Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Clothed In Confidence

Hi, I'm Laura U. I'm an employment coach at The Mustard Seed in Calgary and this is my first time on the blog. I was assigned as Sandra’s Employment Coach a few weeks ago and met with her for the first time soon after. She sat with me in the intake room, and I asked to hear her story.


“Oh, my story is sad, sad,” she whispered. ”In my country there is too much war”.


I left it at that, sensing she would rather not go further. However, I did learn that Sandra is from Uganda and came to Calgary to find work.


“I need to find confidence to interact with people in a job”, she told me. “Can you help me find confidence?”


I told her I would try.


One of our first steps toward confidence is being taken today. We are going to Making Changes, a not-for-profit agency that outfits women with professional clothing for the workplace.


We arrive in the afternoon and Sandra’s eyes widen as she takes in the place, which is set up like a clothing boutique. Racks of clothing fill the room, one corner is stacked high with shoes, and a standing coat hanger dangles with purses. Another shelf is covered with brand-new cosmetics.


We are paired with a volunteer stylist who leaps to action, handing Sandra dress pants in eggplant and khaki. Then shirts in bright colors and soft fabrics are brought out. Sandra receives each item with stunned graciousness, her eyes full of light. She says little, but she is beaming.


Sandra steps into the dressing room, and our stylist looks at me and says, “She is wonderful.” She is awed, as I am, by Sandra. She shines.


In a world torn by war, oppression, and violence, Uganda is no exception. It would seem that the brutal reality of war would harden one’s heart. Often, however, as I and others in the Employment Centre have seen, it has the opposite effect. In some individuals, the need for God grows stronger. Sandra had told me in the car on the way to Making Changes that she prays a lot. She has to pray a lot, she says. It is a means of survival. Sandra has kept the hope planted by Christ, and it shows.


We prepare to leave Making Changes. Sandra fills out a survey, and when asked if she is now ready to enter the workplace with confidence, she checks “strongly agree”.


In the car on the way home she tells me that she has read in Scripture that God has good plans for His children. A few more times she whispers it: “Good plans”. Her confidence in God’s goodness has renewed my own. And with that, we ride back toward downtown Calgary - clothed in the confidence that comes from trusting Him.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Thank you, Garneau School!

Q. What do you get when you combine 2 enthusiastic teachers + 42 grade 1 and 2 students +The Mustard Seed ?

A. A whole lot of awesomeness! (And according to spell check, awesomeness IS a word!)

Late in 2011, we received a very special visit from the grade 1 & 2 students at Garneau School in Edmonton. They came for a tour and made some delicious sandwiches to serve during our drop-in. However, this was only the beginning of our relationship with these great students!

At the end of January, all of the kids came back, bringing with them dozens of backpacks stuffed with hygiene items, bus tickets, blankets and other good things. They had a blast unloading each backpack from the truck in a long assembly line which snaked through our Community Support Centre. Their giggles and excitement were infectious!

Still, I think the highlight for our staff was when two of us were invited to come to the school to check out the amazing models and dioramas the students had created of the different ways The Mustard Seed helps people.

Friday night Movie Nights:



"Peas Be With You" Community Garden:



(Please excuse the poor cellphone pictures!)

The students had made dozens of these dioramas, and each model had an explanation page next to it and a little book where we could write encouraging notes about the projects. Other models included our bread shelf, our Personal Assistance Centre (clothing and hygiene items), and our evening meal program. They had also made a video about The Mustard Seed, and worked on a lot of math and writing projects all based on their experience at The Mustard Seed. It was integrated, experiential learning in the best way!

Some of the students' work spoke most articulately to what they had learned at The Mustard Seed about how people need more than just food and clothes- they need love, support, and a place of belonging. It was an inspiration to see the colourful and creative ways the students had chosen to work through these ideas!
Thank you, Garneau School!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Cutting Hair for a Cause



Meet Art, The Mustard Seed’s volunteer barber who cuts hair on Thursdays. He has been a barber for over sixty years. Art started supporting The Mustard Seed by making financial donations and then decided to donate his talent and time as well. He says he enjoys his volunteer work with The Mustard Seed in Edmonton.

“I’ve really noticed how genuine people are. Many people say thank you after I cut their hair and I feel like my skills are valued by the community,” he says.

Art is a Christian who wants to share his faith while cutting hair so he hopes that through his skills and chats, he is able to help those in The Mustard Seed’s community on their journey. He truly believes that God’s great love for all of mankind is in action at The Mustard Seed.

