FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

As I pulled into my parking spot beside The Ottawa Mission a few weeks ago, I was greeted, as I often am, by a few gentlemen out front of the building where we run our LifeHouse residential addiction treatment program.

One man named Lou came over to me and gave me a huge smile. “Notice anything different?” he asked. It suddenly struck me that Lou now had dentures filling a gap in his mouth where there were previously no teeth. He was so proud of his “new look”.

Lou had been connected with The Mission’s Dental Clinic while going through our treatment program. Through the support of you, our donors, and the volunteer dentists who keep our clinic running, he is now holding his head high, and smiling. Lou has also completed the LifeHouse program and is now at our second stage home in the community while he looks for a job and a new home. As Lou says, he’s now looking to the future with more hope than he’s had in years.

Hope, compassion and dignity are what The Mission strives to provide every day of the year. Having just developed our new Strategic Plan, our vision for the next three years is to implement several initiatives that will continue to improve our services. In fact, this month, The Ottawa Mission’s Diane Morrison Hospice will expand from 14 to 21 beds in order to help more men and women receive the care and compassion everyone deserves during their final days.Because of you, so many people are getting the care they need and hope for the future.
Thank you for caring, and helping change lives.

On one final note, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous 23–year contribution of Laird Eddy who is retiring as Executive Director of The Ottawa Mission Foundation. Along with his wife, Diane Morrison, Laird helped to build The Mission into a strong, vital and life-changing organization. We will be forever indebted to them for the legacy they leave behind.

Thank you.