A day on Street Level

The sun slowly rises over the tops of the downtown towers, colours spearing from the heavens as the city begins to wake. As God shines down, the front doors of Street Level open and those who have slept outside shuffle forward to the doors where they know they will be welcome, where they are missed if they don’t show up, where they know that unconditional caring and empathy await. Those who are heading to work but need razors, a washroom or just a morning greeting soon begin to enter, knowing that they will work a full day and still not have enough to pay the exorbitant rents that Calgary demands.

The staff on Street Level never know what the city will bring them. There may be a fight on the corner. A guest who has been using the supports of The Mustard Seed for years may share the story of one of their friends dying on the streets last night, and the staff and guest mourn together for a friend who has been lost. The busses arrive from our shelter bringing guests back downtown so that they can begin their days: working, connecting to resources, surviving.

The stories are as diverse and unique as each individual who enters the doors of The Mustard Seed downtown. The needs that brings these people to the doors are not just met through the provision of food, emergency services and programming but through relationships, respect and the knowledge that whatever this day holds for those without housing in Calgary and for those living in poverty, there is someone out there who cares, there is a safe place to be and they know in their hearts that, when the time is right, hope will turn into reality.

Volunteer groups support formerly homeless individuals

Imagine you’ve been living in a shelter with a community of 300 roommates. Then you find housing and suddenly you’re on your own! Lonely, isolated, and bored. Chances are good that you’ll fall back into unhealthy habits.

Aftercare at The Mustard Seed works to house clients who have been living in our shelter, and part of helping them is encouraging a healthy lifestyle and getting appropriate supports in place.

We believe that, as human beings, we were created to live in community with one another, and unfortunately, not everyone has a healthy community. That’s where volunteers come in.

Groups of volunteers are coming together with the Aftercare team to form a supportive network for a client who is transitioning to the freedom, independence and responsibility that comes with having an apartment of their own. This looks different depending on the client and group of volunteers, but examples are: going out for coffee at the local Tim Horton’s and talking about how life is going, going out to the bowling alley, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a picnic at Princess Island park, etc. The possibilities are many and volunteers have the opportunity to get creative!

Volunteers in these supportive capacities will have the opportunity to work as a team and support one another. This is really an opportunity for those in the Calgary community to come together with The Mustard Seed and intentionally help their neighbors get back up on their feet!

If you would like to learn more about volunteering with Aftercare, please email kristyferguson@theseed.ca

Bicycles

When I (Caitlin) reminisce about my childhood, I have strong memories of riding my bike. I rode with my family around town, with my best friends to the park and by myself to school.

Two months ago, The Mustard Seed Edmonton hosted our annual Kid's Petting Zoo. Part of this event was a Win-A-Bike Contest, asking people to draw a picture of the bike they wanted to win or describe what they would use their bike for or what they would name it. We had over 120 entries from people ages 3 to 64. On the day of the event, twelve lucky winners went away with new bikes and huge smiles! It was a good day.

But then I looked through the entries of those who didn't win

and saw this picture...

And I read this....

Then I cried because there were still over 110 people who needed bikes. As staff, we decided to raise money to buy more bikes... and then synergy happened! All of a sudden, people knew people who knew people who could help us get more bikes. We've had bikes come from as far as Lacombe and volunteers have donated bikes or used their skills to fix them. One of my favourite things about working at The Mustard Seed is the way the wider community responds to help us.

It's been amazing to give the bikes away to families so they can be active and have fun together. Today I gave a bike to a man who recently got a new job and will use his bike to get to work. These bikes are giving people the opportunities to affordable transportation and free ways to be fit and have fun.

The Mustard Seed is about building community, growing hope and supporting change. Sometimes that starts with something as simple as a bicycle.

Cultivating community in our garden

Did you know there's a rooftop garden in the middle of downtown Calgary? Or that it's run by staff, volunteers and clients of The Mustard Seed?

With help from lots of amazing volunteers, we planted the garden on our Community Centre this spring and we've been reaping the benefits ever since.

Tammy Winterfield was instrumental in getting the local community on board, including lining up sponsors and volunteers. “We have had some guests regularly involved and that’s been great. It has been a very positive thing for our community," she says. "The beginning of the rooftop garden has been very fruitful and our community has enjoyed using the space."

See more below, and watch out for our newsletter, coming tomorrow!



How are you getting involved in your community? Are there any initiatives you'd like to see started? Let us know in the comments!

Our Alberta Office

Hi! I'm Sarah McKenzie and I'm the Marketing and New Media Manager for The Mustard Seed's Alberta office. I'm going to take you on a tour through our digs, so grab some refreshments and your reading glasses. First through the door is myself. Sorry there aren't pictures like this of everyone. Believe me, you don't know how sorry I am. You might have seen this face in our YouTube videos; I am responsible for managing The Mustard Seed's online presence across the province, among other things.

Across from me you'll find Georg, Allan and Peter - they run Seedworks, a company that is part of The Mustard Seed and takes much longer than a sentence to explain. Basically they employ a number of our guests, as well as seek out new housing options for us to pursue for our guests. Craig, who is just down the hall, is involved with the housing as well.

