The Mountain We Must Climb

I believe that there is something of a significant paradigm shift taking place in this country regarding homelessness, and, for the most part, that young people are pushing that agenda.

However, passions and desires to do the right thing are often overwhelmed by the reality of just how difficult a task we face. 

The “mountain” just seems un-climbable.

In 1849, surveyors made a great discovery of Chomolungma, also known as Mount Everest - the tallest mountain in the world, at 29,029 feet.

Everest was also considered un-climbable. Anything over 24,000 feet was referred to as the “Death Zone”. Sadly, hundreds have died in the attempt to reach the top of Everest.

The first man to officially make it to the top of Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary.

Turns out, the mountain was climbable after all… it just took 100 years to do it.

Caring for the homelessness, social justice, justice ministry… call it whatever you want, but we can climb this mountain if we work together.

Homelessness is not just a mountain that we can observe from a distance. It’s not just a mountain that we attempt to climb, make it halfway up, and then turn around and go home. It’s a mountain that we can and need to intentionally climb and refuse to allow ourselves to not make it to the top.

At The Mustard Seed, with the help of literally thousands of volunteers and supporters, we will keep on climbing until we make it to the top. 

- Bill Nixon,  Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed

@billbytheminute

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover This Halloween

We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and on a holiday like Halloween this adage seems to take on new meaning. Many Canadians will don a costume this Halloween to look funny, scary, or crazy. The guises we wear at Halloween remind me of the stereotypes that are often made about people experiencing homelessness because of the way they look. Visitors to The Mustard Seed often tell me that they are scared of the people on the streets because of the way they look. They take one look at someone and assume they know all about them: "They’re lazy”, “They’re an addict”, “They’re homeless”, “They’d hurt me if I stopped to talk to them”, and “They’re scary”.

Brené Brown, a social worker from the United States says, “In [our] culture of shame, we are constantly overwhelmed with feelings of fear, blame, and disconnection. This creates an ‘us and them’ world. There are people like us, and then there are ‘those other people’. And we normally work very hard to insulate ourselves from ‘those people’. As children, there were the people that we were allowed to hang out with and then there were the other kids…As adults, we live in the neighborhood where our kind live – the other neighborhoods are for the other folks. We emotionally and physically insulate ourselves from ‘the other’… We’ve developed language to describe others – sometimes we refer to them as ‘those people’, or the even more mysterious ‘people like that’… Sharing our shame with someone is painful… the natural tendency to avoid or reduce this pain is often why we start to judge and insulate ourselves using otherness. We basically blame them for their experience. We unconsciously divide people into two camps: worthy of our support and unworthy.”  I Thought it Was Just Me (But it Isn't) - Brené Brown

Homelessness is scary, and it’s painful, especially when we get to know someone who is experiencing homelessness and they share their story with us. When we hear someone’s story, we start to care about them and it hurts to see people we care about in bad situations. So instead of getting to know people, we give them a stereotype or a label that sums them up in one word so we don’t have to feel the pain of hearing their actual story.  

Last week a group of elementary students from a local school came to visit the Mustard Seed and they made sandwiches for our community. They bravely opened their minds and hearts to hear about “the other”. We gave them a tour and shared with them the stories of some of the folks we know that have been affected by poverty and homelessness. Sometimes I get discouraged and I wonder if these tours even do anything to help, but I was given some hope when I received a letter from the teacher of one student, who went back to his school and wrote about his experience in his journal. The student wrote:

“Today we went to The Mustard Seed... I learned that homeless people are not crazy drug addicts or bums, but people that have worth. I think that it is fitting that The Mustard Seed ended up in a church. The Mustard Seed is one of the best places I have seen in my life, and I am happy that we were able to go and make a difference in someone’s life, or at least a sandwich. I cannot believe that I used to think that these people were useless. I will try to donate to non-profit organizations, and make sure my donations are in good shape and can give hope to the people who receive them.” – Grade 6 Student

This Halloween, may we remember that beneath the clothes we wear, the ‘costumes’ we put on each day in our schools, our work places, and our cities, that each of us has a story, and that our stories matter, because we matter.

Let us remember that each of us has a name and we are so much more than stereotypes and labels from the way we look.

And may we have the courage to share our story with our whole heart and to hear the story of “the others” in our own communities.

Say "Hello" and Follow me on twitter @paulacornell5 or @mustardseedyeg

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The True Value of What You Give

As Christians and followers of Jesus, it is unquestionable that God has commanded us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and to give selflessly of ourselves to those who are in need.

This is requested of us various times throughout the Bible and is an almost universally-accepted characteristic of today’s Christian. We know that when we view and treat others (especially those who make up the most vulnerable populations) with kindness and respect, we are honoring and glorifying God.

