Belonging Centres Welcome Neighbours

This winter, warming hubs at several Anglican churches in Edmonton have provided refuge for people seeking relief from the loneliness, isolation and life-threatening, cold temperatures.

On the last day of February, after a significant snowfall and plummeting temperatures dealt another harsh blow to anyone vulnerable to the elements, the Very Rev. Alexandra Meek, rector and Dean of All Saints’ Cathedral, Edmonton; and Hayfa Hamad, Community Connections Support Worker, Boyle Street Community Services, welcomed people into the warm Cathedral.

The Thursday morning breakfast team of Canon (lay) Barbara Burrows, Jennifer Rees, Mary-Lou Cleveland, Tom Love were cheerfully greeting people, as they served 45 plates of pineapple ham, muffins, boiled eggs, bananas, bowls of warm oatmeal as well as countless cups of steaming coffee.

“We try to greet everyone as they come in the door and invite them to sit down, and then we bring them their coffee. If they’re new here, they’re often quite surprised. I think they enjoy the homey feel,” says Burrows who started the breakfast program nearly 20 years ago. She still does all the shopping for the breakfasts, which run from Thanksgiving to the last Thursday in March. 

Community members who attend the breakfasts and drop in to the Belonging Centre include residents of the Cathedral Close, a seniors’ supportive housing residence next door, and anyone in need of warmth and companionship. 

“I like this place. On days when it’s cold, it’s open about 9 o’clock,” says George, a regular visitor to the Belonging Centre. “It’s good here. It’s a good mix of people. It’s an older crowd, but I’ve made a few friends here. It’s a better crowd than the crowd I’m used to.”

“This is fantastic,” says Esther, who is seated next to George and her partner David. “You have a fellowship of people all gathered to have breakfast and warm up. This place is invaluable. It really is. The volunteers and staff are wonderful and very helpful.”

“I’ve been coming to the breakfasts for a year-and-a-half and I really enjoy them,” says David. “I have food insecurities, sometimes we don’t have enough to eat, so we supplement our income with these free, community meals.”

In addition to volunteering at All Saints, Mary-Lou Cleveland, who plays beautiful piano music during the breakfasts, serves coffee on Sundays with the Inner City Pastoral Ministry, following worship with the community of Emmanuel. 

“This is our chance to shine a light on some of the people we know do not have homes, or adequate shelter,” she says. “We like them, and they know we like them. Here people are treated as human beings, as our brothers and sisters. It gives them a chance to relax.”

“This is an opportunity to “put our faith into action,” says Burrows. “It’s nice that we can do a little bit for others.”

When the breakfast winds down, staff from Boyle Street Community Services are present to connect people with further resources. The Belonging Centres are open several days a week at locations throughout the city, including the Anglican churches of All Saints’ Cathedral downtown, St. Faith’s on Alberta Avenue, St. Mary’s in the Highlands and Good Shepherd on Castle Downs Road. 

As a community connections support worker, Hayfa Hamad travels regularly between the Belonging Centres. Though she is not an Anglican, her maternal grandmother was, and she says she has “really been enjoying getting to know all the reverends and volunteers” since October when she began working with Boyle Street. 

“This means the world to some of our community members,” says Hamad who specialises in addictions counselling and has been in the community support services field for 17 years. “People feel somewhat empowered here. They feel safe. We’re not judging anybody.”

“When I see a community member it makes me smile,” says Allen Nakkone who has been a member of St. Faith’s since 2022 when she immigrated to Canada from Uganda.

She became a volunteer at St. Faith’s, where people welcomed her as a part of the community. Now she is now also employed by Boyle Street as a community connections support worker. Speaking with people to understand what they are going through in their lives, has “helped become a better communicator,” says Nakkone.

Lodgepole Communitas (St. Faith’s and St. Mary’s, Edmonton)

Throughout the week, the Lodgepole Communitas Belonging Centres, located at St. Faith’s on Alberta Avenue and St. Mary’s in the Highlands, can “easily see more than 300 people,” says the Rev. Jordan Giggey, transitional deacon. 

He says a significant draw for the Alberta Avenue Belonging Centre is the Prayerworks Community Meals program, which provides meals made and served by volunteers. In addition to providing food and warmth, St. Mary’s serves snacks and coffee, the Belonging Centres are a source of community connection.

“They are a part of the foundational understanding of what it means to exist in or as Communitas for us,” says Giggey. “We are building and living in community with anyone who wants a space to belong.” 

St. Luke’s, Edmonton

Likewise, on the southside of the river, St. Luke’s is home to the Strathearn/Holyrood Belonging Centre, a safe place for “neighbours to share their stories, be it their life's story, or what is on their heart and mind that day. Knowing one another's name and carrying a bit of one another's story makes the neighbourhood a community,” says the Rev. Nick Trussell, rector.

St. Luke’s location alongside the Strathearn and Bonnie Doon LRT stations provides for “a bit of a quiet oasis out of the downtown.” Volunteers from St. Luke's and the Holyrood Mennonite Church just down the street offer coffee and conversation, as well as snacks and other prepared, packaged food from the food bank. Occasionally people from other area service providers visit and meet with neighbours.

“We have had a few friends visit with us not only to get out of the cold but to find some quiet and peace through conversation,” says Trussell. 

"From Easter to Christmas of 2022, when our church doors were open, Mike, one of the most faithful members of our community, would be there,” says Trussell. “Partially to stay warm, but mostly to feel that he was part of a community. During that time, Mike lived in temporary or transitional housing, or was sleeping rough. Through that season, the people of St. Luke's helped Mike with clothes, food, rides, prayers and a compassionate heart. 

"One Sunday, in December 2022, after coffee hour, Mike collapsed and died of a heart attack while crossing the street from St. Luke's to the Bonnie Doon Mall. 

“Often, when one of the St. Luke's volunteers is at the Belonging Centre, they will say, ‘Mike would have loved this!’"

On Wednesday mornings, five-year-old Micah visits with everyone who comes to the belonging centre. A few weeks ago, Micah was happy to play cards and colour with a six-year-old neighbour who came with their grandmother to meet with the Boyle staff.

“We have capacity for up to 20 people, but we usually welcome one or two visitors at a time which has made for very personal and healing conversations and an opportunity for prayer when requested.”

Tee Pee Treats also uses the kitchen at St. Luke's and has hosted free meals in the hall, feeding about 150-200 people each time. 

“It is a joy for us to work with the Boyle staff and to be able reconnect with the friends we meet at the Belonging Centre, the Tee Pee Treat meals, the food bank depot and St. Luke's, or even at the Bonnie Doon Mall,” says Trussell.