Life on the Streets
Several years ago, I was volunteering in New York City for the first time and experienced seeing people living on the streets or in the...
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Jul 8, 2013
Caring Volunteers
Every Thursday evening in the P4Y art room, 20 or so youth gather and let their creative juices flow. On a typical night, one youth is in...
May 23, 2013
Earthman Mytsery Solved
Earthman Mystery Solved It’s been a long day with my alarm clock going off this morning at 5:45am. It’s Tuesday and I’m on my way...
Mar 8, 2013
I lost a piece of my heart…
Today I lost another piece of my heart. That’s what I feel when I meet someone who just makes me want to weep. Today I met...
Mar 6, 2013
God’s hands on a cold night…
This past Wednesday, Ottawa experienced what I hope was the last winter storm of the year (fingers crossed!). It was windy, snowy and...
Feb 25, 2013
OIM goes to the Oscars!
Ok…OIM didn’t actually GO to the Oscars…but the film that won ‘Best Documentary Short’ is the story of Inocente Izucar, a street-artist...
Feb 22, 2013
Feeling Human
I met Ashley last summer. She had just left her parents house and was staying at a downtown shelter. Like many other youth who first come...
Feb 20, 2013
You Take Donations Don’t You?
We came in this morning to find a note from one of the outreach teams that was out last night. The team had come across a friend in need...
Feb 11, 2013
Hard to believe, but 2013 marks our 25th Anniversary!
So much has transpired since Susan Brandt and Katrine Coward filled a couple of knapsacks with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and...
Feb 8, 2013
More beautiful for having been broken…
Recently Moira sent me something that she knew would intrigue me. It is a picture of a piece of pottery that was broken and then...
Feb 6, 2013
Where did He call home?
Have you heard the story about the little boy who shared his lunch with a homeless man? The little boy had found the older man in a park...
Feb 4, 2013
“I hope we’re the only ones with cold toes tonight”
Volunteering with OIM has introduced me to many new experiences, some sad, but most of them great! One defies categorization, however....
Jan 30, 2013
The Longest Wait…
…for some of our street friends at least: from December 20 or 23 to the end of January. It’s the longest time of the year to make your...
Jan 25, 2013
Turkey time!
The aroma of turkey and all the traditional trimmings wafted from the kitchen at drop-in this week. Nothing says ‘come, sit and enjoy’...
Jan 23, 2013
Perfect timing…
Molly’s worker called the office late yesterday afternoon. Molly is one of our many individuals living in Ottawa that struggle to...
Jan 16, 2013
Taking time to remember
Yesterday, we held our annual memorial service at drop-in to remember those in our street community who passed away in 2012. Often times...
Jan 14, 2013
You are LATE!!
Four weeks after Christmas and you are late! Yes, we are, with good intention, for several reasons: right around the time of Christmas,...
Jan 11, 2013
Baby Steps…
There’s been no shortage of bad news about homelessness in our city. Ottawa did very poorly on the last Alliance to End Homelessness...
Jan 9, 2013
The Journey
I’m so proud of Tammi! She has had a long time addiction to crack cocaine…somewhere around fifteen years I think. Like many of the...
Jan 7, 2013
“Low Places”
Suzanne comes to the drop-in every week without fail. Her story is similar to many others: she immigrated to Canada several years ago and...
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