Friday, February 24, 2012

Igniting Passion, Bringing Change

This past week we’ve had the privilege of hosting a DemoCrew group from Prince Albert Alliance Church in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. DemoCrew is an urban exposure experience that we invite youth across Alberta – and sometimes from as far as B.C. or Saskatchewan – to take part in at The Mustard Seed in both our Calgary and Edmonton locations. It is a way that we can demolish stereotypes about the urban poor and homeless communities, and demonstrate the love of God for those living in poverty. It’s one thing to recognize poverty as a reality, but it is something completely different to decide to journey alongside those whose lives are being affected by this reality. This is what DemoCrew is all about.

Some of the activities we run as part of this program are small work projects, preparing and serving a meal in our drop-in, a walk through the neighbourhood to encounter various social issues in our community, as well as the agencies that are addressing these issues, and teaching sessions that give practical direction to addressing poverty in our everyday lives.

To give you a better idea, this is what our DemoCrew week looked like…

We made bagged lunches and handed them out on the street on Family Day. We sorted through mountains of clothing at our Personal Assistance Centre, and for the first time served lunch in our drop-in. We stood in meal lines with our community members. We listened to stories over cups of coffee, and shared our own stories with the hope of building mutually respectful relationships. We shared about social justice, what it means to be a part of community, and what the world could look like if we all treated each other as neighbours – as family – instead of seeing people as strangers.

It can be a long, emotional, and exhausting week. In fact, it usually is. There are moments of heated discussion, moments of anger at the needs that seem to go unnoticed in the inner city, and there are moments when hot tears stream down cheeks in frustration accompanied by fatigue. But at the end of the week, there is always consensus that every victory and lesson learned far outweigh any trial that may have come.

As we say goodbye to the group from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan today, we pray that the passion for justice, equality, and community that was ignited in their hearts this week would not be stifled. We pray that God would give them a continually deepening love for the marginalized, for the unloved, for the forgotten. We pray that people met and stories heard would not be wiped from their minds, but that these new friendships would be what encourages each of them to continue bringing the kingdom of God to the earth.

Let us know if DemoCrew is something you might be interested in – we would love to have you!


- Kat
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You can follow Kat on Twitter at @katcardinal

Friday, February 17, 2012

Cooking in the Laundry Room

My name is Rheanna, and I am one of six students living in the Missional Housing Program at The Mustard Seed. At school I study Development Studies with a minor in Dance.

All six of us living here have different reasons as to why, but I think we hold a common root in desiring to further understand the hearts, eyes and lives of Calgary’s marginalized populations. For myself, I’m here in pursuit of simpler living and to live with students of similar values, but most strongly, I value the teachings of Jesus Christ, and believe there is something very precious found in spending time with people as he did.

Colin moved here last fall; it was just him, another student, and a very (very) poorly (not at all) decorated living room. Since then, James, Sien-ven, Danny, Desiree and I have joined him. I think it was less than 24hrs before my creative soul slipped out and stayed up till 2am redesigning our living room. There really should have been a ‘before' photo: white room, some furniture, a random box of wooden ducks, fake plants and, thankfully, a computer. Now it boasts some art, warm hues and, thanks to Desiree and James, a fuller bookshelf. It’s not too shabby.

It’s been about a month and a half now, and I think the word to best encapsulate our time so far is learning. We are learning how to be with a myriad of people, to hear stories, and to play some intense games of Power Grid (only try if you are okay with developing obsession). Between us 6, we are learning to exist in small spaces together.

It was on Valentine’s evening that I found myself chopping food in the laundry room, because it was too noisy a task for the time of night and my sleeping roommate. Since living here, I have found myself making quesadillas in the hallway, composing songs on the side of the bathtub, lugging a giant corkboard home on the bus to put on the wall, and discovering soup cans as excellent candle holders. Although these things are slightly comical, I also find them strangely refreshing. Regardless, I think that we are all discovering how to accommodate each other and try to be most fruitful for The Mustard Seed community, which may sometimes entail great dinner conversation downstairs with the guests or an awesome games night. And, on other days, may just mean cooking in the laundry room.

- Rheanna | Missional Housing Student

Monday, February 13, 2012

Community

“During our orientation at the beginning of the week, you talked a lot about ‘the community’ at The Mustard Seed and in the inner-city. You referred to people here as ‘community members’. At that point, I thought you were just trying to refer nicely to clients of a soup kitchen. Now that I’ve spent a week here, I’ve realized there really IS a community here- and people here really look after each other.”

“I’ve lived in my middle-class suburban neighbourhood for almost 20 years, and I still can only tell you the names of 2 or 3 of my neighbours. After spending a weekend at The Mustard Seed and in the inner-city, I am amazed at how everyone seems to know each other, and in awe of the community that exists here.”

These are just two of many comments that I’ve heard from visitors to The Mustard Seed who came in to the inner city expecting something much different than what they experienced. In many ways, there is an amazing community here! People in our neighbourhood are full of strength, tenacity, and care for one another- people know one another deeply.

