All across Canada – and especially in Ottawa – excitement is building for the official celebration of Canada’s 150^th birthday.  At The Ottawa Mission we are proud and thankful that we have been helping the homeless in our community for 111 of those 150 years.

As part of the festivities taking place throughout the Nation’s Capital, we were honoured to be gifted with a display space at Inspiration Village in the Byward Market.  We took this opportunity to depict the  legacy of The Mission, and to show with a timeline how we have grown and evolved over the years to meet the changing needs of homeless and hurting people in the community.  Inspiration Village runs until the end of September.  We hope you have a chance to drop by.

For Canada’s 150^th we also issued a Special Edition of our newsletter to mark the occasion – we hope you enjoy it.

As we all celebrate this great milestone in Canada’s history, and The Mission’s 111 years of serving people in need, we would  like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported our work over the years through donations and volunteering.  Your kindness and compassion is overwhelming, and we simply could not do what we do without you.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

June is ‘graduation’ season for many families in the community and one of the highlights of our calendar this month is a special graduation celebration we hold for the men and women in our Food Services Training Program.

10 people have completed the five month commitment to the culinary program. Chef Ric Watson oversees The Mission kitchen and started the program 12 years ago when he saw people on social services coming to The Mission for meals who expressed an interest in learning to cook for themselves. But Chef Ric maintains there’s much more involved in the FSTP than just teaching people to cook. In his words, “this program builds self-esteem and confidence, which are fundamental to success in any career.”

Monique can vouch for that. She has always loved to cook and has had some work experience in different types of kitchens over the last few years. “In my opinion, the Mission kitchen is the best ‘teaching’ kitchen,” says Monique. “The course is giving me the knowledge, purpose and confidence to apply for better types of jobs.”

Unfortunately Monique suffered a broken wrist during the latest session and had to take time away from the course. But she will return to finish her training commitment in the next session of the Food Services training program, which begins July 10. It’s not too late to apply if you or someone you know is looking for a new career.
For information, email the FSTP Coordinator at fstp@ottawamission.com or call 613-234-1144.

At The Ottawa Mission, people of all ages and backgrounds take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer and help people in need. Some people are fortunate to work for companies and organizations that foster the spirit of giving back, and they come in with co-workers as a group and make an even bigger impact.

In recent weeks, we’ve welcomed corporate groups from Raymond James, Xilinx, TELUS, Export Development Canada, Merck and GENBAND, which kicked off June with a global day of service. These corporate volunteer groups help with many different needs – from meal prep in our kitchen to sorting clothing donations in our clothing room.

Volunteering is a great way to learn about the issues around homelessness and be part of the life-changing services that are offered at The Ottawa Mission. If you’d like to learn more about how to you and your co-workers can arrange to volunteer, contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@ottawamission.com or call 613-234-1144.

On behalf of everyone at The Ottawa Mission, a huge thanks to all of our volunteers for the contribution of time and compassion to people in need.

At 55, Chris is beginning a whole new life – one he could never have imagined even a year ago.

Chris’s adulthood was marked by addiction and trouble with the law.  Although he was college educated and had a good job, a number of influences – including a falling-out with his father, the sudden death of his mother, and failed personal relationships – led him to a life of drugs.

Thirteen years ago, Chris became a father.  As with most people, becoming a parent was life-changing for Chris, but he was not equipped – mentally or physically – to really embrace fatherhood because of his addiction.

Then one day his young son came up to him, put his hands on Chris’s face, and said, “Please stop what you’re doing.  I need my Dad in my life.”  Chris vowed to himself to conquer his addiction, and he was successful.   But Chris had a lot of difficulty finding work – he says not only because of his background, but also because of all his tattoos.

Last year Chris was on social assistance when his case worker told him about the Food Services Training Program at The Ottawa Mission.  Chris had always had a passion for cooking, so he immediately applied and was accepted – tattoos and all!

