Being homeless during the winter months is a tough go. Not only is it more difficult to get around for those looking for housing or jobs, but staying indoors in a shelter with limited public space and cramped bedrooms, only adds to the stress of many people in crisis.
As we anxiously await the warmer weather, many people are signing up to take part in a special event next month to show their support for people in need at The Ottawa Mission. On Saturday, February 20, The Mission’s second annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk will be held on a downtown route.
Among the walkers will be our own Chef Ric Watson, who along with other Mission staff and volunteers, have created a team to fundraise and walk together at the event. “I feel it’s important to come together, show our support and really walk a mile in the shoes of people who stay at The Ottawa Mission,” says Chef Ric. “It may not actually be the coldest night of the year when we are out walking, but we all can imagine what that would feel like. And what’s great, is we’ll be making some great chili and hot chocolate for everyone after the walk!”
As well, almost 60 volunteers will be on hand February 20^th to help us ensure the event goes smoothly – many of them standing outdoors in the cold to ensure no one strays from the route or falls down. We hope you will join us and enter your team to support for our Coldest Night of the Year walk. Here’s the link https://coldestnightoftheyear.org/location/ottawadowntown
Your support warms our hearts and the hearts of those staying at The Ottawa Mission, even during the cold winter weather.

Thank You!

David is an articulate and accomplished young man with a very busy life. Along with running his own small business, he has been volunteering at several community agencies for years. He is also a victim of childhood trauma who spent many years trying to cope with bad memories. Sadly, this eventually led him down the path to addiction.

This past year, David decided that he needed to find a way to come to terms with his past and deal with his addiction because he felt he was in danger of losing everything he had worked hard to achieve. He knew The Ottawa Mission by reputation, and came to us for help. And, according to David, he has received so much more than he could have imagined.

David came to our Stabilization unit in August of last year, and spent a month preparing for long term addiction treatment. He entered our LifeHouse residential treatment program a month later. David cannot say enough about his experience at LifeHouse. He says his five months there gave him the time he needed to reflect on the past, and the tools and life skills he needed to build a better life. “I’ve finally found a way to achieve balance in my life. It used to be all about balancing my work and my community service, while not dealing with my addiction, but now there is a third, all-important element – and that’s recovery. “

David is now back at home and he continues to focus on his recovery with aftercare counselling at The Mission. At the same time, he wants to share his experience to help others who are suffering from trauma, so he is in training to be a peer counsellor. He will always be a busy person, but now he looks forward with hope to a much brighter future.

Jason has made some big changes in his life over the past couple of years and says he’s very much looking forward to continuing his journey  in 2016.
Not only has he sought help for his addiction, Jason has also spent a lot of time this past year at The Ottawa Mission’s Stepping Stones Learning Centre. With the support and guidance of our full-time teacher, he has completed 3 out of 8 online courses as he works towards a certificate in Medical Transcription.
What’s more, Jason now has a new place to live! Over the past few months, he has worked closely with our housing support workers to find a safe and affordable place of his own – and the housing workers also helped to find him some donations of furniture!
Most importantly, Jason has gained a sense of confidence and self-worth after many years of struggling. He is so thankful to The Mission – and to everyone who has donated to programs like the Stepping Stones Learning Centre to keep them running – for the tremendous encouragement he has been given, and continues to receive, as he moves forward with hope.
Happy New Year Jason!

This year, for the sixth year in a row, The Ottawa Mission will be serving a special dessert as part of its annual Christmas Dinner on December 20. As is often the case, special things are brought about by special people and, in this case, that special person is Josée Cowley.

Josée is the founder and chief organizer of an adventure called “Cupcakes 4 Christmas”. Each year, early in November, Josée launches an on-line and word-of-mouth campaign looking for “bakers with heart” to help bake, decorate and deliver an amazing 3,000 yummy cupcakes by the appointed date. She provides detailed baking, packaging and delivery instructions and, by the way, also does some serious baking herself – with the help of her husband and five children. Josée estimates that upwards of 40 families get involved each year, and the quota is always met!

