Last post before maternity leave!*
It’s a strange thing to be 8 months pregnant during the Christmas season.
1) I have no idea how Mary walked for several days to get to Bethlehem. Apparently only the wealthy had donkeys, so that placid donkey ride we see in religious art was more of a multi-day waddle. (No wonder she gave birth upon arrival!)
2) As the world gears up for Christmas, I feel myself relaxing into this steadily darkening month and readying myself to hibernate with baby. We’ll sleep at odd hours, be awake in the dark, and not leave the house for weeks.
3) As my belly stretches tighter and tighter (seriously, how is it possible that baby will keep growing for 5 more weeks?!), I see the Open Homes team and network stretching to take on my roles while I’m off on maternity leave. People are stepping into new responsibilities, with a new Kinship Circle Leader, new communications volunteer, new administrative volunteer, and more. We’ve always said that we’re a network, and I see that network stepping up as I prepare to step back for a season. It’s a beautiful thing.
An Open Homes friend enjoying the blossoms at the Bayfront…May will come again, friends!
I’ve been especially excited to see my coworker Noha, who started as a Kinship Circle Leader (ie. leader of groups of volunteers that surround and support refugee Guests) just this May, already beginning to lead and mentor another new Kinship Circle Leader, Darlene. It has been an absolute delight to coach her and to see her skills continue to unfold.
The end of the year is a great time to take stock of 2022, to look back on the ways that God has led us through and provided for us.
One of the best days of 2022—our 4th anniversary party!
Here’s a quick snapshot:
Guests welcomed: 27!
Guest families: 14
New Hosts: 7! (I have to pause to highlight this. In the fall, we ran out of Hosts temporarily because various Hosts had life circumstances that led them to postpone their next hosting situation. But God provided, our network stepped up, and within a month or so, we had several new Emergency Hosts and 4 new Host families. As many ministries struggled to reinvigorate their volunteer network after a couple years of intermittent lockdowns, this was a huge encouragement to us.)
Emergency Hosts: 6 (These folks step up on short notice to open their homes in emergency situations, whether because a Guest has been evicted from their long-term accommodations or because we want to welcome a new Guest but their Host won’t be ready for a couple weeks. We love our Emergency Hosts!)
New Companions: 11
New Kinship Circle Leaders: 2
Canada Ontario Housing Benefit subsidies: 6 families! (This is the subsidy I talked about in my last post that we gained access to by getting on The List.
Guest hearings: 6! (One family is still waiting for their hearing response, and we pray with them for a big YES.)
Anti-racism Advisory Team members: 4
2 summer picnics, 2 RentSmart trainings, 1 Run for Refugees, 1 anniversary party, 1 Christmas party, and many church presentations.
Meeting with the Ontario Shelter Coalition—stellar refugee welcomers and advocates from across the province. We learn so much from these folks.
It hasn’t been all joy and progress though. Some challenges of the year...
We’ve been hearing stories of sexual abuse that Guests suffered before they came to us, due to miserly low OW rates and inaccessible housing. Women and children, especially, end up sleeping on someone’s couch and vulnerable to the whims and wills of that person because they don’t have other options. Some are supported in beautiful, sacrificial ways. And some are left instead with trauma. This is the face of the housing crisis. It makes my blood boil.
Grants we thought we’d get that we didn’t. We will keep knocking, and learning the tricks of the trade. Big thanks to Indwell staff for offering essential advice along the way.
As I wrote about in my last post, it is increasingly hard to find long-term housing for Guests on Ontario Works. Something’s gotta give. We are so thankful for the landlords, both Christian and otherwise, who have knocked a couple hundred dollars per month off the rent for a unit and passed up other possible tenants who look like more of a “sure bet” on paper. But increases to social assistance rates and densified urban housing that’s on bus lines and close to services is so desperately needed.
An Open Homes community member enjoying a show thanks to our partners at Welcome Inn.
Please hold these things up in prayer, and pray too for the Open Homes Hamilton leaders as they take the leap into this next year without me. They will absolutely do great, but I know there’s some anxiety there.
One more thing: since one of our key start-up grants has run its course (thanks NewGround!) I could use a bit of a bump in support to sustain me through my maternity leave. Thanks to so many of you, my support is relatively stable, but with the increased expenses of having a little person around, a bit of a bump would help. Would you consider making a donation to my salary as part of your year-end giving?
*You may see some more posts from me during mat leave, if the writing itch gets to me. But either way, you can stay in the loop with Open Homes Hamilton on Facebook or just send me a note and I’ll get you added to the general Open Homes newsletter list. The welcome goes on without me!
Let me leave you with a song that my friend Jesse wrote for the No Room? event back in May. As we get ready to welcome the Refugee King this Christmas, may our cities become cities of refuge.