The Chronicles of Westwood Manor: From the Tenants Interview 1

Whether you call it HousingFirst or HousingPlus or Housing-whatever, it can be said that the “Housing" program is a new and mysterious enigma here at The Mustard Seed Edmonton. The rumours about this fancy program must be spreading like gangrene: "Did you hear? They installed a pool with a diving board - on the roof no less!" and "Have you heard? They just bought an exact replica of the Taj Mahal made out of spaghetti!"

Well friends, let me assure you with comforting words: rainbow, cherry cake, unicorn, puppies. To dispel the myths even further, I have with me our very own expert, whom we will refer to as Mark, a tenant and handyman here at the house.


Jeremiah: So, Mark, what happens on a regular day at the apartment?
Mark: Sometimes I go to work, sometimes I go out and get groceries ...uh I mean, do cleaning and maintenance, talk in [the] Common Room, meet up with people at The Mustard Seed. We sit around, talk, and enjoy.
[To himself]:Can’t believe I said grocery shopping! *laughs*

J: Has this house had a positive influence on you?
M: Yeah it has! The programs here at The Mustard Seed have really improved my Christianity and has really helped to increase my sense of unity with the community I am a part of.

J: What is your favourite part of the Housing program?
M: My favourite part is the suite that they gave me: brand new cupboards and floor, exceptional acoustics for a stereo and [affords me] the ability to cook my own meals.

J: Where would you be if you had no house to live in?
M: YMCA, but I like this place 1000 times better. I’ve rented really expensive apartments before with problems. You look out the window and see greasy people and wonder if a shower curtain salesman lives across from you.*chuckles*. But it is a really safe place here.

J: If there was one thing you would like the rest of the Mustard Seed to know about its Housing program, what would it be?
M: Tough luck. *laughs*. Just kidding! The Mustard Seed is getting more places and is providing top-notch support. You can’t get it better than this. The Mustard Seed has exceeded the limit and has gone way out of their way to do better. Just when you think The Mustard Seed has done everything, they do more.

Well there you have it folks, wisdom from the expert. I pray this has given you a little taste of The Mustard Seed Housing Program at Westwood Manor.


Love Lots,
Jeremiah


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“I AM a POSITIVE Person, Jerkface!”

I look at him. He looks at me. He is definitely drunk, but I easily see past that; not a good skill to have, really. I work the door at The Mustard Seed in Edmonton during meals and do my best to prevent all drug and alcoholic users from entering our zero-tolerance force field. He starts swearing - not in a mean or threatening way, but with very honest indignation. Standing straight, his left knee is pulled unnaturally out to the side as if a muscle-head wrestler bent it the wrong way and forgot to put it back. He manages to hold this position as the rest of his body sways back and forth in his alcohol-induced state. He has waited a few years for knee surgery and, out of his hatred of prescription painkillers, he uses alcohol to survive the day and sleep at night. Good news: he just got an appointment with a clinic so that he can soon get the surgery. I try to be positive. “Be happy, friend! You will be getting the surgery soon”. Bad move Jeremiah. He swears again. This time directed at me with both honest frustration and sheer meanness. He is obviously not in a very positive mood.

People have said I'm a positive person. I have noticed, however, that it is very difficult to be positive to those who have witnessed, and been victim to, atrocious things. They see the world through the tainted lens of these traumatic experiences and comprehend my positive remarks as mere fiction and fantasy outside their own perspective. My positivity is not a valid part of their “real world”. It has been a goal of mine to ground my optimism in reality and in a way that they can understand. This has been difficult, although, I have made some progress.

One community member, who is a regular here at The Mustard Seed, was having some trouble with employment and getting his identification. I wanted to encourage him so I took something from his “world” – his regular attendance at The Mustard Seed – and relayed it back to him in a positive way. I simply said that he was a positive influence in the community of The Mustard Seed. This was also grounded in the real, in his world, because I had noticed his generosity to other community members. And I think he got the message.

Leave me a comment and let me know what the real world is through your lens.

Love Lots,

Jeremiah

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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?

Good Fences = Good Neighbours?

When Robert Frost wrote, that “Good fences make good neighbours” back in 1914, I wonder if he realized how wrong he was. If it was accurate back then, I’d argue that it has long since ceased to be true. Having lived my whole life in Canada, I would say that we like our fences more than we like our neighbours. The result of good fences has been the formation of barriers more than the forging of connections and these obstacles have fractured our neighbourhoods.