However, many of us are plagued with a feeling of inadequacy – a feeling that the hours we volunteer, the money and items we donate, and the kind deeds we do for others aren’t enough.

Though we can’t measure quantitatively what “enough” really is, we can indicate that we feel that these things aren’t truly substantial in a way that will make a "real difference" in the world – that we (and our actions) are too tiny and insignificant to really make a positive impact among all of the inequalities of this world.

When I feel this way personally, there is a verse in 2 Corinthians that I often refer back to, to shed some perspective on what it is that God truly expects of us.

2 Corinthians 8:12 tells us “Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don't have.” (NLT, 2007)

God does not expect us to save the world on our own. He does not expect us to donate millions and trillions of dollars, when we can only really spare a few. God asks us to give according to what we do have to give. He does not measure the dollar value of the gift; rather, he measures the amount of love within the giver and behind the deeds. When you give of yourself selflessly, free of expectations for rewards or praise, you are loving and serving others in the manner pleasing to God.

Organizations such as The Mustard Seed can only exist and continue to help those in need when it is assisted by the accumulation of support from each and every one of our very generous and selfless donors, volunteers and supporters. We truly appreciate all that we receive, regardless of the dollar amount given or the amount of time spent helping out.

If at any time you feel that your contributions are too small or insignificant, I urge you to remember the words of 2 Corinthians 8:12.

- Jennifer Fast, New Media Specialist, The Mustard Seed
@loveismotion222

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Ego, Empathy & Ending Poverty

Have you ever seen a little kid running and suddenly do a face plant into the ground? Or watched a clip from America’s Funniest Home Videos where a backyard stunt goes horribly wrong?  What happens when you see this?  If you’re like me, you immediately cringe and partly shut your eyes, your legs might go numb, or you grab the body part that the victim just potentially injured.

In a strange way you feel their pain…it’s like for a moment you’re in their shoes.

Why is that?

Scientists attribute it to “mirror neurons” in the frontal region of the brain; they seem to mediate empathy and allow us to sense the pain of others as if it were our own – just by seeing it.  I guess this helps explain why I cry every time I watch “The Notebook.”  Although it seems we are soft-wired for empathy, it does not automatically mean we are compassionate to others.  This altruistic tendency must be cultivated in order to reach its full potential.

“Do to others what you would have them do to you…”

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus seemed to see the direct connection between experiencing the love of God, self-love, and loving others; he experienced the connectedness between all of us and everything around us.  He also noticed how our ego, what Paul calls our “old self”, tends towards violence and apathy.  Judgement, greed, intolerance, prejudice and hatred all flow out of a me-first mentality.  So does apathy, which in most cases is more violent than hatred.  Jesus sought to cultivate the heart to allow the empathic nature to grow and strengthen…preparing the soil to allow the seeds of compassion to sprout and take root.

It’s funny, children are so good at this.  As soon as one baby cries the other will start crying, as if they can feel each other’s hunger.  A kid on the playground willingly shares her goodies with her friends; in a pure and simple way she understands that her friend’s happiness affects her own. Like Jesus said, we need to be like little children, having open minds and hearts to our shared humanity.

What is my point exactly?  We have come to a place in our history when it is no longer advantageous to see the destruction of our “enemy” or stockpile our wealth and ignore the needs of our neighbor.  We are now so interdependent on the well-being of the “other” that war, discrimination and apathy are out-dated.  Like the Dali Lama said, “We must strive for reconciliation and always remember the interests of others.  We cannot destroy our neighbors or ignore their interests!  This would ultimately lead to our own suffering.”

Homelessness and poverty in general affects all of us; the systemic, economic, social service, government, and societal costs negatively impact everyone.  The question becomes to what point are we awakened to this fact and how do we respond?  The evidence is there…we are all connected and the well-being of your neighbor directly impacts your own.  Our fences, gates and closed doors cannot keep it’s effect out, but only perpetuates the problem.

Do you allow yourself to feel the pain of others?  How you respond to the needs of your neighbor and the community you live in?

How are you cultivating a compassionate heart and love for others?  Do you see the hurting person as your own brother or sister; a part of the whole human family?  Do you see how much your neighbor needs you and you need them?

The Mustard Seed cannot end homeless alone; the roots of poverty spread deeper and wider than its reach.  You have eyes, ears, hands, feet and a heart, so look around you; listen to the cries for compassion and belonging; reach out and embrace; walk a mile in their shoes; feel the heartbeat of a humanity that you are an integral part of.

- Josh

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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.

