From left, Carol Willems-Payne, family shelter co-rdinator; Mary Anne Lepinskie, a former client who now helps run the program; Mjr Stan Higdon, CO, Oakville CC
Imagine yourself without a place to live in one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in your province. So often, images of raggedly-dressed people huddled into the corners of rundown stairwells dominate our perception of what it means to be homeless. Yet people face housing crises in every city and every town in Canada.
A burden for these souls weighs heavily on the hearts of Majors Stan and Debbie Higdon and their staff in Oakville and Burlington, Ont. As a corps, they have a unique ministry within The Salvation Army in Canada. Rather than shelter and housing programs administered as separate ministry units, the Halton Lighthouse Shelter and several family shelter/apartment units are part of the ministry of Oakville CC. They are excited at the ministry opportunities these facilities represent.
Oakville and Burlington, both in Ontario’s Halton Region, are relatively affluent communities-not places where one envisions a need for The Salvation Army’s helping ministries. The proportion of families living below the low income cut-off is 10 percent less than the City of Toronto. There is less unemployment, more high-school graduates and more home ownership than in most other Ontario cities. Yet the reality of poverty and homelessness still finds it way here.
Because of this, The Salvation Army in Halton, under the direction of Oakville CC, has been involved in shelter initiatives for the past eight years. The vision of providing help for the homeless led to the development of the Halton Lighthouse Shelter, which provides a place to stay for 400 individuals every year. In addition, it provides food and support to homeless families staying in motel rooms provided by regional government.
Among the approximately 120 families helped by the shelter each year are women and children fleeing violence, new immigrants struggling to find their way in Canada and those who suffer from physical and psychological disabilities who have come to the end of their resources and need help just to survive. The Salvation Army in Oakville has helped these individuals out in various ways over the years and now provides emergency shelter for families in four apartments in Oakville and Burlington. These have been provided through the generous assistance of the Lakeshore Rotary Club of Burlington, the Sprott Foundation and the Maycourt Club of Oakville.
Carol Willems-Payne and Mary Anne Lepinskie
Each modestly furnished apartment is a starting point. While there, clients receive support from Carol Willems-Payne, family shelter co-rdinator. She visits the families every week, bringing groceries and checking on their progress. Carol also advocates on clients’ behalf for appropriate permanent housing, walking them through the financial, medical and sometimes language hurdles they must overcome. She provides references for housing applications, school resources and supplies and anything else that is necessary to assist families move toward a more permanent solution to their housing crisis.
Just before Christmas last year, a woman with four children found refuge in one of the apartment units. She was fleeing an abusive situation and was ineligible to stay in a women’s shelter because she had teenage sons. The woman had come to Canada with her family from Eastern Europe and had very few resources to call on in her time of distress. She stayed in the apartment for eight weeks, while Carol helped get her into subsidized housing and linked her with the support she needed to make it through the crisis. The woman works hard at her low-paying job to provide as much as she can for her children. Despite the hardships, she is determined and courageous, and relies on her great faith to help sustain her through her trial.
In February, another family moved into the same apartment. This time, it was a couple with a 12-year-old daughter. The father is disabled and cannot work. The mother has been battling cancer and could not work enough to earn the money to pay the rent. The family was destitute when they met Carol. She is working hard to find them permanent housing that they can afford.
Jesus told his disciples, “The poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11). Even in the best of times, unfortunate and sometimes tragic circumstances leave some in urgent need. The Salvation Army in Oakville is committed to doing everything it can to meet those needs and keep as many as possible from falling through the cracks.
by Captain Kim Walter, Editor, Edge for Kids