Farewell to Diane Morrison, long-time Executive Director

On Friday, January 11, Ottawa Mission staff, residents and volunteers wished a fond farewell to long-time Executive Director, Diane Morrison.  Diane started out as a volunteer here at The Ottawa Mission 23 years ago, while still working as an elementary school teacher.  Within three years she had become Executive Director of the organization, and under her guidance, many proud improvements have been made to serve our clients better.

The Ottawa Mission has become one of the largest social-service providers in the city, growing from 75 beds to 235. We now serve over 1200 meal a day on average, and the cleanliness and quality of food has improved.

The programs offered through The Mission have increased dramatically as well.  We now have a learning centre, job training, addiction treatment programs and transitional housing, a medical and dental clinic, and a hospice where homeless people who are terminally ill can die with dignity.

Diane’s leadership has been a blessing to the people who come through The Mission. Her influence has made it an increasingly compassionate, practical, and dignified place for men who are homeless in Ottawa.

In her final week here before retirement, several news stories were published detailing her time and accomplishments here.  A few of these are linked below.

We wish Diane a joyful and blessed retirement. She will be sorely missed, though gifts of her ministry here will continue to be felt here for years to come. Thank you Diane, and God Bless.

Mission bids farewell to woman who ‘knew they could do better’

By Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen January 08, 2013

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Mission Chief to Retire

By Adrienne Ascah, QMI Agency January 09, 2013

[button link=”/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ottawa-Sun-Mission-chief-to-retire-Jan_2013.pdf” target=”blank”]View PDF[/button]