Beacon(s) of Light: R&R Street Ministry

Every Tuesday night, a group of people meet in a parking lot in downtown Kitchener. The parking lot becomes a staging area, as 8-15 people descend upon a couple of large plastic bins, filling them with basic hygiene items such as toothpaste, deodorant, soap and shampoo.

As soon as the bins are ready to go, the people split up into groups and head out for their destinations. The first group starts walking down Duke St. toward Frederick. They'll stop to chat with a few rough sleepers as they travel to Mary's Place, a shelter for women and their families. Once they arrive, the team splits up with precision and immediately starts serving the guests of the shelter. A few serve hot dogs to a line of women and their children. Another person mixes and serves hot chocolate and hands out granola bars. More still, start handing out the hygiene items and small toys and treats for the kids.

This group is about fellowship. Though their job of service finishes as quickly as it starts, the rest of their time is spent talking, listening and offering words of hope.

At the same time, the other group heads to Kitchener's City Hall and meets up with clients who are eagerly waiting. Hot dogs distributed, brand new socks, some chat with clients new and old. Someone will stop by with news of a new job and others will lament on the tough housing market.

The team will move on, walking down King St. stopping every hundred metres or so, opening up the bins and handing out supplies to the mostly forgotten citizens of downtown Kitchener. An hour and a half later, the team arrives at the Charles Street Men's Hostel, their last stop for the night. On busy nights in the summer, the team will be out of hot dogs and can only offer the men granola bars and bottles of water. On cold winter nights, they try to convince everyone to have just one more.

The night can be sad, showing sleeping conditions that none of my blog readers would ever choose.

 But regardless of where they sleep or how tough life is, the friends they serve are always friendly and thankful and always, always, always offer a smile.

And when they're lucky, the team gets treated to a rousing song from one of their musically talented friends, whether it is polka or waltz from the accordion or a little bit of blues with the help of an acoustic guitar.

This R&R Street Ministry is one of the gems of Waterloo Region, a group of folks coming together to serve in the most basic way. Every Tuesday, desperately hot or bone-achingly freezing, holiday or not, these folks are out there showing a little love to the folks who need it most in Waterloo Region.

Project Winter Survival

5 years ago I made my first donation to Project Winter Survival. Last winter I had the opportunity to meet the founder of the project, Jody Steinhauer and see the facility where the magic happens. I've never seen another project of this calibre serving our homeless population. If you can donate $25, you may literally be saving someone's life this winter.

Beacon(s) of Light: Ed and Ginny Peng

Customers entering Ginny Peng's boutique are greeted with smiles, kind words and hope for tomorrow.

The store is so busy they can only let a few people in at a time. Ed Peng jokes with a customer, "No tax  today, just for you."

PHOTO COURTESY OF GINNY PENG

Ed and Ginny, along with about 20 dedicated volunteers, run the clothing boutique at Kitchener's Ray of Hope. They started volunteering with Oasis several years ago with a small group from their church. When Ray of Hope moved to their new location almost 2 years ago, Ginny was asked to head up the clothing donation program. With Ed, a self-admitted reluctant volunteer by her side, Ginny dove into the project head first, transforming a dreary clothing donation closet into a boutique where her customers could come and shop for high quality clothing that would serve them for everyday and work related purposes.

               

3 times per week, clients can shop for pants, shirts, new socks and underwear, jackets, shoes, boots and more. There is no cost for the clothing and every step of the process; from accepting donations, sorting,processing and the "sale" is manned by volunteers.

Both Ed and Ginny hold the Ray of Hope organization in great esteem. They told me the support from Ray of Hope staff is huge and they couldn't ask for a more dedicated management team.

Ray of Hope has been a fixture in Kitchener-Waterloo since 1967. In addition to the clothing boutique and meal program, they have their own food bank, run Morning Glory café sites in downtown Kitchener and at Heffner Toyota in East Kitchener. The Ray of Hope umbrella also shelters life-changing community programming for youth at risk, with open and secured custody facilities, youth employment programs and youth addiction services.

Every time I am at Ray of Hope one thing that astounds me is the level of respect in the building, from staff, volunteers and clientele. I've been in shelters and community centres where chaos is the game 24/7 but Ray of Hope is always dignified. Where clothing rooms usually operate somewhere around "frenzy", the folks visiting Ed, Ginny and their team are calm and collected. They browse through the racks of clothing the same as they would in any store and this is where I think the difference lies between your average clothing donation room and the vision the Ginny has created.

Ginny shows her clients respect by providing good quality clothing that is clean and cared for. She has created a space where her clients don't feel that they're sorting through someone else's garbage but instead, are shopping for new clothes for themselves. Her team is loving, kind and generous with both smiles and time. She shows a level of respect that oftentimes, homeless and vulnerable clients just don't receive. In return, the atmosphere of the boutique she runs is reposeful, poised and above all, courteous.

   "From the minute you walk through the door you know            that you are loved." - Ginny Peng, on Ray of Hope

Meeting with Ed and Ginny, I felt honoured to be in the presence of a couple so committed to their community. They wear their hearts on their sleeves and I saw the love they have for God, community and service. Ginny is like the pin-up girl for my mantra of bringing your passion to your volunteer work. She didn't want to only head up a room full of donated clothes, she had a vision for a space that was going to serve her clients in more ways than just handing out free clothes and her vision has succeeded in a spectacular fashion.

Ed and Ginny, when I grow up, I hope to be just like you.

You can support Ed, Ginny and the Ray of Hope clothing boutique by donating new and pre-loved items that are in good repair. Seasonally appropriate clothing is in high need as the weather gets cold and donations of winter jackets, boots and other cold-weather gear for men, women or children are always appreciated. Donations of new underwear and socks are always in need. 