Running to End Homelessness

Last year, I ran 2524 kms. Essentially, that is like running from Edmonton to Hamilton, Calgary to Mexico or doing 42 round trips between Edmonton and Calgary. When I look back on those kms, the highlight was the 21kms that I ran on May 29th in my Run to End Homelessness in the Calgary Marathon. During that run, I capped off a fundraising effort that brought in $13,900 in support of The Mustard Seed’s vision of building community, growing hope and supporting change. Running, by nature, is a pretty individual sport, calling on inner determination and discipline. When I ran the half marathon in Calgary, it gave me a chance to reach out to others as I ran one step at a time. It felt amazing to put on my shoes and run the 16,000 steps in solidarity for our homeless neighbours.

If you were one of those generous people who sponsored me to run in 2011, I cannot thank you enough. Furthermore, I truly hope I can count on you to support the same initiative again this year. We are once again featured charities in both the Calgary and Edmonton Marathon weekends, which provides me with the opportunity to run for the men and women who come to The Mustard Seed in search of hope. What's more, is that it provides you with that opportunity as well. Together, we can run to end homelessness, inviting our friends and family to sponsor us in our effort. Don’t worry if you are not a runner (yet). Both races offer distances from 5 km to 42 km and walking is absolutely an option. Plus, you’ve got 109 days to get ready for Calgary and 193 to prepare for Edmonton.

When Eric Liddle famously said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” I think he may have been thinking of a run like this. Sign up and join the team that’s running to end homelessness. If you are unable to run, please give generously today.

A Vicious Cycle

January is a tough month for people who use the services at The Mustard Seed.  I probably would go as far as to say it is the worst month of year.  Anyone that relies on government assistance gets their January cheques a week earlier in December to allow for people to buy gifts or prep for holidays which means that by January 1^st most of the money is gone. January begins the month long wait for the next cheque.  Money is tight.

The frustrating thing about living on government assistance is that it is a hand out not always a hand up.  The average single person receives roughly $583 per month.   People on welfare may have lost their job, suffered some phsycial or mental disability or struggle with an addiction.  Can you imagine living on $583/month?  I couldn’t afford to pay my rent with that let alone buy groceries, pay utilities and have a phone.  Because of this people are constantly living from paycheck to paycheck and this begins the vicious cycle of poverty.  Lots of time is spent trying to track down the nearest food bank,  a free meal, shoes or hygiene items because they never have enough money.  How are people expected to get a job if they don’t have a safe place sleep, shower and wash their clothes?  How do you get a job if you don’t have a phone number for an employer to call you back for an interview?  Welfare is a challenging system for people to be a part of and does not always allow for opportunities for people to escape the cycle of poverty.

If you are more interested on the conversation of living on welfare you can follow MLA Jagrup Brar who has taken on the challenge of living on welfare for the month of January.  Be sure to follow this story throughout the month of January by keeping track of events and comments at http://mlaonwelfare.com/ 

Real People

"I want to stay because people here care about me" muttered Laura (not her real name) as she sat sobbing on the bench in the lobby. My co-worker, Joel, and I attempted to ease the pain of the reality that she would not be able to stay at our shelter any longer, due to various medical issues that we were unable to accommodate - not the least of which was her passing out mid-sentence and nearly falling to the floor on a number of occasions.  This may sound strange that someone in this state would "want" to stay at an emergency homeless shelter, but it is not an uncommon desire among many of the guests that utilize The Mustard Seed's services. 

My name is Jordan, and I work frontline at The Mustard Seed Shelter in Calgary. For someone like Laura, an elderly individual who had been on the streets for a number of years, slipping through the cracks, and being cycled through the system, living off of a very small monthly cheque from the government and picking bottles for a living, it is very easy to feel alone. Couple this with her mild personality and small figure and it made her somewhat forgettable.  With her failing body, being on over two dozen prescription medications, and her deteriorating mental health in a battle to overcome severe depression, her situation was very bleak. And as I sat there and witnessed the anguish in her face, while trying to fight my own tears of sorrow, I had once again been reminded of the humanity and unsurpassable worth of the person sitting in front of me.  This lady was not a statistic, or a number, or my "work", she was, is, a real person, who has real pain, just like me.

I no longer appreciate the term "homeless people/person", when you use the word homeless as a title to describe someone, you are attaching a very painful and traumatic experience to their identity, creating a cultural divide of "us and them".  The reality is that these are valuable, legitimate members of society who are experiencing homelessness.  Yes, many of them have made decisions that have born negative consequences and may very well have put them in the place they are in, but to strip someone of value and worth because of their social standing, or even because of the wrong decisions they have made, is a travesty, and it is often only a reflection of how insignificant we ourselves feel.  So I have decided because of Laura and others like her, I will know longer work to serve the 'homeless' but rather, I will serve real people who do not have a home. Semantics? Maybe.  But also something to think about.


Jordan T. Swaim
Overnight Support Worker

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?