Karson Simpson has never been homeless, nor does she know anyone who has been homeless. But as an avid reader with an empathetic heart, the 11-year-old Guelph girl imagined what life might be like if she didn’t have a home.

Her essay entitled Hope won the national “Meaning of Home” contest sponsored by Genworth Financial. 

As first prize winner, Karson gets a laptop computer, a pizza party for her school, and the biggest prize — she gets to direct which Habitat for Humanity branch will receive a $60,000 donation from Genworth.

Karson chose the Guelph branch.

The Grade 6 student at Taylor Evans Public School, said she decided to alternate perspectives between life for a teen with a home, and life for a teen in a shelter.

“I have no experience with homelessness,” she said. “I like to read though, and I watch TV and there are always tragedies like this. So I imagined what it might be like.”