**Thank you to Scott Brush of Ray of Hope for recommending Ed & Ginny to me as some volunteers that truly deserve a little recognition. You can recognize exceptional volunteers on the Baking the World a Better Place blog by sending their contact info to bourbonbaker@gmail.com**

Where do the homeless go in an emergency?

As people are flocking to the banks and grocery stores in preparation for our expected dumping from Hurricane Sandy, there's an entire population of folks who don't even have basic shelter over their heads, must less funds for emergency food, blankets or other necessities.

I was shocked to say the least, as I started calling local shelters and emergency management hotlines this afternoon trying to find places for some of my homeless friends to sleep tonight. There seem to be very few plans in place for what to do in cases of extreme weather when the Out of the Cold shelters aren't open yet.

Come on Region of Waterloo, as many good people as there are out there helping these folks on the front lines, we can't do it alone.

It's time to make sure we have emergency plans in place for all citizens, not just the housed.


**Thankfully, we were able to find shelter for every single person that we were helping today. Some are with family and some are in shelters. It pains me to think of where they'd have been if our team wasn't patrolling the streets to make sure everyone had a safe place to go to weather out the storm.**

Would you give the shirt off your back?

This video proves, you don't have to give the shirt off your back but for heaven's sake, if this man can give the shoes off his feet there MUST be something you can do to help.

Watch here, be inspired.

An Update of Awesome

Well. Where to begin?

The mystery benefactor is a real person, that I know, so I took up the challenge and today, through the power of social media have raised $1000 towards the $1500 goal. I still have a day and a half to go.

I am shocked and amazed and so appreciative. So many people giving up their own money to go towards my project. So many people who believe in what I do, it's incredible. Thank you.

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50 Teens 4 Christmas is moving along at breakneck speed. My partner in awesome of this project, Jodi, is working her butt off, calling in favours, talking to every single person she knows. She's pretty much a machine.

The donations and sponsors we are getting on board is fabulous! So many great things coming our way, and again, it's all due to the powerful reach of social media. People are jumping on board, buying gift cards, forcing their teens to clean out their closets, asking their workplaces for donations. I don't have a problem admitting that I'm a little overwhelmed. This is a huge event for me and I just can't wait to get all this stuff to the shelter and give these kids a wonderful Christmas celebration!

We've got 2 amazing speakers lined up who I think will really motivate and empower the group, lots of prizes to hand out to donors who financially support the project and an apple sponsor! Because really, where other than Waterloo could you get an apple sponsor (and by apple, I mean the fruit, not the other kind)? And then there are the ladies knitting hats, the family whose children are giving up all birthday gifts in favour of gift cards to donate to the Christmas gift bags and the folks online who are putting a little bit of pressure on some radio folks to get Jodi and I on air to talk about our project.

I think I speak for Jodi and myself when I say that we are so lucky and honoured to have so many friends and supporters who have our backs and are working as hard as we are to make this event a success.

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Lastly, I've been doing a drive this week for sweaters, coats and blankets for the homeless, because you know, I haven't asked my friends for enough.

Well once again, people are coming out in spades, dropping off bags at my house, sending me their addresses for pick up and giving me huge amounts of warm weather gear. Saturday I took my boys out and we handed out 10 jackets, 6 sweaters and 9 blankets. Tonight I was out again with my Tuesday night street ministry team and we handed out at least another 40 sweaters, 8 jackets, a blanket, some scarves, mitts and hats.

What's funny is, I never used to ask anybody for anything. Like I wouldn't ask my husband to pass the remote, I wouldn't admit if I didn't understand a problem and I certainly would never fess up to needing help at work. I was just frustratingly independent and stubborn. Probably my self esteem was low enough to think that no one would want to help me either. Well I've learned that all you have to do is ask! Sometimes people say no but oftentimes they say yes! Will I be asking my friends to clean out their closets/help me fundraise/give teens a Christmas every week? Oh no. This week is very special and very weird. I feel bad asking for so much but you know what? I also know that people are helping because they like me, they like the things I'm involved in and they are happy to help. I'm not going to take advantage of that.

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So in all, a crazy busy and very odd week. And it only just turned into Wednesday an hour ago so there's still time for it to get stranger. I'm gonna hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

A Hand Up

There are these 2 homeless men that wander around my Waterloo neighborhood picking up cans and bottles from the recycling bins and pulling things from the garbage that they may be able to sell. Every time they walk by when I am outside, they stop and say hi, calling me ma'am, saying thank you and God bless you. Honestly, these are the friendliest neighbors I've got.

Today I pull into the driveway and there they are, looking in my recycling bins while their shopping carts hang out on the street. We exchange pleasantries and they go to leave until it hits me, "Melissa, you have got to do more".

Now we have a home, food and a nice car, because of those choices we don't have many other resources but I do have a heart, a big one. So I asked the guys if they wanted to come back into my backyard to help me clean up the post-winter mess. Without any payment negotiations, they were heading back towards the gate with huge smiles on their faces. My kids and husband watched out the window as I hung out with David and James, cleaning up the trash, raking and sorting out broken toys from usable ones.

We talked about God, about homelessness, about our wonderful city and about my children. The entire time, my new friends had smiles on their faces and a spring in their steps. Towards the end of our clean up time, I asked them to wait outside while I went in for a few minutes. I packed up a bag full of apples, yogurt, 2 new toothbrushes and toothpaste, some bars of soap and a few sandwiches. Then I gave them each a $10 Tim Hortons card.

There was a hug and some tears, then David and James grabbed their carts off the front lawn and headed off down the street. While I don't feel like I did enough to change their lives, giving away a few things I had around the house is going to make a small difference and I gained two new friends in the process.

I wonder if James and David know just how big of an impact they made on my life today?