It's award season for schools

Even though school has only been in session for a few weeks, it's time to honour two schools with the Ottawa Catholic School Board.

At our annual general meeting Tuesday evening, we celebrated the fundraising efforts of St. Francis of Assisi and Sacred Heart High School. The students of St. Francis of Assisi, an elementary school, made more than 2,000 sandwiches last year and also donated several bags of clothing.

Sacred Heart students were honoured for a third year. Their students made more than 5,500 sandwiches last year and also volunteered in our soup kitchen.

Congratulations to Sacred Heart and St. Francis of Assisi. We appreciate very much the effort you made to help us care for Ottawa's homeless men and women.

This year is shaping up to be another banner year. We're barely a month into the school year and several schools have asked about tours and presentations while others have already indicated they are doing food drives in time for Thanksgiving.

Darwin's story

I want to share with you a story we recently sent out to our direct mail subscribers. It's the story of Darwin, a resident at The Oaks.

Darwin spent many years in and out of the shelter. He says he batted alcoholism and substance abuse for many years. He remembers taking his first drink when he was 12 years old. During the years, he had a family, but it couldn't survive the challenges he faced.

One day, Darwin had an epiphany. It doesn't matter what inspired it. What matters is what he did with it. He came to Shepherds of Good Hope and became a participant in the managed alcohol program. I've blogged often about MAP and we've run several stories on Facebook and our website about this innovative program. If you're interested, you can check out the link provided.

It's not an overstatement to say MAP saved Darwin's life. At The Oaks, he has his own room. There is staff who monitor his health. They make sure he eats three meals a day. He can socialize with the other residents or he can spend time in his room. There's no more excessive drinking. He's probably the healthiest he has been in several years.

More importantly, finding stability in his life, improving his health has helped him reconnect with his son. When we spoke to Darwin, it was clear there was no more important person in his life than his son and his son's family. Darwin is a grandfather, too, and he loves to dote on his two grandsons.

He's thankful for what Shepherds of Good Hope has done for him. He knows, too, that we're able to help men and women like him because so many people in the community donate money, time and goods.

This Thanksgiving, Darwin will be with his family. But there will be many men and women in our care who won't have a home to go to this Thanksgiving. They are part of the Shepherds of Good Hope family. Please help us this Thanksgiving by making a donation. Let the men and women know they have not been forgotten this holiday.

Women Leaders

I had the pleasure and honour earlier this week to be a part of a panel of women who hold leadership positions in the non-profit sector. It was hosted by ELLE.

We had a chance to talk about our careers, the best advice we ever received, our mentors and the challenges facing women who aspire to be leaders and what can be done to improve it. Yesterday, I blogged about my motivation.

Today, I want to share another thought with you. One of the questions we were asked was what was the best advice you ever received. It's hard to narrow it down just to one piece of advice but here's what comes to mind right away: If you believe in yourself, others will believe in you. You have to have faith in yourself. It was many years ago when this was passed onto me, but it has stuck with me.

I've worked with a lot of great people, people I consider mentors. I work with great people every day at Shepherds of Good Hope. But to believe you can do the job, to believe you can make a difference, it has to start with you. You have to believe in yourself. It won't always be easy but you have to start with that belief in yourself.

I also believe in what we do at Shepherds of Good Hope. I've had the good fortune of working in different industries and working with many different people. But every day, thanks to our donors, our volunteers, and our staff, we make a difference in the lives of so many people who have so little. We do it because we believe.

I'd love to hear what advice you've been given in your career or life. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

What motivates me to raise funds

On Tuesday, I was part of a women-in-leadership conference. One of the stories I shared with the audience was my motivation behind why I do what I do at Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation. For those of you who know me, you know what I do. I ask you for money because I believe in what we do at Shepherds of Good Hope.

Regardless of where I have worked, I have always filled my spare time with volunteer work. But when I came to Shepherds of Good Hope and sat at my desk for the first time, I thought, what now? What do I do next?

I knew I had to really learn about the people I was going to serve. So I made a decision to spend a night at the women’s shelter. I can honestly tell you it changed my life. One of my motivations was to hear the other women talk to me as if I was one of them.

