Hamilton
Out of the Cold
Manual
Revised November 2006
This
Manual is dedicated to all who will receive
Our love and
compassion.
And as a
memorial to:
Mr. James
Arsenault
Mr.
Edward Lundy
Mr.
Antony Marshall
Dr. Nicholas
Siksay
Acknowledgements
This
Manual is born of hands-on experience.
Our Hamilton Out of the Cold Program is beginning
its ninth year of
operation. This Manual comes from the
experience of the current Co-ordinators of this program.
I
am most grateful to Margaret Firth, Allan Miller, Barbara Smibert and
May
Wainwright who worked tirelessly to share all their ideas in order to
make it
easier for those who will also take up the torch in the future to help
our less
fortunate sisters and brothers.
My
sincere gratitude also extends to Theresa Murphy who typed and set up
this
manuscript so beautifully and put on computer disk, to Sister Carla
Marie who
patiently typed the first draft and Paul Miller who added later
additions.
To
all, I say ‘thank you’ and I know you will be blessed abundantly.
Sister Carole
Anne Guay
COALITION CO-ORDINATOR
-- Table of Contents --
HAMILTON OUT OF
THE COLD
MISSION
STATEMENT
Out
of the Cold is a program which strives to respond, in a meaningful way,
to the
needs of the most abandoned of our city’s poor and homeless people. These needs include the basic physical needs
of shelter and food, and the deeply human needs of compassion, dignity
and
feelings of self-worth.
In
Isaiah, chapter 58:10, it reads:
Bestow your bread on the
hungry and satisfy the afflicted. Your
light shall shine in the darkness and gloom shall become like midday.
In
the ‘Ethic of Compassion and Sharing’ from the Muslim tradition, it
reads:
The pious are the
socially
conscious who recognize in their wealth, a right for the indigent and
the
deprived whom they help for the sake of God alone, without any desire
for
recompense or thankfulness from those whom they help.
In
the Christian tradition we read from the Gospel of Luke: chapter 14:
12-14:
One Sabbath Jesus was
at
the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal.
Jesus said to the one who had invited him,
“When you give a luncheon or a diner, do not invite your friends or
your
brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite
you in
return, and you would be repaid.
:But when you give a
banquet invite the poor, the cripple, the lame, and the
blind. And you will be blessed, because
they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of
the
righteous.”
The
above quotes are our guide to our ministry and mission. We
simply want to preach, teach and evangelize by our example in serving
others
with love and kindness. In this way we
are serving God. We will endeavour to
treat each guest who enters this holy place with the same dignity as we
would
treat God, they enkindling their sense of self-worth.
As we look at each guest we want to see the
face of God and welcome her/him with love.
We will not proselytize. It
is our hope that each volunteer will discover our common humanity which
will
eliminate barriers.
(return
to top)
A BRIEF HISTORY
In
Toronto in 1986, the death of George, a homeless
man,
brought people together to take action.
Students and teachers of St. Michael’s High School,
Sister Susan Moran,
Father John Murphy and Reverend Canon John Erb took the necessary steps
to
arrange a location, food and volunteers and opened a small storefront
on St.
Clair Avenue. That was
January
15, 1987.
From this humble beginning, the Out of the
Cold has spread throughout Toronto and many cities across
Canada.
Hamilton
Out of the Cold program started in the hearts of Sister Carole Anne
Guay, a
Sister of St. Joseph, and her friend Ms. Gloria Colizza.
Both of these women are retired teachers from
Hamilton. They saw
the need, started to pray about what God would have them do about the
need, and
visited the Out of the Cold Program in
Toronto.
They
invited others to share their vision and dream of feeding the poor and
giving
them a place to lay their heads. The
program began its first year on December 1, 1997, at
James
Street
Baptist
Church.
The
original Committee Members were: Mr. Jim
Arsenault, Mrs. Barbara Blake, Mr. Paul Blake, Reverend Don Berry
Graham
(Pastor of James Street Baptist Church) and Mr. Tony Marshall.
(return
to top)
SELF-SUPPORTING
HAMILTON OUT OF
THE COLD PROGRAM
WHAT
EACH CHURCH WOULD NEED TO PROVIDE:
- Washrooms for guests (showers are optional
but appreciated)
- Washrooms for volunteers
- If possible, a multi-purpose room (for
volunteer set-up, dessert set-up, devotions at 5:10, etc.)
- Cupboard space
- Financial resources, if possible (approx.