“I see God’s love in action every Thursday through the community, staff and other volunteers,” says Art.

Why does Art keep coming back to volunteer?

“The great staff who encourage me and make me feel welcomed and valued keep me coming back. The community is gracious and kind. I enjoy the atmosphere and I feel like I am really a part of the team.”

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Hacky Sack

As a relief support worker at The Mustard Seed Calgary, I work in several different departments (my job never gets boring!). One of my primary tasks involves helping facilitate our DemoCrew and CollegeCrew programs -- experiences where high school or college/university students spend multiple days and nights with us at The Mustard Seed volunteering and learning about homelessness. Our goal with these programs is to demolish the darkness and demonstrate the love of Jesus.

I was wrapping up orientation during one such CollegeCrew and asked the group to share whether they had any fears or apprehensions for the weekend ahead. One young man, whom I'll call David (not his real name), spoke up.

"I've never been good with words. What am I supposed to tell somebody whose life seems to be one bad run of events after another? I don't know how someone like me can say the right thing to help."

I told him that often, it's not the words we speak, but the most seemingly insignificant actions, that make the difference. He nodded, unconvinced, and I took the group for their first mealtime with our guests.

After supper I went to round up the students. As many wrapped up conversations with their tablemates, I looked around for David and found him leaning against the wall, intently focused on a game of hacky sack that had been started in the corner by five or six guests who I knew quite well. I approached David and stood with him.

"Do you think...do you think that maybe I could go play for a bit?" he asked me nervously.

"I think that's a great idea," I replied with a smile. "Go for it! They'd love to have you."

Cautiously, David approached the circle, where the guests enthusiastically invited him to join in. The following day, one of the guests approached me with more joy in his face than I had seen in months, asking if I could "please, please" excuse David from a group activity for a bit so they could play one more game of hacky sack together.

At the end of the weekend, David revealed that he had struggled with depression for many years, and had felt unqualified to help make anybody else's life better.

"But now," he said, "I know that it's not always about saying the right words. Maybe, sometimes, it's enough to kick a sack around with a bunch of people who I would normally have passed by on the street."

Sometimes, "helping" just might look like a game of hacky sack.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

How Volunteering Became a Gift

Before working at The Mustard Seed, I never knew that those living in poverty volunteered in our community. But, it's true: those we serve at The Mustard Seed often volunteer for us. And, sometimes the experience is even life-changing for them. Lillian's story tells it best.

"I came from an abusive and alcoholic family. People were murdered in my life - and that really hurt me. Then, The Mustard Seed helped me.

I volunteer in The Mustard Seed's donations sorting group. I can feel God's presence at The Mustard Seed and through all the different people who work there. With the sorting group, there is prayer for people. I really appreciate being part of that group.

The Mustard Seed has helped me get food when I had nothing, nothing at all. All I had was AISH. I used to look down at the floor. I couldn't talk to people without stuttering but I sure can now. I opened up at The Mustard Seed.

I've gone from being a very silent person to a very open person. I smile with people. I share with people. And, I always leave The Mustard Seed feeling light and full and complete."

Thanks to Lillian for her story and for her volunteer efforts. Thanks also to others like her, who despite their own difficult circumstances, take the time to help their own community.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Volunteer Week: Esther

The meaning of the name Esther is "star," and we couldn't agree more! Sisay in our Housing department recounts the service of the dedicated Esher Nathe.

Esther has been a volunteer in the housing program for the past five months. Currently, she is the only regular volunteer who comes every Friday nights to run the game night, and donates about twelve hours of her time each week whenever she is able to work longer shifts.  Over the course of the past five months, she has developed wonderful relationships with our residents, which may be due in part to her bringing  munchies (purchased through her own means) that we snack on during the games.  Esther is so enthusiastic (and competitive!) in the way she plays the board games with the residents; and most of the time she wins the game - because of that she is very popular. You can hear our residents asking for her if she happens to miss a Friday night, and you can also sense this calm and peaceful spirit that she brings each week when she joins the group. Esther has been a great help to me whenever I get a chance to work with her. She is one of the highly favored volunteer by our residents and overnight staff.

Thank you, Esther, for your commitment and dedication to serving the less fortunate in our city. Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week!

- Sisay
Housing Support Worker

Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week!

It's Volunteer Appreciation Week! Join with us as we recognize and thank our volunteers across the organization through this blog! Leave them some comments and let them know how far their dedication goes!