Chris is graduating from the five month program early in June, and is already working full time.  And we hear that his son will be front and centre at the graduation ceremony.  As Chris says, “I am so grateful to my son for being such an inspiration to me, and to The Mission for the training and encouragement they have provided.  I have a career now, and I have hope for the future.  And most importantly, I can provide for my son.”    Congratulations, Chris!

We have all read the disturbing news recently about the dangerous drugs Fentanyl and Carfentanil being sold, sometimes unknowingly, as recreational drugs and costing people their lives. As Ottawa Police and other first responders have learned, these dangerous drugs need to be handled very carefully.

This past week, Front Line and housekeeping staff members at The Ottawa Mission received some special training on how to keep themselves and others safe should they come across the powdered form of the drug in or around the shelter. Not only do our Front Line teams need to know how to respond to possible cases of Fentanyl overdose with the Naloxone kits, but they need to be trained on how to clean up the dangerous drug if found in its powdered form.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate narcotic, a prescription drug used primarily for severe pain – it is roughly 50 to 100 times more toxic than Morphine. Carfentanil is 100 times more potent then Fentanyl  and a dose as small as 20 micrograms of Carfentanil could be fatal to humans . Therefore, a special type of respirator mask, like the one pictured here, needs to be worn by staff if they encounter a suspicious powder, in order to avoid potentially dangerous exposure to the powder granules.

Our thanks to our Medical Clinic administrator Nada Murad and Ottawa Inner City Health administrator Sophie Wheeler – both trained Fit Testers – for providing the training to members of our Mission team and staff at other shelters as well.

A good number of people living in shelters or on the street don’t have a family doctor or access to a primary care provider. Before The Ottawa Mission opened its Primary Care Medical Clinic in 2007, those who were homeless had to get themselves to a hospital emergency room if they were sick and needed help. For someone dealing with addiction or mental illness, that often didn’t happen, and people often became more ill.

Thanks to our ongoing partnership with Ottawa Inner City Health, there have been Nurse Practitioners at The Mission’s medical clinic for the past 10 years. Three of them work together to keep the clinic open weekdays and weekend mornings. As well, two part-time physicians provide consultation services and see those clients with more complex needs.

Carrie Whittley is a Nurse Practitioner who has been part of the Mission’s clinic team for 8 of its 10 years. On any given day, she sees around 12 patients with a wide variety of health issues – everything from bronchial infections to frostbite to open flesh wounds. “I have worked in other primary care clinics and have left them to work here full time. There is nowhere better to connect with clients who have multiple conditions and are so in need of quality primary care. Trust is a big issue with this population, but once you have gained it there is a reliable therapeutic relationship and they feel able to come to you with all of their health concerns.”

Over the past ten years the clinic team has impacted a lot of lives with more than 7,300 patient visits last year alone. Congratulations to all the clinic staff and volunteers on a tremendous decade of caring.

This spring, The Ottawa Mission has been bringing together people interested in the issue of homelessness to learn more about the life-changing services at our shelter, and around the community. The 2017 Speakers Series has touched on the evolution of services for people experiencing homelessness; medical services in shelters; and addiction services at The Mission.

The next last session of this spring event will happen on Monday, April 24 @ 7:00 p.m., and will feature a presentation by Erin Dej, from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness at York University. Erin received her doctorate in Criminology from the University of Ottawa. Her area of research includes homelessness, mental health, and autonomy among homeless men and women.

Erin will provide an overview of homelessness on a national scale, looking at the number of people who experience homelessness in Canada, how shelter use has changed in the past decade, and what homelessness looks like for key populations such as youth, families, and Indigenous Peoples.  She will also describe the opportunities to make significant change in homelessness – most notably, the development of the upcoming National Housing Strategy. The second part of the presentation will draw on Erin’s doctoral research on homelessness in Ottawa, including how people experiencing homelessness navigate the system, find services (in particular mental health services), and what supports they say they need to help them become safely and securely housed.

The session is free and open to anyone. It will be held in The Ottawa Mission’s dining room at 35 Waller Street. Refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP your attendance to Miriam Dupuis at volunteer@ottawamission.com