Feeling gratitude and admiration for the frontline workers helping those in need

This is the week that the now-filled boxes for the Reverse Advent Calendars I described in a post in late November are due for delivery.  Earlier this week I took my filled boxes to their intended destinations, one to our local Food Bank and the other to our local Homeless Shelter.  While en route, I also took some items we no longer need to our local Salvation Army Thrift Shop.

Each drop-off was a feel-good occasion, not because I was doing something to feel good about, but because the people working at each of these places were so darn positive.  Smiling, expressing their thanks, and getting on with their always-challenging tasks of trying to get the bare basics that people need accumulated and then distributed as widely and as appropriately as possible.  The people I interacted with at each place weren’t being well paid – they could undoubtedly do as well at Walmart – and a few of them may have been volunteers.  But their positive spirit was contagious.  That’s what I felt good about.

Very, very – very – few people go to food banks or live rough by choice.  OK, nobody.  And in most cases, it’s a question of “there but for the grace of God go I”.  Anyone can fall on hard times, that’s the scary reality.  Once you get there, digging yourself out is a lot easier for some than for others.  We may acquire an addiction that we never intended to acquire, possibly through nefarious means of a dealer, and just can’t overcome it on your own.  We may have a mental illness that isn’t recognized or treated, and have no-one who knows how to help.  We may lose our job, maybe just before a pandemic hits.  The domino effect of losing a job with no backup or no family support can leave us with no options, at least no options that we can recognize and have the means to follow.  There but for the grace of God.  And the numbers of people caught in this cruel situation seem to be growing everywhere.  People need help.  They need to feel help is available and that someone cares.

And that’s what struck me at each of my three drop-off spots; the people there aren’t just doing their jobs, they care.  Society needs more people like this, more people who care about helping others.  Surely there’s no better time for us to think about how we might be part of the solution than during Christmas and Chanukah.

One person in our community cared enough to make a remarkable difference through an innovative project he has undertaken.  Called the 12 Neighbours Community, local IT entrepreneur Marcel Lebrun project, pitched the project to our City Council last year, and was given approval to build on a 24-hectare site in the city.  The concept is to provide “tiny homes” to people who have been living in tents, and to provide as well social support and skills acquisition for gainful employment.  The first 12 tiny homes are now complete, and include solar panels to provide renewable energy.  A workshop has been built where the people now living there are learning the skills to be part of the team building additional tiny homes, with a plan for an eventual community of 96 homes.  The first couple to move into the community did so this past February, after 10 months of living in a tent, including in the middle of winter a Fredericton winter.  A new start.  Because someone cared, in this case Marcel Lebrun.  Marcel’s model for addressing homelessness has been noticed and interest has been sparked in communities across Canada.

From their website:

Our vision is to see people overcome barriers to a full and independent life.  The developmental supports we offer help community members achieve their goals. This includes access to substance use recovery counselling, opportunities to improve health and education, and more.  It is person-centric, trauma-informed, recovery oriented and strength-based.

From bare day-to-day survival Image:GlobalNews)

To a future filled with hope (Image: 12 Neighbours Community website)

Aside from considering donating or volunteering at organizations that help those in need, please consider reaching out and offering your thanks to those who are on the front lines helping.  You can start by smiling and thanking the person “manning” your local Sally Ann Christmas bucket.  According to the news, their donations are down this year, as are other charities.

Give in the spirit of Christmas.  It doesn’t have to be frankincense or myrrh! Merry Christmas.