What I’ve experienced is that most of us commute in the early morning darkness, leaving from our garages and travelling to work. Most of us travel alone in cars made for five, listening to radio relationships while we worry about our families, our money and our inner sorrows, fears and hopes. Some of us return home in busses, ears filled with music that only we can hear, reading books only we enjoy. At the end of it all, we scurry back inside our homes. We can go weeks without seeing our neighbours, months without talking to one another. This is an individualistic journey we have created, where we travel alone in the comfort of isolation.

The result of this hard earned independence is that for most of us, we do not have a place where we can share our struggles. We don’t have a neighbour to turn to in trouble, and there’s no place for our troubled neighbour to reach out to us. We ‘love our neighbours’ vicariously through institutional philanthropy and nameless generosity all the while across the fence marriages end, month outlasts money and kids are raised to fear strangers while everyone’s strange. It is little wonder that the most vulnerable among us are swept to the margins into the fence carved alleys of homelessness. Every one of them was once a neighbour. Good fences make good neighbours?

On Sunday, my neighbour Matt and I passed a power drill back and forth over our shared fence. We undid the screws that held us apart and took down our fence. It is far too early to know if indeed we’ve begin the journey towards becoming ‘bad’ neighbours. All I can say is that my six year-old son, Ian immediately took advantage of the extra space he had to play and stopped to ask Matt if he could play in his backyard. Matt simply replied, “No… Ian, this whole backyard is yours.”

What difference have you seen fences make?

Please, leave a comment about ways you think we could be good neighbours.

Igniting Passion, Bringing Change

This past week we’ve had the privilege of hosting a DemoCrew group from Prince Albert Alliance Church in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. DemoCrew is an urban exposure experience that we invite youth across Alberta – and sometimes from as far as B.C. or Saskatchewan – to take part in at The Mustard Seed in both our Calgary and Edmonton locations. It is a way that we can demolish stereotypes about the urban poor and homeless communities, and demonstrate the love of God for those living in poverty. It’s one thing to recognize poverty as a reality, but it is something completely different to decide to journey alongside those whose lives are being affected by this reality. This is what DemoCrew is all about.

Some of the activities we run as part of this program are small work projects, preparing and serving a meal in our drop-in, a walk through the neighbourhood to encounter various social issues in our community, as well as the agencies that are addressing these issues, and teaching sessions that give practical direction to addressing poverty in our everyday lives.

To give you a better idea, this is what our DemoCrew week looked like…

We made bagged lunches and handed them out on the street on Family Day. We sorted through mountains of clothing at our Personal Assistance Centre, and for the first time served lunch in our drop-in. We stood in meal lines with our community members. We listened to stories over cups of coffee, and shared our own stories with the hope of building mutually respectful relationships. We shared about social justice, what it means to be a part of community, and what the world could look like if we all treated each other as neighbours – as family – instead of seeing people as strangers.

It can be a long, emotional, and exhausting week. In fact, it usually is. There are moments of heated discussion, moments of anger at the needs that seem to go unnoticed in the inner city, and there are moments when hot tears stream down cheeks in frustration accompanied by fatigue. But at the end of the week, there is always consensus that every victory and lesson learned far outweigh any trial that may have come.

As we say goodbye to the group from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan today, we pray that the passion for justice, equality, and community that was ignited in their hearts this week would not be stifled. We pray that God would give them a continually deepening love for the marginalized, for the unloved, for the forgotten. We pray that people met and stories heard would not be wiped from their minds, but that these new friendships would be what encourages each of them to continue bringing the kingdom of God to the earth.

Let us know if DemoCrew is something you might be interested in – we would love to have you!


- Kat
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You can follow Kat on Twitter at @katcardinal

Community

“During our orientation at the beginning of the week, you talked a lot about ‘the community’ at The Mustard Seed and in the inner-city. You referred to people here as ‘community members’. At that point, I thought you were just trying to refer nicely to clients of a soup kitchen. Now that I’ve spent a week here, I’ve realized there really IS a community here- and people here really look after each other.”

“I’ve lived in my middle-class suburban neighbourhood for almost 20 years, and I still can only tell you the names of 2 or 3 of my neighbours. After spending a weekend at The Mustard Seed and in the inner-city, I am amazed at how everyone seems to know each other, and in awe of the community that exists here.”

These are just two of many comments that I’ve heard from visitors to The Mustard Seed who came in to the inner city expecting something much different than what they experienced. In many ways, there is an amazing community here! People in our neighbourhood are full of strength, tenacity, and care for one another- people know one another deeply.

At the same time, I don’t want to romanticize the community in Edmonton’s inner city- it is broken, unhealthy and dysfunctional in many different ways. And yes, there are definitely people for whom this is not a good community to be part of- it is too full of triggers and stress. (But isn’t most of this true for the communities any of us belong to?)

