Shepherds of Good Hope gets New 2013 Grand Caravan Van

With seven facilities across the city, Shepherds of Good Hope is always in need of dependable vehicles to take clients to appointments or outings and to bring food from one location to another.  Just recently, Shepherds of Good Hope had been looking to replace its oldest van with a newer one.
 
On Monday April 22^nd, the Dilawri Auto Group presented the keys of a 2013 Grand Caravan Van to Shepherds of Good Hope. They also took the opportunity to donate a large sum of money back to Shepherds of Good Hope.

 

Giving back is no secret to Pawan Dialwri and the Dilawri Family. They have been former Shepherds of Good Hope meal volunteers and had donated all of the groceries for the meals that they served.

 
Pawan Dilawri stated that, “Our family have always been admirers of the work of Shepherds of Good Hope and we do our best to help them as much as possible.”
 
“We are so grateful to Pawan Dilawri and the Dilawri Auto Group for reaching out to help us when we called,” said Anna Silverman, Executive Director, Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation. “This community partnership is very special to us.”

Please visit the Dilawri Auto Group website at http://www.dilawriauto.com/

 

Ottawa's Culinary Community

I had the privilege last night of attending an event to say thank you to the chefs in the culinary community that all pulled together to keep OZ cafe running while their executive chef Jamie Stunt, who won gold medal plates in Ottawa, headed off to Vancouver to compete in the Canadian Culinary Championship. We are very lucky in Ottawa to have so much outstanding young talent in our culinary community.

Transition from the Streets!

Jeannie has been living at Brigid’s Place since the summer of 2011. Before moving into Brigid’s Place, she lived on the street for many years. No one really knew Jeannie because she often couldn’t access services in the community. She was often viewed as a ‘hard to serve’ and a ‘dangerous’ client. Her past trauma, loss of culture, mental health and addiction remained invisible to service providers.    

 

Since moving into Brigid’s Place, Jeannie has worked with the staff to stabilize herself and set goals. With working through her past trauma issues, her nightmares have lessoned and she is now more able to feel safe at night. Jeannie has also talked with staff about some literacy issues she experiences. To overcome this barrier, staff work closely with her to help her learn the life skills she needs to live independently, such as cooking, buying a bus pass, and organizing appointments.    

 

Jeannie also takes great pride in herself by monitoring how she has been able to decrease her drug use. She documents this on a calendar and works with her doctor to maintain her Methadone program.  She is also starting to see how her past trauma, addiction, mental health and culture all relate to one another.     

 

 

 

By looking past the labels of “hard to serve” and “dangerous”, we were able to see Jeannie for what she had truly experienced in her life - pain, loss, and isolation.  By accepting Jeannie as who she is, we were able to give her guidance, support, and encouragement so that she could move forward.