A donation of barbecues

I love my job. I love it especially when I can thank people for all the help they give us. I love it when I get photos like the one below.

Thanks to the generosity of  Harvey Steinwald of the Knights of Pythias .... , we now have two new barbecues. These will last us for years to come and we can use them at all of our locations. In the summer, it's a treat for our clients to get something a little different from what they might get in the soup kitchen. Although we try to have interesting and nutritious meals for them, there's nothing like the treat of a hamburger or a hot dog off the grill.

We'll also put these barbecues to good use when we hold our volunteer appreciation barbecue.

Thank you so much, Harvey. I know the clients will enjoy a lot of good food thanks to your donation.

Giving hope to homeless women in Ottawa

When I talk about the services we provide for women, a lot of people are surprised we are the only homeless shelter that accepts women. Other shelters will feed them, but they don't give them a place to sleep. There are reasons for that, but at Shepherds of Good Hope, we made a decision we were going to be there for Ottawa's most in-need people and gender wasn't going to be an issue.

There are several different programs we run for women. We have a 60-bed shelter for women and transgendered individuals who are 18 years of age or older.

While they're here, the women have access to medical staff, counsellors and outreach workers. We also have a women's special care unit. It's a 16-bed unit for women with more challenging medical issues.

Although those are dedicated services to women, all of the programs we offer to Ottawa's homeless population are there for men and women. For example, there are women in our Worker Program. There are women in TESP.

Finally, we have Brigid's Place, a housing first facility with room for 11 women. These are women who can live independently but still need support services in place.

Like all of our programs, we staff them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you want to learn more about the services we provide to women or book a tour, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me. 613-789-8210, ext 247. Email: asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Volunteer appreciation barbecue

 It was a great day Saturday to hold a barbecue.

This time, the volunteers got to be in front of the serving line instead of behind it. It was our chance to thank the many volunteers who donate hours and hours to our organization. Without them, Shepherds of Good Hope would not be able to deliver the services we do to Ottawa's homeless population.

Did you know that there are more than 400 volunteers with us? They are everywhere from the soup kitchen, the food and clothing program, at every one of our facilities, They work in the community gardens, they teach literacy, they hold yoga classes, they do karaoke. I could blog every day for a month and still not touch on every activity volunteers are involved in.

Sue Alcott, our manager of volunteers, and Stephanie Brazolot, our volunteer coordinator, did a great job organizing the barbecue. A thank you also goes out to the staff members who turned out to help serve the food.

Volunteering at Shepherds is a special thing. You are working with some of the most in-need men and women in the city. You get to meet lots of people with similar interests and it's no surprise that volunteers at Shepherds develop life-long friendships with each other.

If you're interested in volunteering, please check out our volunteer page.

Hidden Harvest Ottawa delivers apples

I've blogged a few times about how I'm always amazed at the type of donations we get from people, local businesses and organizations. It doesn't matter the size of the gift. I'm just so grateful that when people have something to give they think of Shepherds of Good Hope.

This week we got a donation of more than 100 pounds of crab apples from Hidden Harvest Ottawa. Crab apples are something you don't think of often and they're only available at a certain time of the year. We had no trouble putting them to good use.

Hidden harvest Ottawa organizes harvest from existing trees that most of us would not think of. There are a lot of fruits and nuts on public and private property that would go to waste even though there is nothing wrong with them.

The organization connects with owners who want to harvest local food. Once the food is harvested, it's shared with the nearest food agency. The organization also sells fruit-bearing trees to members of the public who are interested in growing their own food.

A lot of Ottawa residents have gardens. Many organizations participate in community gardens. If you would like to share your harvest, please don't hesitate to contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Check out our virtual giving catalogue

Online shopping is quickly becoming the norm. Take a company like Amazon. They're now bigger than WalMart.

Online donating is also becoming more popular as it's easy and people can connect in a variety of ways.

We like online donations because it also gives us an opportunity to present you with different ways that you can help us.

If you go to our website and look under the donate menu, you'll see an item called virtual giving catalogue. What the catalogue does is allow you to spend a certain amount of money to help us with a specific need. For example, for $25, you can buy a week's worth of lunches for one of the men and women who are part of the Worker Program. These clients have full- or part-time jobs but are still living in the shelter. For a variety of reasons, they are still homeless. We make sure getting to work every day is easy as possible by providing them a separate place to sleep from the main shelter and by providing them a boxed lunch each day.

I want to send a special thank you to everyone in the community who has given to us so far in 2015. I'm also including some special links to our virtual giving catalogue.

Virtual Giving Catalogue
Lunch for a week
Socks and underwear
Feed a family of 4

Hot weather and the homeless

I'm not going to complain about the hot weather. Our winters are too long for me to take issue with a few hot days. I can say that because I have air conditioning.

