Housing Behind the Scenes

Recently, I spoke with Evelyn Ritch, Community Chaplain at The Mustard Seed, about the amazing transformations happening to our first five tenants being housed in Edmonton.  What she shared touched my soul and I hope it touches yours as well.  So what is having their own apartment like for these five tenants who were once homeless or at risk of becoming homeless?  As you will learn, even preparing a meal can be a great learning experience and having a roof over one’s head can set aside disappointment, fear and despair.

Once per month, The Mustard Seed’s five tenants gather for a meal to celebrate.  Celebrate what, you might ask?  They celebrate having a home where no one has kicked them out, where no one has robbed them.  And, they can come back to their bed and not lose it.  However, if they were still homeless, they could have a space at a shelter one night and not necessarily get it the next night depending on where they were in a line-up.  And so, in celebration of having a home and not having these bad things happen, the tenants cook together and even learn how to cook.

“It’s good to help them see all they can do in the kitchen.  We try different foods and have new experiences.  And, they’re starting to realize how much more inexpensive it is to cook than to go out and eat…It’s been quite the experience from showing them how to cook to seeing them go through recipes,” says Evelyn.

As Evelyn walks alongside our tenants, she is amazed by the transformations she sees.

“It’s more powerful than anyone can imagine because we haven’t experienced it.  The physical changes are amazing…Working alongside them, you also get to learn a lot about who an individual really is as they blossom.”

Evelyn adds that having an apartment of their own helps them experience things that all of us take for granted.

“It’s not what our residents are learning from this experience, but it’s more about what they are teaching us in our interactions with them.  For example, we see the joy of watching someone smile as their cornbread comes out of the oven when they’ve never made it before.  It’s us learning just exactly what it means for them to have their own space and to have volunteer and staff members who support and care for them.  We know it’s not the end of the story, but merely the beginning.”