Article content material
The Ottawa Mission’s shopper companies workplace was lit up with vacation cheer on Saturday, due to some hard-working volunteer elves.
A number of college students with Carleton College’s Campus to Neighborhood volunteer group embellished a stunning Christmas tree, topped with a classic angel, sitting in entrance of the Mission’s workplace window overlooking downtown Waller Avenue.
Article content material
Daron Faulkner, the Mission’s co-ordinator of volunteer and neighborhood engagement companies, stated adorning the shopper companies workplace for the vacation season was a part of a easy mantra: There’s no dignity in filth.
“One of many methods we present individuals we respect their dignity is having a clear house,” she stated.
“That’s not simply sanitary, but in addition fairly.”
The shopper companies workplace is the place Mission shoppers meet with case employees, who assist them work towards securing housing, psychological well being companies and different types of help. The Ottawa Mission additionally runs a soup kitchen and a 225-bed homeless shelter, serving meals to a whole bunch every day.
The Mission goals to create house that makes individuals really feel “comfy, invited and valued,” Faulkner stated, “and having a stupendous house is a part of that.”
Lucksiha Sivarupan, a second-year Carleton scholar finding out public coverage, stated Saturday marked her first time adorning a Christmas tree.
“For lots of people, Christmas means quite a bit to them,” she stated, including she “actually loved” adorning the tree and hoped she may proceed volunteering for the Mission year-round.
Article content material
Based on Faulkner, volunteer teams make all of it attainable, and, whereas many teams provide to volunteer across the holidays, “my private plea could be to do all of it year-round.”
Natalie Van Vlaanderen, a first-year mature scholar at Carleton hoping to check social work, stated volunteering on the Mission “actually opened my eyes,” and ended up being a helpful studying expertise outdoors the classroom.
As a mature scholar, “I really feel like attending courses is nice,” she stated, “however there’s that imposter syndrome. Coming right here felt so good, like not solely am I doing one thing good, however I really feel like, ‘That is proper for me, that is the place I belong.’”
Van Vlaanderen additionally signed as much as volunteer for different initiatives for the Mission within the hope of increasing her understanding of individuals experiencing homelessness.
“The vacations aren’t all the time a straightforward time,” she stated. “Simply including a bit of little bit of sparkle, something that may assist.”
Our web site is your vacation spot for up-to-the-minute information, so be certain to bookmark our homepage and join our newsletters so we will maintain you knowledgeable.
Associated Tales
Share this text in your social community