But when you're living on the street, there is no such thing as air conditioning. You can find shade but even in the shade, spending a full day outside in this weather isn't healthy. That's why on a day like today our triage staff will spend about 95 per cent of their day walking the grounds, ensuring people are drinking water. In some cases, we don't ask. We just give them some water as often homeless people can be unaware  they're already suffering from the effects of dehydration.

We'll also let people spend time indoors today where it's a lot cooler. For more on hot weather days and the impact on the homeless, please read this story we wrote recently.

Charlie makes the local newspaper

Charlie, the special six-year-old boy from Renfrew who donated his lemonade stand money to us, was back in the news last week. His hometown newspaper, the Renfrew Mercury, ran a photo on Page 1 followed by a story on an inside page. Click here for the story.

Charlie, you deserve all the accolades you are getting. With the school year just around the corner, I hope you get a chance to talk to your friends at school about how easy it is to help people who have so little.

And speaking of schools, I know it's not what a lot of people think about on such a hot day, but the start of schools is just a few weeks away. This fall, like past years, we'll be reaching out to the schools. So many students and teachers take the time every year to help us either by holding food drives, making sandwiches or raising money.

We're looking forward this year to visiting as many of you as we can. See you in a couple of months.

Homelessness happens to students

I was reading an interesting article today about how homelessness can happen to students. Here's the link if you would like to read the story.

A lot of people wouldn't know this but every year, we do have a couple of university students who have to rely on our shelter because they've become homeless. (This year we have seven students). Normally, these students are part of the Worker Program.

The Worker Program is aimed at our homeless clients who are working part-time or full-time but are homeless for one reason or another. It's also for people who are homeless but have a strong desire to find work and need our help to accomplish that goal. As well as working with clients in school, the program will also help someone who is homeless and wants to return to school.

Understandably, shelters can be busy places. When you're trying to hold down a job, find housing or study, the shelter might not always be the best place for you. So what the Worker Program does is give those people a separate area to sleep. They can come and go based on their schedules. We make sure the participants have access to a computer. They get boxed lunches from the soup kitchen. But the real key to the program is the case management worker. That person creates a program for every participant. It's based on their needs. Typically, it involves financial literacy and how to budget. But it might include other things like how to deal with shift work, how to balance your studies while saving your money. That case management worker is there to do whatever he/she can to help the client meet their goals.

No student should be homeless, but Shepherds of Good Hope is there if a student needs us. But we can't help these students without your help. When you make a donation to Shepherds of Good Hope, you help us ensure that people and students who are homeless get the help they need to have a life of dignity, and to focus on a brighter future.

Please consider making a donation by clicking on the donate now link.

Special days to raise money

How many of you have jeans day or casual day on a Friday? Did you know you can easily turn that day into a fundraiser for Shepherds of Good Hope?

The people at MaxSys Staffing & Consulting do just that. They don't do a jeans day on Fridays. They have their jeans day event around every holiday weekend during the year.

Each division across Canada is invited to participate in jeans day. If they do, they contribute $5 to the charity fund. MaxSys President and founder Bryan Brulotte then matches each donation with another $5.

Recently Matt and Chaela with the Ottawa division of MaxSys visited Shepherds of Good Hope to make a donation from their jeans day event.

Thank you, Matt and Chaela, and to everyone who participated.

The not-so-obvious donations we need

I just love it when the weather is so nice at the start of a work week. It's simply a great way to start the day. Now I only hope I keep getting this great weather when I take a few days of vacation.

I hope everyone has had a chance to book some vacation days this summer or will be taking some later this month.

Did you know you can still help homeless people when you're on vacation, especially if you're out of town and staying at a hotel?

Let me explain. Some of the donations we need on a regular basis are not always the obvious things we think of every day. We need soap, shampoo, disposable razors, toilet paper, etc. So how can you help when you're on vacation?

Well, for those of you who have stayed in a hotel, many of you have taken home with you the little bottles of complimentary shampoo, conditioner and soap that hotels provide to its guests. Did you know you can donate those items to the shelter? We'll gladly take them.

It's a big deal to the men and women, too. I remember one woman asking: "Is this shampoo really for me? It's mine to keep?" We take things like shampoo and soap for granted. We buy them, stick them next to the tub and don't think twice about them. They're just always there when we need to use them. That's not always the case for homeless people or the community residents who rely on our grocery program twice a week. Their priority is to make sure they get enough food. So the donation of toiletries like soap, shampoo or disposable razors is special. It allows them to keep what little money they have for food for their families.

So if you have any of those little sample bottles in your bathroom or you're going on vacation soon and staying at a hotel, remember you can donate them to us. When you do, please know that you are helping Ottawa's most in-need men and women meet simple, basic daily needs.