At the same time, I don’t want to romanticize the community in Edmonton’s inner city- it is broken, unhealthy and dysfunctional in many different ways. And yes, there are definitely people for whom this is not a good community to be part of- it is too full of triggers and stress. (But isn’t most of this true for the communities any of us belong to?)

However, it has been suggested that The Mustard Seed is a place where we want to help people and then send them off, hoping never to see them here again- praying that that they have found somewhere else to belong. Like I said above, this is certainly true of what we should hope for some people. But I don’t think it is- or should be- true for everyone. There is a community here, one that has been and is a lifeline for countless people. Let’s continue to work on ways to empower people to strengthen their community, to make it a healthier place to be, rather than simply assuming there is somewhere better for them to belong. God calls us to participate in restoring and renewing the world- one broken community at a time.

Do you agree? Disagree? Comments welcome!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Of Mourning and Memories

Some of the best conversations I’ve had have happened on the front steps of The Mustard Seed. The steps face southwest and are often basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun, making them a perfect place to sit. These steps are where I first got to know Lori. It was one of those warm afternoons when I arrived early for a Saturday shift- Lori was already on the steps, relaxing in the sun. In our first conversation, we sat and talked for hours.

Over the following months Lori began to share pieces of her story with me, memories from the past that were sometimes painful and other times quite humorous. On the streets and struggling with addiction since the age of 12, Lori never ceased to amaze me at the things she could endure while still maintaining an incredible sense of humor. Listening to her struggles I had no idea what to do for Lori. What could I say? How could I respond? What could I do that would possibly be of help to someone in so much pain?

Author Jamie Arpin-Ricci writes, “All too often, when faced with the sadness and suffering of others, we rush to offer comfort in order to ease our own discomfort… We want to give advice, to solve the problem, to fix what is broken as much to relieve our own discomfort as to genuinely help the other’s hurt. Instead, Jesus invites us to come alongside, identify with those suffering and join them in their mourning…the community into which Jesus invites us is beautiful because it is a sacred place – the only place – in which the mourner can truly find comfort.”

Lori taught me the essence of relationship: she taught me that all I could do in the face of her tremendous pain, and perhaps all she needed me to do, was to mourn alongside her; to join her in grief, but also in hope.

This is a sad week for me as I mourn the recent death of Lori. She touched my life in deeply meaningful ways. My invitation to you is to mourn along with me the loss of a special woman, a wonderful human being whom I hope has finally found the real love and true comfort she was longing for.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Generous

Sometimes it’s hard to think of a topic to blog about. I work in an office, after all, and am not tangibly seeing the life-change that our frontline staff are! That’s probably because I’ve definitely been called to sit behind a computer for the rest of my life, but that’s probably a story for another time.

I always see statistics about Calgary being a volunteer city and how upwards of 70% of people commit their time to something aimed at helping someone else, and I believe it! Granted, I’ve never worked at a similar organization in another city, but I do know that when an organization (or even a friend) needs help, they can usually find it! Everyone with a pickup truck knows what I’m talking about here. I truly believe that Calgarians are more generous than average – with their time, and their money, and this will always transfer to the children of those people.

For a few years at The Mustard Seed, I was Calgary’s go-to person for booking tours and speaking engagements, as well as the first informed when a 'third party' group wanted to do a fundraiser. When another staff is unable to commit to one of the above, I would be the one stepping in to execute the tour or speaking engagement, and through this I ended up meeting a ton of great kids, and for those I haven't met, I've heard countless inspiring stories. For a bit of inspiration this week, below are the kids and their projects.
 Robert is an 11 year old who tithes a certain amount from his allowance each month. When it is time to give away his tithe money, he researches an organization and finds one that he thinks is important, and then donates to them. This time around, he chose The Mustard Seed because from looking at our website he realized that we give people 'a hand up, not a hand-out'. Robert ended up donating $75.00 to The Mustard Seed.



Colton from Calgary Christian school enlisted his entire grade 3 class to donate. When I met Colton I was absolutely blown away by his leadership. I couldn't believe he had assembled the tribe that he did.





St. Rose of Lima Jr. High spent an entire year doing different things for The Mustard Seed. It all ended with a fundraising basketball game where the Sr. Boys and Sr. Girls basketball teams played the Stampeders. Well, the boys played. The girls giggled.


 JK Mulloy Elementary raised $1,700 from different projects to support the work of The Mustard Seed. I'm the adult in the back who looks like a kid with green hair.

 Megan enlisted the help of the Calgary Fire Department to raise over $1,000. She has also inspired many people to donate at and volunteer with The Mustard Seed and held fundraisers of her own. I first met her when she was 7 (a couple years before this picture, which was a couple years ago) and now I think she's older than I am.

Cat started something called "Kids for Kids" and collected an entire u-haul trailer full of gently used clothing for our guests.