Karina (@la_canadiense on Twitter) and I share a [chalkboard painted] wall and she's the mastermind for assistant to Jeff Dyer, who you heard from yesterday. Jeff (@jeffndyer on Twitter) is our Chief Operating Officer and joined The Mustard Seed about a year and a half ago. You'll hear from him more on the blog, don't worry. Moving right along (did you bring your refreshments?), Aart Schuurman Hess is the Interim Chief Executive Officer, Interim Chief Development Officer and our Chief Administrative Officer as well. We'll just say he's a busy guy. His assistant, Joyce, definitely helps him to keep it together.

After Joyce is Irene, our in-house strategist and consultant who helps with many different projects at The Mustard Seed, and at the end of the hall, Kathleen and Janet share an office. Kathleen helps our development department with various projects, and Janet is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to research.

And there you have it! The Alberta Office is a great place to hang out, but during the summer it's been pretty quiet. How should we spruce things up? What do you do when your office is empty during the summer?

Oh, and one more thing - you can subscribe by email over there ---> on the right and get notifications in your inbox when we put up a new post. Just saying.

Working Provincially

My name is Jeff Dyer, and I'm The Mustard Seed's Chief Operating Officer. Growing up in Alberta, I never really dreamed that Calgary and Edmonton could work together. Even more difficult to imagine is the notion that if they did, the whole province would be better for it. The reality is, over two years ago, the Edmonton and Calgary Mustard Seeds joined together to create the Alberta Mustard Seed and the belief at that time was that if they worked together, they could make a more profound and lasting impact on the lives of men and women who were homeless.

At that same time, people were done with managing homelessness and wanted desperately to see an end to it. This shift created the perfect opportunity for two cities to think provincially, to pool their collective wisdom, expertise and resources to participate in this remarkable movement. The journey has been both fascinating and frustrating. Shifting the approach from managing to ending homelessness required a commitment to new thinking, shared learning, intentional listening and co-discerning strategies.

So far, the results are 300 formerly homeless individuals have found their way home; over 350 new housing units are being created; emergency relief has translated into sustainable life; hope has grown in the shadows of despair; and community has formed out of isolation and loneliness. The Mustard Seed is delivering basic services, housing and employment programs to those in need, partnering with the community to address the root causes of poverty across Alberta. These are still very early days in this One Mustard Seed and, to be candid, we still have so much to learn.

So, if you were advising our leadership team, what would you say are the keys to unify vision and strategy while remaining committed to honouring local nuances and grassroots leadership?

The Mustard Seed Alberta

Last week, we introduced you to our Employment program area, a part of our Calgary operations. This week we're going to focus on the group responsible for leading The Mustard Seed's strategies across Alberta. This lovely crew operates from our headquarters in Calgary.

Here's a pic of the Alberta crew serving lunch at The Mustard Seed Calgary!



Stay tuned for more this week as we introduce some key members of our Alberta office.

Learn more about our executive here.

Meet Martin

Martin is one of the guests staying at The Mustard Seed Shelter. He was interviewed by Mark Horvath of Invisiblepeopletv.

Listen to Martin tell his story below, and check out the Invisible People blog for lots more stories of people experiencing homelessness.

Meet the team at the Employment Centre!

Greetings from the brand new Employment Centre! I’m Lydia Nutbrown and I’ll be the team’s friendly blogging nerd. I’m an Employment Developer, so I will be meeting with employers around the city talking about how we can create mutually beneficial employment opportunities for our clients. I’m always looking to meet new people and open doors to employment, so if you know anyone who’s hiring, let me know!

Next on the tour is Trina Frank, our Intake/Assessment Facilitator. Trina will use her natural sensitivity and inquisitive mind to help our clients assess their work and personal histories to determine their next steps to employment. She also builds relationships with other local service providers to ensure that we can refer our clients to whatever training they might need before starting a job.

Eric Shorten and Merrill Blenman represent our dynamic duo of Employment Coaches. They will work with clients throughout their employment, providing advice and support along the way. They will also be available to employers to help them learn how to best supervise and cultivate a positive work environment for our clients. Good thing they’re both former cheerleaders…just kidding.

Finally, our fearless leader and Manager, Jon Schiedel. He’ll keep us all on track and provide the vision for the program as we seek to serve our clients in their pursuit of sustainable employment.

Hopefully learning about our roles gives you an idea of how our program works. Questions are welcome, though, so feel free to stop by or comment on this post for more information. Until next time!

Employment Centre Opens

I'm on my way downstairs to the grand opening of our Employment Centre! We're really excited to be able to expand our Employment services. We'll still be offering resume help and interview coaching, but now we'll also be able to connect our guests directly with employers.

Not being able to find work or support yourself takes a huge toll on a person's sense of worth. The Employment Centre will help empower our clients to make positive changes in their lives.

When a guest arrives at the Employment Centre, Intake Facilitators work with them to investigate training and job opportunities that fit their interests, abilities and experience, and volunteers are available to assist with resumes and interview preparations.

Once employed, clients also meet regularly with an Employment Coach, who helps with any difficulties they might be experiencing at their jobs. Employment Coaches will also be available to address any questions or concerns from employers.

Cliff Wiebe is our Director of Support Services and the brains behind the new format. “So often, people think the solution to homelessness is for men and women to pick them selves up off the streets and go find a job, but it’s not that simple,” he says. “Our clients face significant barriers to employment, but The Mustard Seed is committed to helping them overcome those barriers and work toward greater independence.”

Have you ever been at risk of losing your home or your job? What kind of support did you wish you could have received?