I remember sitting in the TV room. I talked to a woman who had been there for three months. She had come from a small town. The problem is once you get in, you can’t get out and that’s all the motivation I needed to raise as much money as I can every day to help these people, to help these people find their direction in their lives. It’s one conversation that made me look at things very, very differently.

The reality is it could happen to anyone of us. I remember as I walked across the street from my office to the shelter building the angst I felt. This could really happen. I could lose my job. I could lose my home. I could lose everything I have. Just like these people on the street. And all I can say is they are people just like us and they need help. Thank God Shepherds of Good Hope has all of these wonderful programs to help them.

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To help the men and women at Shepherds of Good Hope, please consider making a donation.

St. Matthew students setting an example

Three students from St. Matthew's -- Colleen, Danelle and Winnie -- were at Shepherds of Good Hope on Thursday for a tour. They wanted to see exactly what we do and who we help. They were so impressed that after they finished their tour, they headed to the mall where they convinced a couple of local companies to donate some beauty products to them that they brought back to the shelter to hand out to the women in our care.

This is the power of a tour. I believe when people see firsthand the men and women we serve and the innovative programs we run, they can't help but want to give.

It's also wonderful to see youth philanthropy in action. Too often teens are painted with the same brush in a negative way. Colleen, Danelle and Winnie came to Shepherds of Good Hope with an open mind and were impressed with the services we offer to Ottawa's most vulnerable men and women.

Thank you, Colleen, Danelle and Winnine for your initiative. The women will enjoy these beauty products. I also wanted to thank the two companies that helped the young ladies on their quest.

Start a workplace campaign

Last month when representatives of MaxSys Staffing & Consulting dropped off a donation, the last thing they said was, see you next month.

Sure enough, they were here again yesterday to donate the proceeds of their jeans day. Each division across Canada is participating. To participate, the employee contributes $5 and then founder Bryan Brulotte matches that donation. Each division picks the local charity they want to deal with.

With vacation season over, most workplaces are at full staffing. Now is the time to start your own workplace campaign.

Here are some ideas.

Jeans Day: Okay, I didn't have to think too hard to come up with this one. You know how this works.

Bake Sale Day: Another great way to make Fridays more fun. Everyone can make cookies or some sort of sweet which can be sold throughout the day. If you're a business that has people visiting, let them in on it. It's a great way for you to show off your community spirit to people you probably want to do business with.

Crazy Hat day: Pick a day and let people wear whatever hat they like. Maybe it's an old fashion fedora, a ball cap or a colourful toque. The beauty of this one is it's really easy to put the hat aside if you have to go into an important meeting with visitors. Enjoy some of the crazy hat photos I found on the Internet.

Coffee Day: Take one day a week and donate the proceeds of your coffee fund.

If you need some inspiration or would like to know how your donation impacts so many lives, please contact me at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com or 613-789-8210, ext. 247.

Volunteer for special holidays

A lot of us think about volunteering but one of the reasons some people don't follow through is the time commitment, or what they perceive to be the time commitment.

The good news is that Shepherds of Good Hopes has volunteer opportunities that allow for a lot of flexibility. And this week, we started to highlight one of those opportunities.

On our website under the volunteer section, we're advertising for volunteers who only want to volunteer for special holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter. Those are big days for us. We've even created a special form you can fill out online if you're interested.

I think this is a great opportunity for people who are thinking about volunteering but don't know if they can commit to a regular volunteer shift. By volunteering for a special holiday, you get an opportunity to come in, see what we do, and help serve the clients. Coming in for a one-time event might be the thing that leads you to a rewarding life of volunteering. It also helps us, but more importantly, it helps the 1,600 men and women who rely on us every day.

If you want more information about volunteering at Shepherds of Good Hope, please contact our Volunteer Manager Sue Alcott at salcott@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

High rents and the homeless

I was reading an interesting article today that asked the question: Can helping people with their rent stave off homelessness?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes and no. It all depends on whether there are other underlying issues. Without a doubt, there are people who end up at a homeless shelter because they just couldn't find affordable housing. So yes, providing these people with some sort of rent subsidy, or just ensuring there is an adequate supply of affordable housing, would go a long way in keeping these people out of a shelter.

