The power of schools

Every now and then I like to talk about the amount of donations and volunteer time students give to us. This morning we had students from Sacred Heart High School in the kitchen helping with meal preparation. Back at the school, students were also preparing sandwiches. Last year, Sacred Heart High School made more than 5,500 sandwiches for us. Thank you so much to the students at Sacred Heart.

Not to be outdone, students at St. Matthew's High School recently had a canned food drive. Here's a photo below that best shows how much came through our drop-off window. Wow! Amazing. Whether it's feeding the men and women who live in the shelter or helping people in the community who need a little extra, donations like this mean the world to us. Thank you so much.

Last week we had the students in Patrick Dumais' class at College catholique Franco-Ouest donate several boxes of vegetables and fruits, plus more than $150, just in time for Thanksgiving.

I want to say thank you to all the schools who have donated food or made sandwiches so far this year.

Another successful Thanksgiving

Thank you to all the staff, volunteers and clients who made for another wonderful Thanksgiving. Everyone had a fabulous meal. Thank you to Liberal MPP Yasir Naqvi and Councillor Mathieu Fleury for stopping by to help on the serving line. Here are some photos from Monday's event.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's a late Friday afternoon and I know everyone is looking forward to the long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I also want to thank everyone who donated to us this Thanksgiving season. On Monday, we will feed more people than we normally do on a regular weekday. No one wants to be alone on the holiday and our doors are open to anyone who wants to share in community and enjoy a good meal. It couldn't happen without the support we get from the community.

So enjoy Thanksgiving. I'll leave you with this cute photo from our food services program.

Homelessness and mental health

I found this article recently on the number of homeless people who suffer from mental illness in California. If you've been following the news lately, you might know that there are many Californian cities struggling with homelessness. In fact, earlier this month, the city of Los Angeles declared a state of emergency over homelessness.

What struck me is the number of people who are homeless who also suffer from mental health issues. It's a vicious circle. Dealing with mental health can be one of the factors that leads to homelessness, but once homeless, it makes it so much more difficult to cope with that mental health challenge.

At Shepherds of Good Hope we are partnered up with various organizations like Ottawa Inner City Health and Canadian Mental Health Association to ensure that together we deliver the care needs for homeless men and women in Ottawa who are also struggling with mental health issues.

We know for some that the road to more independent housing might take a little longer. But that's okay. We're there every step of the way with them, ensuring they get the care they need.

If you would like more information about what we do at Shepherds of Good Hope, please don't hesitate to contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

To make a donation to one of our many programs and services that help 1,600 men and women every day, please visit our donation page.

More photos from Quota

I blogged yesterday about how third party events do so much for us. We really appreciate the effort people make to help raise funds for Shepherds of Good Hope so that we can keep caring for so many homeless men and women in the city.

I wanted to share with you a few more photos from Night at the Races, an event organized by The Quota Club of Ottawa.

Thank you to the women at Quota

The Quota Club of Ottawa held its 18th annual Night at the Races event Sunday night. This year their goal was to raise money for women's services at Shepherds of Good Hope.

It was a fantastic event and I really enjoyed myself. We started off with a buffet meal at 6 pm and then the races started at 6:30. We even got a special treat to ride in the pace car. I met some wonderful people and had a chance to catch up with some people I see here and there around Ottawa.

Although this is the 18th year in a row the Quota Club of Ottawa has held the event, the organization has a long history in the capital. They have been serving the community for 69 years!

We are thrilled with the number of groups each year that hold third-party events to raise money to help us do out work. Thank you to the Quota Club of Ottawa for a wonderful event.

Generating buzz about MAP

Sometimes things just never get old. Earlier this week, we got an alert about a story on Shepherds of Good Hope and its managed alcohol program. Interesting.

When I clicked on the headline, I discovered the story and video was done in 2011. I read it anyway and found it to be a powerful story and a straight forward look at what we do. I know I've blogged several times about our managed alcohol program and we've done stories for our website and Facebook page, but there seems to be a lot of interest in this program.

We have experts across Canada and around the world who come to visit us to find out more about the program. But we also have a lot of donors or people who follow us on social media who are also very interested. When we posted that 2011 story and video on Facebook earlier this week, I was astounded with how many people commented or read the story. I'm so happy with how many people are taking an interested in some of our more innovative programs.

I believe that if you know more about what we do and how it helps Ottawa's homeless population, then you will be more comfortable helping us out, either with a donation of cash or a donation of goods. The reason we prefer financial donations is that as a large shelter that serves 1,600 men and women every day, we have some buying power that most individuals don't have.

Meanwhile, in case you haven't seen the story, here's a link. And here's a link to the donation page. Please consider making a donation this fall. The donation you make goes to helping so many of Ottawa's most in-need men and women.

If you would like to know more about Shepherds of Good Hope or would like to book a tour, please contact me at 613-897-8210, ext. 247 or by email at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.