But her life hasn’t been all smiles….she had a rough life that led her to homelessness and addiction. But despite this, she has never...

Not long ago, one of our outreach teams was doing late night outreach. It was about 10:30pm when they entered the market area. Across the...

When I meet a youth on outreach for the first time, I am always aware that it may be the only time I ever see them. The lives of...

Shane’s Story is a eight episode blog post where Shane tells her story in her own words.  Each week in December, on Mondays and Thursdays...

People hurry by the large monument every day, most never pausing to look or even acknowledge it. One lonely man, white haired, in torn...

Eva left home in her early teens. Eventually, she became homeless and addicted to drugs. As a young woman on the streets, she was quite...

Sam is a street artist who I met several years ago. He created the beautiful work of art above. I asked him  to do a wood burning...

The Passion 4 Youth Fine Arts Program was fortunate enough to have Bruce Narbaitz come in and do a slam poetry workshop with the youth....

When I approach an Aboriginal person while on outreach, I suddenly become very aware of the cross embroidered on my outreach vest. The...

Last week however, one of the youth was in a crisis situation so I made the decision to call 911. Two officers arrived and assessed the...

I have known Skye for 3 years. She was one of the first street-engaged youth I met while doing outreach. I remember our first meeting...

Getting up for 5:30 am isn’t very enjoyable to me but then I get thinking about our street friends in Ottawa. They have already started...

We didn’t get her name:  it wasn’t offered and it was too early to ask.  Maybe she was seventeen, but the hard life on the streets made...

Hidden Homeless: People who are temporarily crashing with friends, relatives or others because they have no where else to go. I have been...

When Laura arrived at art group, she was excited to share her good news–she got her own apartment! After a year or so of couch hopping,...

OIM has been given a booth at the Ottawa Home and Garden Show, March 20 to 23 at the Ernst and Young Centre.  Why? A friend of the...

It was right before my eyes all the time, just waiting for me to wake up and see it! Typical of many smaller organizations, our needs...

When Art, a long time friend of OIM arrived at the office one morning, his famous smile was missing. “You okay?” I asked. “You’ll never...

Following from last week, my friend ‘Jesse’, the ‘small things guy’. So last week at the drop in, I had to call the police and ask them...

Someone gave me a gift of money and instructed to help someone. Nothing came to mind immediately so I tucked it away- and took it out...