At Shepherds of Good Hope, we care for 1600 men and women every day. The reason they are with us is a lot more complex than their inability to pay rent. That might be one of the issues, but many come to us with mental or physical health challenges. Others suffer from serious addictions. Others have been homeless for so many years that they're not sure how to get back into their own housing even if they had the financial means to do so.

What we do know is if you can provide housing for someone, you have made the first step to addressing their other needs. Stable housing leads to stability for the person. That's what our supportive living and housing first facilities have shown over the years. And for people who might not be ready to live more independently, we have programs at the shelter to help them get to that stage.

So, no, simply providing rent subsidies does not end homelessness for everyone who is living in the shelter.

When I meet with donors or take people on tours, they're always surprised at how complex the issue of homelessness is and how Shepherds of Good Hope has created innovated programs to deal with that complexity.

If you would like a tour, please contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247. If you would like to make a donation to help us continue caring for Ottawa's most vulnerable men and women, please visit our donate page.

The giving has already started at the Ottawa Catholic School Board

Most of us look forward to Fridays. For many of us, it's hopefully the end of a rewarding work week and the signal to some rest and relaxation on the weekend.

I like this particular Friday for another reason. This morning I had the pleasure of meeting with the Ottawa Catholic School Board Director of Education Denise Andre. The Catholic schools do a lot of fundraising for us every school year and I wanted to thank them for their past support and to talk about the upcoming year.

Little did I know they already had donations ready for me to take back to the shelter. The board offices have two very cute baskets at different locations where people can drop off items for Shepherds of Good Hope. We had two large bags filled with toiletries.

Toiletries are expensive and it's natural to forget that homeless men and women need deodorant, toothpaste, etc. So these gifts are very much appreciated. Thank you to the men and women who collected these items.

It's only the first week of school but we've already had several schools approach us about bringing their students on a tour of our facilities. Thank you for reaching out.

Just based on the first few days of the school year, I think we're going to have a great year and a great partnership over the next 10 months. To all the students, we look forward to meeting you in 2015-2016.

If you're a teacher and you would like to visit Shepherds of Good Hope with your students, please contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

The homeless have talent

I was reading an article recently about an art exhibit. The art, mostly paintings, was created by people living in shelters.

It made me think of the men and women living at our shelter at 256 King Edward and in our supportive living facilities. You would be amazed at how many talented people we have in our care. And art is just one talent. We have people who can play music, sign, you name it. We don't always see it, of course.

In past years residents, at 208 St. Andrew, a supportive living facility operated by Shepherds of Good Hope, have hosted an event they call Art in the Parking Lot, a cute take on the art in the park events that happen in Ottawa during the summer.

It's very good art and some of our residents have been successful at selling it.

The lesson here is that people are homeless for a variety of reasons. But it has nothing to do with a lack of talent or a lack of desire to be in a better position in life.

Here are a few samples of the talent we have at Shepherds of Good Hope.

Back to school

There were lots of signs today that despite the hot weather, the unofficial start to fall is here. Today was the first day of school for many elementary and high school students. University students are also back in town with many starting a new year of classes tomorrow.

Back to school season is also a special time for us. It's an opportunity to reconnect with students and schools after a much deserved summer break. Every year, hundreds of students help us out by making sandwiches, holding food drives or collecting clothes for the 1,600 men and women we take care of every day.

Many more will come to visit and take a tour of our soup kitchen and clothing program. They will come to listen to our frontline workers and find out firsthand the work we do. Some of them will become volunteers later in the year, We also look forward to getting out to as many schools as we can this year.

Students are out future and we hope that future is one that involves giving back to the community. It can start here at Shepherds of Good Hope. Best of luck this school year and we hope to see as many of you as possible.

If you would like more information on how to book a guest speaker or to take a tour, please contact me at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com or 613-789-8210, ext. 247.

IBM donates food

A big thank you to IBM in Ottawa. They had a lot of leftover food at an event earlier this week. So what did they do? They got on the phone and called Shepherds of Good Hope and asked if we were interested. We didn't have to think about it. We love getting these types of calls.

We had the food delivered to the men and women who live at The Oaks, a supportive housing facility run by Shepherds of Good Hope. It's also home to our managed alcohol program.

IBM even delivered the food for us which deserves another thank you. We know the men and women at The Oaks appreciated the food. The donation of tacos went well with what we already had on the menu -- chili. It's nice when things line up that way.