$200. to $500. a week – depending on amount needed for security and
number of guests).
- Volunteers and co-ordinators if possible.
WHAT
HOOTC WOULD HELP TO PROVIDE:
- a commercial stove (preferably) or two
regular stoves
- refrigerator
- freezer
- microwave oven
- toaster
- plates
- soup bowls
- plastic cutlery
- mugs
- tea towels and dish cloths
- large pots, roasting pans, trays (plastic
& aluminum)
- large serving spoons
- tables and chairs
- table cloths
- cleaning and disinfectant supplies (including
mops and pails)
- cleaning cloths
WHAT
HOOTC COALITION WOULD PROVIDE:
- Training for volunteers
- Weekly assistance – set-up (as long as
necessary)
- Bedding (sheets, pillows, pillowcases and
blankets)
- Mats
(return
to top)
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
1. Check with your church
administration
concerning insurance to cover the guests and volunteers while in the
building.
2. Volunteers have to be trained to control
their enthusiasm. We may want to go
overboard with our compassion. Please
remember that we are not
saviours. Many of our
guests require high maintenance and that volunteers are not trained to provide. We
should stay within the guidelines set for
the program. Volunteers must always work in
teams of
two when dealing with guests.
3. To maintain the safety and integrity of
the
guests, volunteers and program, the guests receive only the first name
of the
volunteers. DO NOT PROVIDE ANY
OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.
4. If a guest is
discovered with a bottle, your
security person should request that if the
guest wishes to stay, he/she must
turn the bottle over to the security person, his/her name will be
written on the
bottle, and it will be returned to him/her when he/she leaves.
5. Have a plan of action with your security
guard and co-ordinators as to how you will handle any major crisis. The security has the ultimate authority to
call 911.
6. Be sure there is a
phone accessible to the program.
7. Don’t refuse anyone – if a guest becomes
obstreperous, call the police – do not send him out.
(return
to top)
IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES
|
Wesley Centre
195 Ferguson Ave. N.
|
Male
& female
|
8:00 p.m.
8:00 p.m. –
9:00 p.m
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
|
Doors
open for overnight
Soup
& sandwiches
Full
meal
|
905
528-5640
|
|
Wesley Youth
75 Mary St. N.
|
Male
& female
|
12
noon – 8:00 pm.
|
|
905
529-0476
|
|
Hamilton AIDS Network
143 James St. S., Suite 900
|
|
|
|
905
528-0854
|
|
Good Shepherd
135 Mary St. N.
|
Men
only
|
In
by 7:00
p.m., clean and sober
|
For
overnight
|
905
528-9109
|
|
Mission Services
325 James St. N.
|
Men
only
|
8:00 p.m.
8:00 a.m.
11:45 a.m.
4:45 p.m.
|
For
overnight
Breakfast
Lunch
Supper
|
905
528-7635
|
|
Brennan House
614 King St. E.
|
Teenage
boys
|
|
|
905
577-1166
|
|
Salvation Army
94 York Blvd.
|
Men
only
|
|
|
905
527-1444
|
|
Sexual Assault Centre
|
Women
only
|
|
|
905
525-4162
|
|
Children’s Aid Society
|
|
|
After
hours
|
905
905
522-8053
|
|
Inasmuch House
|
Abused
women
|
Temporary
shelter. Will give the woman the address
|
|
|
|
Mary’s Place
50 East Ave. N.
|
Female
teens 18 & older
|
|
|
905
540-8000
|
|
Notre Dame
14 Canon St. W.
(near James St.)
|
Female
ages 16-21
|
|
|
905
308-8090
|
|
Somerville House
|
Female
18 years & older
|
Long
term for women with mental health issues
|
|
905
545-3383
|
|
Martha House
20 Emerald St. S.
|
Abused
women
|
|
Crisis
line
|
905
523-6277
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Native Women’s Centre
2535 King St. E. (at Potruff)
|
Native
& non-Native women
|
|
|
905
664-1114
|
|
COAST
|
|
Women
with mental health issues
|
Crisis
line
|
905
972-8338
|
|
HAMILTON TENANT HELP LINE
|
|
Housing
centre
|
|
905
526-9119
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Margaret
Firth
|
Monday
|
James St. Co-ordinator
|
|
905
527-3151
|
|
Suzanne
Miller
|
Monday
|
Ascension
Co-ordinator
|
|
905
679-5612
|
|
Cindy
Richter
|
Tuesday
|