Beyond this, Josée is a strong supporter of The Mission, and she makes sure to spread the word about other ways that people can get involved to help those who need it most. As Josée says, “It is nice to be able to do something positive at this time of year to help those who aren’t as fortunate. It’s just a good feeling.”

We are so thankful for Josee’s dedication and hard work, and so are the people who attend our Christmas dinner. You only have to see the smiles on the faces of our guests when the cupcakes are served to know that this special gesture means a great deal to people who often have so little to celebrate. Thank you Josée!

 Adam’s early life was filled with hardship and tragedy. Throughout his childhood his parents suffered from addiction and Adam also fell into addiction in his early teens. By the time he was 20 he had lost two siblings to violent death. Adam was living a life filled with anger and mistrust.

Adam came to The Ottawa Mission in 2007 desperate for help. He had heard about our LifeHouse residential addiction treatment program, and was determined to make a change.

It’s now been eight years since Adam graduated from LifeHouse, and he still can’t say enough about what he took away from the experience. “I had very few life skills when I came to The Mission. I was also angry at a lot of people in my life. I learned how to forgive – myself and others – and how to manage my addiction. These are priceless gifts, and I feel blessed.”

Adam has turned his blessings into action in the past year. He has worked hard to find a way of fulfilling his dream of using his past experiences to help others who are struggling. For the past several months, Adam has been volunteering weekly at The Mission’s Day Program where he offers encouragement and support to others who are dealing with trauma and addiction. He has also been spending time helping young offenders at another community agency. Adam is giving back in a big way.

His volunteer work is Adam’s gift to those who need help as much as he once did, and this Christmas will be brighter for many people who are struggling because of his selflessness and generosity of spirit.

At this time of year, staff and volunteers at The Ottawa Mission are busy preparing for Christmas – making sure that hungry, homeless and hurting people in our community will have a way to celebrate the spirit of the Christmas season while staying in our shelter. Although no one would choose to spend Christmas in a shelter, this is a harsh reality for the 235 men who will stay with us every night during the winter. This year, however, Jim will not be among them.

Jim has had a remarkable year at The Mission. Early last year he came to us when he was at his lowest. He was fighting a losing battle with addiction, had lost his job, his family and his home, and was contemplating ending his life. He knew that he had to get help and make a commitment to changing his life before it was too late.

Jim has since completed all phases of our addiction treatment programming, and graduated from our five-month residential program – LifeHouse – in July. When we spoke to Jim this month, he had just achieved a full year of sobriety! As Jim says, “The support at The Mission is amazing. I have been given the care and the tools I needed to get my life back on track and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Jim is also spending time in our Stepping Stones learning centre where he is brushing up on his computer skills. His hope is to find work in the retail/customer service sector and also get back to volunteering in the community, something he has found very meaningful in the past.

Jim has been living in one of The Missions 2nd stage transitional houses for the past five months, but recently received some exciting news from our housing support team that his application to move into his own seniors’ apartment has been approved for December 1st – a very special milestone for Jim just in time for Christmas. Congratulations on a great year Jim, and Merry Christmas!

Today is Remembrance Day, and across Canada people will pause to reflect upon the tremendous sacrifices made – both past and present – to maintain our freedom and keep peace in the world.

Here at The Ottawa Mission, we have come to know an increasing number of military veterans in recent years. Some come here for meals, some stay at the shelter, and some are desperately looking for help to change their lives. Thomas is one of them.

Thomas was a recent participant in our five month residential addiction treatment program called LifeHouse. A few years ago he served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and, like so many in the military, he experienced the real horror of war. The trauma he endured during this time led to PTSD and addiction. While staying at The Mission he received intensive counselling to help put his experiences into perspective so that he can lead a healthy and productive life. Today Thomas says that he is finally hopeful about the future – especially the prospect of returning to his family where he belongs.