Friday, April 13, 2012

An Invitation

Whenever I'm spending time with our community in the drop-in I often wonder how newcomers to the neighbourhood, as well as the greater community of Edmonton, perceive our community with an "outsider" perspective. I mean, there are some reactions that I could predict: fear of the unknown, the perpetuation of stereotypes of the urban poor and the homeless, a desire to remain separated from those who are different... But maybe the people who regularly hang out in our drop-in facility and other agencies like it are not as different from us as we might think.

Our community is often said to be an unhealthy one, and for some that is most definitely true. For the recovering addict, the inner city could be just one big trigger. For the ex-gang member the inner city might represent flooding memories of intense violence. But not everyone from this neighbourhood is in recovery. There are some for whom this community is filled with deep and meaningful relationships, friends who have become more like family, people who give one another worth, and value, and meaning. In the midst of this dichotomous world of health and instability, The Mustard Seed stands as a refuge for people regardless of what side of the fence they may be on this day.

Isn't it safe to say that all of us are constantly in need of some kind of healing or recovery? Aren't we all guilty of misguided decisions? I've travelled around the world and lived in several marginalized communities and I've learned the same lesson in each location: people are people are people no matter where you go. We have all done wrong and had wrong done to us. We are all just as broken as our brothers and sisters, and we are all looking to experience recovery.

The difference between us can be recognized in the support systems some have or don't have. Some of us have well-intentioned parents and families, some of us have churches and faith developing communities, some of us have hands constantly being reached out to us. Yet there are many who fall and are left to their own vices and devices, which for our community are usually limited.

But there is hope. There is hope that the ones who have received a hand up will outstretch their own hands to the next, to the other, and offer themselves to those who have been forgotten. Together we can build healthier communities, mentor relationships, and more diverse and unified neighbourhoods.

Think of this as an invitation. What will you do with it?

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Easter People in a Good Friday World

This afternoon I walked into The Mustard Seed’s Community Support Centre and read this quote on the whiteboard: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song!” (Pope John Paul II).

In the midst of poverty and homelessness, and grieving the terminal illness of a beloved member of our Mustard Seed community, it can be hard not to give in to despair. The world is such a broken place that sometimes it feels like the darkness of Good Friday will last forever.

The amazing thing about being a people of God is that we know that Good Friday is not a permanent situation- Easter’s coming!

Jesus` resurrection radically transforms the way we view the world. Easter is the hopeful promise of life, a reminder that brokenness and death are not the end, that God has the final say. We are part of a community where this is an especially powerful story to share.

We are called to be Easter people, not just this weekend but every day. The tomb is empty, and hallelujah is our song!

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Upcycling


I few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday afternoon, exploring Inglewood with my family. We enjoyed eating lunch and drinking chocolate, discovering artisan shops and unique clothing stores - all the while people-watching. It was a charmed afternoon and the highlight for me was happening upon Reworks – an upcycle shop. Upcyle? The process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials of better quality or higher value. This little boutique was full of reclaimed ideas where shovels became chairs, seatbelts morphed into wallets, and street signs turned into tables. The whole experience got me thinking; isn’t this what good news is all about - that brokenness can be transformed?

Followers of Jesus hold onto the hope that the Good News is a story of transformation. We hold onto hope that Jesus is making something new out of what ‘is,’ out of brokenness, our sin, our sorrow. We long for our mourning to be turned into gladness; joy to be given in the midst of our grief. We cling to the image that the world is being renewed and that restoration will come, as we are taught to pray for the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. The story of Jesus is full of upcycling. Yet, here we are in Holy Week. A time set aside to remember that Jesus’ last week was a paradoxical blend of triumphal entry and a tribunal death sentence. Cheering crowds became jeering mockers. A feast became a last supper. It’s as if everything was trending towards refuse. And then death became life – the ultimate upcycle.

At The Mustard Seed, we celebrate Holy Week as a way to remember that Jesus’ story is Good News for the poor. And that following Jesus is an invitation to participate in making all things new. As we set about to building community and supporting change, we see despair grow into hope. We are joining in the greatest example of upcycling: where loving God inspires the loving of neighbours and that love turns death into life.

What do you hope to see upcycled in the world around you?


Jeff is Running To End Homelessness on May 27, aiming to raise $15,000 for The Mustard Seed. Please consider giving generously towards this goal.