However, it has been suggested that The Mustard Seed is a place where we want to help people and then send them off, hoping never to see them here again- praying that that they have found somewhere else to belong. Like I said above, this is certainly true of what we should hope for some people. But I don’t think it is- or should be- true for everyone. There is a community here, one that has been and is a lifeline for countless people. Let’s continue to work on ways to empower people to strengthen their community, to make it a healthier place to be, rather than simply assuming there is somewhere better for them to belong. God calls us to participate in restoring and renewing the world- one broken community at a time.

Do you agree? Disagree? Comments welcome!

What is Justice?

What is Justice?
Have you ever considered the word “justice”?

Here’s how the dictionary defines it:
jus•tice noun 1.: The quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause. 2. The administering of deserved punishment or reward. (Dictionary.com)

The Bible talks about justice in a lot of different ways:

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Isaiah 1:17

But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24

But what does all this talk about justice really mean for us? Administer punishment to the person we see littering? Go pleading for the widows to our government officials? Can we turn on a tap and see justice flow out like water? How does justice actually work? What does it look like?

Theologian Walter Brueggemann writes, “covenant members who practice justice and righteousness are to be active advocates for the poor and marginalized; that’s how we love God, by actively loving our neighbor.” Civil rights activist Cornel West says, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”

God’s justice is all about equality. The invitation of the Gospel is to live in such a way that aims to correct the inequalities in our community; sharing resources, knowledge, and opportunity. I like how the prophet Amos says, “Let justice roll down like waters.” The neat thing about water is that it spreads out equally wherever it is; it fills all areas in the same way. This is how I imagine justice to look- like water in a pond, there may be an uneven bottom, but the top is level; equal, all the areas of the pond are filled with water. Water doesn’t judge the bottom of the pond, which nook or cranny is worthy of being filled, it just fills everything up equally.

Perhaps that is how justice should work today. Loving our neighbor like water filling a pond; not judging the worthiness of the neighbor, just filling each one up with love and justice equally.

The following is a link to a video about Justice. It asks us: “If justice and injustice were embodied by humans, what would they have to say to us? Whose voice would sound more familiar?”

Have a look HERE to find out.

The Future of Community

Hi there,

I'm Ty and I work as a Team Lead in The Mustard Seed's Housing department in Calgary. I spend a lot of time in Transitional Housing on the third and fourth floors of our oldest building, 102 11 Ave SE.

It has been through many changes over the years of its existence, but after all of those, nothing has been cooler than what is happening now through community building.  The residents are creating safe home for themselves, partly with the help of Resident Advisors (RA). Essentially, I'm talking here about peer leadership. I'm talking about residents in the midst of life recovery voted into a leadership role by their peers. One for each floor, and I'll tell you what - it's empowering. Why?

It is representative of the community you live with recognizing your gifts and talents, much like becoming a member of the board of a community association. The coolest thing was when one floor embraced a true campaign spirit! We saw posters, conversations, and a victory by only two ballots to achieve a majority as a slate of four candidates were whittled down to two and then one. I saw a great sense of fun, community and the importance of one’s voice when living in a healthy community.

The RA is there as a first point of support for their neighbours, to help brainstorm solutions, host social events, mentor new residents in the culture and welcome new residents, etc. Beginning this process was a powerful step, not just for our guests, but for our staff as well. It was a sign that we were throwing out the charitable model we know best, to simply say, this is our community: staff, volunteers and residents.

We're getting ready to live in the future of community. Are you?

See You In the Neighborhood

Last week I met a handful of families, couples and singles who have to vacate their homes by December 15. The issue is mold, and a property owner who can’t or won’t take steps to properly fix the mold. I stood in the hallways of this building for a few hours with folks from a few other agencies and knocked on doors with a health and safety representative. They gave bad news, we gave good news. As agencies we were there to help, to tell people that we can offer support over the next few weeks as they hurry to find another place to live before Christmas. I have to say, I had mixed feelings about offering this good news. I was certainly happy that we (and these other agencies) can step in to help, but I also wonder how their community can respond. Sometimes, it seems, we rely too much on a systematic response and we don’t offer a human response. When can we (as communities and individuals) step in and help someone in need?