For Thomas and many other veterans who need our help, the Mission not only offers trauma counselling, but we also work with Veterans Affairs to refer anyone with a military background to other available support programs.

A minute of silence will begin The Mission’s daily Chapel service today, marking the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month.

For Thomas and all who have served, we will remember.

The 5^th annual TELUS Mission Possible: Half Marathon/Relay/ 5K is coming up in just a couple of weeks. This year it will be held Sunday November 15^th and once again the course will take runners and walkers through the beautiful Marshes Golf Course in Kanata.

Last year, the 300 or so people who participated raised close to $12,000 for The Ottawa Mission! A portion of the proceeds from this event help support a special program that helps men who are homeless learn to run and gain access to activities that promote physical fitness.

Bruce has been out to run with volunteers in the Mission Run/Walk club a few times on Saturday mornings.
“Similar to mediation, I find that running is therapeutic and enables me to clear my thoughts and focus on my breathing’” he says. “The running program provides the support and encouragement I require to follow through with my recovery goals.” Bruce hopes to be among the runners on November 15^th to take part in the big event.

If you would like help make our mission possible, and help Bruce and others in need of The Mission’s help, register today at https://www.events.runningroom.com/applications/?raceId=12481&eventId=37258&vrindex=3

Online registration closes at midnight on Wednesday November 11^th, so don’t delay!
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our sponsors – TELUS, our presenting sponsor, as well as Mizuno, The Marshes, and the Running Room for their wonderful support.

Each year The Ottawa Mission receives dozens of calls from students at the secondary and post-secondary levels wanting to learn more about what goes on at the shelter. Often this is part of completing an assignment on community organizations that help others, and sometimes it is curiosity about potential volunteer opportunities.

As a way of meeting this need for information, and at the same time spreading the word about the full range of services we offer, The Mission has begun a series of student outreach days, the first of which took place today. This morning we welcomed a group from the Police Foundations program at Algonquin College. They took part in an inter-active presentation, watched a video and went on a tour of the entire shelter.

When asked what they had learned about The Mission that they didn’t already know, it boiled down to the fact that, as we say in all our written literature, we are so much “more than a shelter”. They didn’t realize that we have a hospice where people who have nowhere else to go receive end of life care; they didn’t know that we offered education support and job training programs; they learned about the extent of our addiction and trauma treatment programs – and they left with a newfound appreciation of how The Mission has grown and evolved to meet the needs of our community.

We look forward to our next student engagement day in this series which is taking place next Thursday, October 29. If you are interesting in attending, please Contact Leila Jakubinek at 613-234-1144, ext. 236 for more information and to reserve your seat.

Our annual Thanksgiving Dinner may be over, but many are still feeling the spirit of the season and expressions of thankfulness and gratitude are all around.

Here are some thoughts on being thankful from three people who are at The Ottawa Mission this week.

David is a resident of The Mission’s LifeHouse program. After a long time drug and alcohol problem to help cope with a traumatizing childhood, he is in now recovery. “I find myself giving thanks for the amount of hope The Mission has given me,” he says. “I’m getting better and I’m not afraid to feel now.”

Mario is not staying at the shelter but he did come for a Thanksgiving Dinner and sometimes he drops in for a meal when money is tight. For him, it’s the friendship that comes with mealtimes that help him through tough times. “This is my second family. That’s what I’m lacking is love. I need this to keep the spirit and move forward.”

Curtis has been staying in The Mission’s Stablilization wing while he looks addiction treatment options. He has a wife and three children but knows he can’t be with them until he takes care of his illness. Curtis says “I’m thankful for being clean and to learn the things I’ve learned and to forgive myself. People take what they have for granted sometimes. You don’t know how much you truly have until it’s gone.”

The Ottawa Mission is thankful to be part of these journeys and also for the kindness and generosity of supporters like you all year long.