Deirdre Freiheit
Shepherds of Good Hope began in 1983 out of St. Brigid’s church in Lowertown. Many things are different now – we moved down the street to 233 Murray St, and later 256 King Edward Avenue. We expanded into supportive housing, now operating five buildings from Kanata to the East End. While honouring our Catholic roots, we rebranded in 2018 to reflect the diversity of our community of service users, staff, volunteers and supporters.
Lots of things have remained the same, however, in our nearly 40-year history. The most important is that Shepherds of Good Hope accepts everyone where they are, without judgment. We support people to rebuild their lives, particularly those who are struggling with trauma, mental health and substance use disorders.
In all communities across the City where we provide services, we have a close relationship with our neighbours. When problems or concerns arise in our community, we confront them together. While we may sometimes have differences of opinion, we are committed to engaging in respectful dialogue while focusing on our responsibilities to supporting vulnerable people in our community. As a community, you have helped us to transform lives.
Over the decades, Shepherds has faced many challenges. We have seen the landscape of substance use disorder change from alcohol to crack cocaine to opiates and now crystal meth. Changing government and priorities have led to decreased community supports for the people we assist, in addition to the current housing crisis. Trends and policy choices beyond our control have resulted in increased rates of homelessness, including large numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets.
Every time our community has faced challenges, Shepherds of Good Hope has been there to respond with innovative, compassionate solutions. From laying down cots in the church basement, to operating one of Canada’s first Managed Alcohol Programs, to our Supervised Consumption and Treatment Service that has saved and transformed countless lives. Every step of the way, we have deeply appreciated the support of many of our Lowertown neighbours.
You have been there with food and clothing, with financial donations, with kind words and so much more. You have put together Christmas gifts, cooked Easter dinners and built relationships with many individuals who use our services and who make their homes in our supportive housing residences.
Today, we are tremendously proud to be developing 113 units of affordable supportive housing in Kanata, Carlington and Lowertown, and reducing the capacity of our emergency shelter so that this time next year we will have more people living in our housing programs than in our shelter. This is a significant achievement worth celebrating together.
These housing options cannot come quickly enough. As we find ourselves at the centre of three crises, the homelessness state of emergency, toxic drug supply and COVID-19 pandemic, the need to get people into homes of their own with the supports that they need to thrive has never been more urgent.
In nearly 40 years in Lowertown, our core values at Shepherds of Good Hope have never changed: we will always be there for the people who need us most. Even as we expand to other areas of the city, our unique historical relationship with Lowertown will remain, and we will always endeavor to be good neighbours.
There is no doubt that this is a challenging time for our neighbourhood. Once again, we have an opportunity to come together to address our current challenges in sustainable, compassionate, evidence-based ways. We can contribute to a better Lowertown, a community that includes everyone, where we can all be proud to have a home.
Deirdre Freiheit is President & CEO of Shepherds of Good Hope and chair of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa.