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Recently Moira sent me something that she knew would intrigue me.  It is a picture of a piece of pottery that was broken and then...

Have you heard the story about the little boy who shared his lunch with a homeless man?  The little boy had found the older man in a park...

Volunteering with OIM has introduced me to many new experiences, some sad, but most of them great! One defies categorization, however....

…for some of our street friends at least: from December 20 or 23 to the end of January.  It’s the longest time of the year to make your...

The aroma of turkey and all the traditional trimmings wafted from the kitchen at drop-in this week.  Nothing says ‘come, sit and enjoy’...

Molly’s worker called the office late yesterday afternoon.  Molly is one of our many individuals living in Ottawa that struggle to...

Often times when people hear that I work with the homeless, they like to engage in a conversation about whether or not our society should...

Yesterday, we held our annual memorial service at drop-in to remember those in our street community who passed away in 2012.  Often times...

Four weeks after Christmas and you are late! Yes, we are, with good intention, for several reasons: right around the time of Christmas,...

There’s been no shortage of bad news about homelessness in our city.  Ottawa did very poorly on the last Alliance to End Homelessness...

I’m so proud of Tammi!  She has had a long time addiction to crack cocaine…somewhere around fifteen years I think.  Like many of the...

Suzanne comes to the drop-in every week without fail. Her story is similar to many others: she immigrated to Canada several years ago and...

It was -27 degrees last night! Sweet merciful crud that’s cold! But the Wednesday night Outreach crew, appropriately bundled up, had a...

What a cold start to January!  As the temperature drops I am very thankful for my warm coat, gloves and most of all, a warm place to go...

Recently I had the privilege of participating in a One Homeless Night activity with OIM staff (go Moira!) and a group of teens from The...

Sasha’s Story is an 8 part series running until December 24. To listen to the audio backgrounder from CHRI radio, click   Episode #7 Hope...

Sasha’s Story is an 8 part series running until December 24. To listen to the audio backgrounder from CHRI radio, click   Episode #5...

Sasha’s Story is an 8 part series running until December 24. To listen to the audio backgrounder from CHRI radio, click  Episode #4...

Sasha’s Story is an 8 part series running until December 24. To listen to the audio backgrounder from CHRI radio, click   Episode #3 Hard...

I was working the streets in Ottawa, prostituting.  I had dates all night,  from early evening until late, late – and no place to sleep. ...