Rob (left) started making sandwiches when he was 19. He's since won a ton of awards for his dedication to Spread the Love.




Tamara started making jewelry 5 years ago to sell to raise funds for The Mustard Seed. She then started selling her wares at the Farmer's Market and salons and branded it Heartprints for a Cause.






Lauren sells poinsettias at school every Christmas and usually donates around $1500 per year.

If you aren't too busy crying, like me, because you feel you've made nothing with your life, leave me a note in the comments and tell me an inspiring story about a child or young adult you know.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Running to End Homelessness


Last year, I ran 2524 kms. Essentially, that is like running from Edmonton to Hamilton, Calgary to Mexico or doing 42 round trips between Edmonton and Calgary. When I look back on those kms, the highlight was the 21kms that I ran on May 29th in my Run to End Homelessness in the Calgary Marathon. During that run, I capped off a fundraising effort that brought in $13,900 in support of The Mustard Seed’s vision of building community, growing hope and supporting change. Running, by nature, is a pretty individual sport, calling on inner determination and discipline. When I ran the half marathon in Calgary, it gave me a chance to reach out to others as I ran one step at a time. It felt amazing to put on my shoes and run the 16,000 steps in solidarity for our homeless neighbours.

If you were one of those generous people who sponsored me to run in 2011, I cannot thank you enough. Furthermore, I truly hope I can count on you to support the same initiative again this year. We are once again featured charities in both the Calgary and Edmonton Marathon weekends, which provides me with the opportunity to run for the men and women who come to The Mustard Seed in search of hope. What's more, is that it provides you with that opportunity as well. Together, we can run to end homelessness, inviting our friends and family to sponsor us in our effort. Don’t worry if you are not a runner (yet). Both races offer distances from 5 km to 42 km and walking is absolutely an option. Plus, you’ve got 109 days to get ready for Calgary and 193 to prepare for Edmonton.

When Eric Liddle famously said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” I think he may have been thinking of a run like this. Sign up and join the team that’s running to end homelessness. If you are unable to run, please give generously today.

Friday, February 03, 2012

The Community Living Team

Build Community. Grow Hope. Support change.
Powerful words, words that each of us as seedlings has come to know and understand through our Strategic Plan. But now comes another word. Implementation; how do we, on behalf of an agency we believe in and a people and community we love take these words and turn them into action?

One of the many ways is through the development of the Community Living Team. This team works closely with the Resident Advisors in our various housing units, the residents of each unit, Aftercare, volunteers and most importantly the local community to develop relationships of membership, belonging and reciprocal involvement. Our mission statement is: To reflect God’s love while being the link between our housed guests and their communities and to develop and sustain reciprocal and sustainable relationships between the two.

Now, how do we do that? Excellent question! Host events that bring the community into the buildings. Build relationships with the various members of each community through involvement and volunteerism (i.e. Snow Angels, garbage clean up day), through support and capacity building, through membership and belonging.

We are a community, we are learning what this means and how to ensure that not only do our residents belongs, but they are members. Each has something to give, something to share, something that will enhance the world around them; our blessing is to be part of walking with them to this wonderful learning.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

A Reflection

One evening while working at The Mustard Seed, a woman who was using vigorous gestures caught my attention. Since ASL is my first language, I responded instinctively to this person who used their hands in this way. This woman was gesturing to another that she wanted coffee. I looked to see if she had a hearing-aide, and sure enough, she did.

“Are you deaf?” I asked in ASL. “Yes, I’m deaf, are you?” It is difficult to overstate the importance of this step in meeting other deaf people since most live in isolation, and when they discover another deaf person, there is usually an immediate sense of relief knowing that one is not alone in a world of sound and verbal/aural communication. I pointed at my hearing aide to show that I was in fact deaf, and then proceeded to sit down and converse with her.

If I can recall, her name was B. and she lived in a small apartment nearby while subsisting on AISH which barely meets her needs. She is living in an unfulfilling relationship and has a hearing son somewhere in Calgary who, reportedly, won’t have anything to do with her. (Stories of hearing parents being ashamed of their deaf children and hearing children being ashamed of their deaf parents are not uncommon.) We talked about her living situation and how difficult it is for her to find a job because of this almost-insurmountable communication barrier. How does an employer who hears and speaks converse with someone who cannot hear and does not speak? If there is a job posting that she would like to apply for, how can she call the employer? I know exactly how B. feels because I have been overlooked—despite my graduate education—in favour of someone who is not as qualified as me but who is ‘normal.’

Since I moved to Edmonton in January 2008, I have wondered about the quality of life of many deaf people who may live near or below the poverty line. Given that our provincial school for the deaf has been notorious for graduating under-educated people, it is difficult to even get into NorQuest, let alone Grant MacEwan, NAIT, or University of Alberta. Without the education needed for upward mobility, how can people who are unable to hear or speak succeed in life without support?

Written by Matthew G. Hysell