Gord Richards, Coordinator of Community and Volunteer Services
This year will be my sixth year working Christmas at Shepherds of Good Hope. To be honest, when I first started as a frontline staff in the soup kitchen in 2014 I wasn’t overly thrilled about having to work over the Christmas holiday, breaking my usual holiday traditions with family and friends. However, after my first shift I realized how incredibly special it was and started a new Christmas tradition.
Every year on Christmas Eve we have a mass in Shepherds parking lot attended by staff, volunteers, individuals staying at our shelter and community members. During the service we hand out hot chocolate and snacks, plus everyone gets a backpack that’s filled with winter gear and toiletries. The holidays can be a difficult time for many people in our shelter, and so we try to provide as much of a community as we can because many people who use our services don’t have a home or family.
On Christmas Day we host a community lunch with turkey and all the trimmings. Santa also pays everyone a visit, we decorate the soup kitchen, provide gifts to all of our shelter and community clients, and have carolers in to entertain our clients and do sing-alongs. It’s a special time, and one that I know our volunteers and our clients look forward to every year. My coworkers and I are overwhelmed each year by the community’s generosity in donating funds, food and gifts for our clients.
This year, however, I worry about what our holiday services will look like. Our operations have changed drastically in the last nine months to help protect our clients, staff and volunteers, and I am impressed and proud at how well we have all managed.
Unfortunately, many of these changes will directly impact how Christmas looks at Shepherds. New guidelines related to physical distancing in our limited space means many of our Christmas traditions will not be possible in our soup kitchen or supportive housing residences.
This year has been difficult for all of us. I am sure many of your holiday plans have been changed, if not cancelled outright. The devastation of missing out on Christmas traditions is tough to take, in a year already marked by anxiety and confusion. I know that I’ve been feeling a great deal of uncertainty about the future, and the sadness that comes from being isolated from friends and family, not to mention feeling disconnected from my neighbourhood, and my community.
Although this has been a difficult several months, I know that things will get better and holiday traditions will return for most of us. However, that can’t necessarily be said for people experiencing homelessness.
We all deserve a home for the holidays, especially as this pandemic has shown us the importance of staying home to limit the spread of COVID-19. But housing in Ottawa is deeply unaffordable, wait lists for subsidized housing are years-long, and we are just not getting shovels in the ground fast enough to keep up with the demand for supportive housing for people struggling with trauma, mental health and substance use disorders.
The anxiety and isolation many of us are currently facing due to the pandemic are familiar to people who are homeless year-round. So, this holiday I implore to consider ways that you can help organizations like Shepherds that meet people where they are at in life.
What helps the people we support more than anything is knowing that you care about them and that the community is there to support them through their journey.
This year, if you can, monetary donations in lieu of donated items will go a long way as we can increase the impact of your donation through bulk purchasing. We still plan on providing special meals throughout the season, and getting gifts into the hands of our 500+ clients, likely the only gifts they’ll be receiving. Messages and cards of hope, encouragement, and support are also appreciated, and will help our clients know that they are not alone.
To learn more, please visit our website at sghottawa.com or follow us on social media @sghottawa. Thank you, our Lowertown neighbours, for all your support. Happy holidays!
Gord Richards is the Coordinator of Community and Volunteer Services at Shepherds of Good Hope. Gord can usually be found wandering the soup kitchen making (read: eating) snacks and sharing a joke with some of our amazing volunteers.