.
"I've struggled in my own life, I grew up homeless and I hitchhiked all over the place in the 1980s and had a couple times when things could have been different; so I think it's important that I share my story and know that it could happen to anyone," she said.
Abbott also helped another group tie ribbons to the St. Vital Bridge on Tuesday night.
"There's certainly a lot of people talking about this issue and the more people that talk about this the better," said Althea Guiboche, who also tied ribbons to the St. Vital Bridge Tuesday.
Guiboche brought the Red Cloth Ribbon Awareness Campaign to Winnipeg after seeing a group of women start the initiative in The Pas.
Guiboche says she has not only seen the campaign expand throughout Winnipeg, but she has also seen the ribbons tied in Thompson, Brandon, Portage la Prairie, and even in some communities in the United States.
Both Abbott and Guiboche hope to see the movement continue to expand across the city and the entire country.
"It's empowering. Bring it," said Abbott. "I think we should just cover the country in red."