Desserts for the homeless

There are very few of us who don't enjoy a nice dessert after a meal. It might be something to satisfy your sweet tooth or it might be a healthy piece of fruit.

Sometimes when I ask for donations of desserts, there is a bit of a pause. People want to help but they wonder if the priority should be on food instead.

I can understand their thinking. But for the men and women who rely on our services, that dessert after supper might be the one highlight of their day. It might be the only treat they had that week.

It's often something simple. Maybe a small cup of grapes or strawberries. Maybe it's a cupcake that was donated to us by a grocery store or a bakery. Someone might have donated leftover sweets from a family gathering or an office function. Earlier this summer, Loblaws donated ice cream bars to our client barbecue and they were a huge hit, especially as it was a warm day.

Yes, we want to ensure the people we serve don't go hungry, that they can get three nutritious meals. But a small dessert at the end of the day means just as much to them.

If you have dessert items you would like to donate, please contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or by e-mail at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Creating a new generation of donors

There are a lot of lessons we want to teach our children. As a mother, I hope I've taught the right ones to my son. When I look at his life, I think I have.

One of those lessons is the importance of helping others, being grateful for what you have today and not worrying about what you want tomorrow. Charity just doesn't happen, though. In a lot of cases, children are inspired to give, to help others or to volunteer because of the examples set by their parents. Those examples stay with them throughout their lives.

Last year, there was a survey of 1,100 donors. Ninety-four per cent said they strongly or somewhat agreed they are teaching their children about the need to give. Two-thirds of people said they had discussed charitable giving with their family at least twice in the last year. And finally, 78 per cent said the causes they support reflects input from other members of the family.

I am thrilled with how much support we get from the community. We could not do what we do every day without the generous support of people who donate. Every week families donate goods and money to help the men and women we care for. It's clear the work we do is important to you. So why not make sure your children also know how important Shepherds of Good Hope is to you? One day they'll teach their children the importance of charity, too.

It's heart-warming to read a lot of parents are doing just that. It's a sign the next generation will continue to give a helping hand to others. It's important there is a next generation of donors to ensure Ottawa's most in-need men and women get the support and care they need.

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If you would like to make a donation to Shepherds of Good Hope, please visit our donations page.

Quota Club of Ottawa raises funds for Shepherds of Good Hope

I'm always touched by people who want to hold events to raise funds for us so that we can continue to help Ottawa's homeless population.

The Quota Club of Ottawa, which is celebrating 69 years of community service, is another example of a group fundraising for us. For the last 18 years, this group has been hosting an event called Night at the Races. The event is held at the Rideau Carleton Raceway and Slots and this year the money raised will support our women's shelter.

The women's shelter provides care and services to women 18 years or older who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The women come from all different backgrounds. They might be facing financial challenges or fleeing an abusive partner. Some struggle with mental health issues. They have nowhere else to turn but we take them in, care for them. and provide a safe place to stay. While they're in our care, they have access to a variety of programs we hope will help them stabilize and find independent housing.

I want to thank everyone with Quota for donating the proceeds of their event to us. We know it's going to be a fabulous event.

This year, it's set for Sunday, Oct. 4. Tickets are $60 and include a full course buffet dinner, valet parking, and of course, a racing program. Tickets can be purchased by calling Willy Lee at 613-738-8888 or you can email at quota_fundraiser@outlook.com.

If you would like to raise funds on our behalf with your next event, please contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or by email at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Food donations dip in the summer

I hope everyone had a great long weekend. It ended with a little bit of rain throughout the day Monday, but overall, it was a nice weekend.

Now it's back to work. Back to our routines. And one of the routines I hope to get people into this summer is to remember to donate food. I appreciate all the donations we get, but the summer is always a challenge and this summer is no different.

At Shepherds of Good Hope, we open our grocery program twice a week to the community. We're really the only Lowertown food bank. I always know when it's grocery day because of the lineup going out the doors and into the parking lot.

The Ottawa Food Bank does supply us and all community food banks with food. But they, too, get hit with the summer donation slowdown.

So what are we looking for? We're looking for non-perishable goods, things like coffee, tea, dried pasta, pasta sauce, canned vegetables, soups and fruits, dried beans, rice and lentils.

Other popular items are things like toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant.

Not only do we hand out food twice a week, but we also use some of it to feed the men and women who come to our soup kitchen. No one is in danger of not getting fed, but as you can tell from the photos below, some of our shelves are starting to look a little bare.

So how can you help? If you have some additional canned goods or any of the above mentioned items that you would like to donate, please drop by our 233 Murray St. location. In the back parking lot is a convenient drop-off window. We appreciate anything you can give. Even just one bag of groceries will make a huge difference in the life of someone who relies on us in order to feed their family.

For more information, here's a link to our donation page.