I need to make a confession. I don’t know many of my neighbors. I live in a condominium community in the SW of Calgary; my complex is set up as stacked townhouses, which means I have quite a few neighbors. In fact my garage is surrounded by about 9 other garages. I bought my house about a year ago and the couple who lives above me has lived there for about 6 months. Last week was the first time I’ve ever spoke to the neighbor that I have been parking next to for all that time. Her name is June and she is a lovely person. I’ve been missing out on the opportunity to know her for months now, and it seems like they might just be the type of people I’d want to know when I lock myself out of my house (which has happened 3 times now…) or when I need to complain about the condo board or need to borrow sugar… although more often I run out of olive oil. And perhaps I’m just the type of person that has something to offer them as well!

For me, these two thoughts are connected because I realized that I’m not making myself available to my own neighbors. If there is a senior citizen or new Canadian across the street at risk of losing their housing merely because of a language or technology barrier (a common reality), I can help! But, alas I haven’t met them, I don’t know them and they don’t know me. So I have a challenge for myself: to start making myself available to my neighbors. After all, perhaps there is some way I can offer support and justice to my neighbor, and perhaps a neighbor has something to offer me.


Peace

The Wide (and Wild) World of Work

Tucked away in an office at the end of the hallway in The Creative Centre, I could very easily go unnoticed as I plug away making phone calls to potential employers for our guests. Instead, however, I have been encouraged to “hit the road” by getting out and meeting these employers, to see firsthand where they work and what they do, all in the name of uncovering sustainable work opportunities for our guests.

Since The Employment Centre launch on August 2, we’ve had over 75 guests come through an intake, making them “clients” of our program. The range of industries and jobs on their resumés is extensive, as is the range of jobs they hope to do as they strive towards sustainable employment. When we first started the program, the big push was for general labour and construction jobs, but I’m pleased to report that with creativity and open minds, we’ve gone far beyond the original plan, making “hitting the road” a lot more interesting.

I’ve been able to get out and explore some worksites I truly never imagined I’d see. All in one day, I visited a downtown commercial cleaning company, an organic worm farm and the head office of Samaritan’s Purse. I’ve also toured a dry-cleaning facility, a grocery store warehouse and a welding shop (which, might I add, has hired one of our clients full-time!), to name a few more. It has truly been eye-opening, and I hope that this little blog post has been this way for you as well, as you think about the connections you might have to the business community. We all have networks, and though we may not think they’d be a “fit” to hire our guests, it’s always worth a try. As we’ve already seen, a little creativity and a few open minds can go a long way. We’re all here to see real life-change with our guests, so here’s just one more way you can be a part of it!

Toilet Paper or Milk?

I stood in line at the supermarket with my lonely frozen pizza in hand. As I placed my pizza on the conveyer and waited my turn, the elderly woman in front of me was inputting her PIN into the pinpad and the cashier was counting a series of pennies on the counter. “I can take 22 cents off,” she says, as she finishes counting the coins. “You’re not going to have enough,” she states next as I see the elderly woman has handed her an ATM slip with her bank account balance. It hits me with hurricane force that between the pennies on the counter and the balance in her bank, she can’t pay for her grocery bill. Then I look up and see her grocery bill is $8.80 and consists of toilet paper and milk. $8.80. Toilet paper and milk. That’s it. “Which would you like to leave? The milk?” “Yes, the milk,” she says, as my heart tears into jagged pieces and the cashier voids the item. My mind was racing about how unfair it was for this woman to choose between those two necessary items.

What is this woman’s story? Where is her community? Where are the people who love and care for her and make sure she has toilet paper and milk in her home – even if she can’t afford it?   This woman could be a horrible person who steals and spends her money on terrible things, I don’t know. The point was, at that very moment she was in need of help. Plainly put, I’m a stranger in a store, she doesn’t know me from Eve, and I’m one of the three people witnessing this woman’s financial shortfall, grocery bagger and cashier included. And the realization was – her community was me. I harp on all day about building community, growing hope and supporting change. Here was an opportunity to do perhaps all three.

“I’ll pay for your milk,” I said as I stepped to where her and the cashier could hear me. She didn’t insist otherwise, but instead asked if I was sure, and then thanked me repeatedly. I handed the cashier a $5 bill to cover the cost of the milk and then a bit more. $3.80 was the woman’s new total, and as she continued thanking me, her last words before leaving were “may God bless you.”

Little did she know He already had.

Faces of The Seed: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I love photos. I love taking them and looking at them.  I love the stories that they tell with using no words.  So in light of that, I hope you enjoy today's post.  These are the beautiful people that I get to work with on a daily basis they have taught me more about strength, resiliency and the power of giving than anyone else.




You are Like Family to Me



Beloved

Passion

Soul Food

Many Hands Make Light Work

You Make My Day Brighter



Hands & Feet

 


Weary

*These photos are not my own and have been taken by many people at The Mustard Seed*

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.