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A monthly publication by the Capital Region Interfaith Housing Initiative (CRIHI)

End of March 2020

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

  • There is Always Hope - a Faith Reflection

  • Neighbour Love in Covid 19

  • 2020 Interfaith Habitat Works Project - Cancelled

  • Volunteer Opportunities


Hello everyone.  
 

Greetings from all of us at Interfaith Housing Initiative.  


As the Covid-19 crisis unfolds, we are all looking for ways to love and serve each other while at the same time doing what we can to hinder the spread of the virus.  Cooperating with formal efforts put in place by the Government and health authorities is of course the first response.  But we also need to find ways to care for each other. 

In this issue, Interfaith Housing provides a neighbouring card to aid us in making simple connections with those living near us; caring for each other even behind closed doors.  Similar tools are being used around the world to help people care for each other mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  We hope your community will make use of them.

We also extend the invite to work with us to tell Neighbourly stories from around Edmonton.  

Thank you for continuing to walk with us as we work together, learn together and stand together for the life and health of all in our communities.


From the Interfaith Housing Initiative Steering Committee




 


There is Always Hope
Fr. Richard Hendrick, March 13, 2020

Lockdown
Yes there is fear. …
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.

But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighborhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.

So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

Fr. Richard Hendrick is an Irish Capuchin Franciscan friar


Loving our Neighbours in the Crisis of Covid-19

As the whole world grapples with new realities forced on us by the Coronavirus, a growing movement of people in every country are intentionally exploring how we can love each other in the face of this crisis.  This question is of course front and centre for all of us who are people of faith. 

When Edmonton's Interfaith Housing Initiative first formed, we signed on to a joint statement that says,
“Our religious and spiritual communities share important values: respect for human dignity, solidarity with those who are poor and vulnerable, and an affirmation of the importance of inclusive and welcoming communities where individuals and families can thrive.”  From CRIHI’s Interfaith Statement (2011)
 
In times of crisis (such as war, famine, disease) a society experiences new and terrible pressures that strain resources and relationships.  The poor, the powerless and the vulnerable tend the suffer the most severely.  Communities can become paralyzed by fear and no longer welcoming to the stranger.  Human dignity too can be surrendered with people lost in a creeping darkness.

But there is always choice when the darkness comes.  We can either shut everything down and curse the darkness, or we can choose to (in ways large or small) be a source of light.  If we study any of the great pandemics and times of devastation in human history, we will always find these people of light.  They quietly moved among the sick and despondent in the death camps of the holocaust or in the devastation of terrible plagues.  They put the well-being of others before their own, even risking themselves for the good of another; not without precautions or foolishly putting others at risk, but by finding ways to care for people in the midst of a terrible struggle..

Today, those places of darkness are most often in our living rooms,and those of our neighbours.  It takes the form of loneliness, anxiety, depression, fear, or a lack of basic supports mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.  Social distancing is without question, the most effective way to slow the virus and protect our most vulnerable.  But in and around that, we need to find ways to care for each other. 

To help us do that, Interfaith Housing Initiative is glad to provide a postcard to help people gently make those local connections with neighbours.  Our postcard is inspired by and in line with that shared in the #viralkindness movement which began in Australia.  We have added prayer to the list as an important way we can provide spiritual care for our neighbours. 
Please feel free to download and share this resource with your faith communities.  Caring for each other where we are and sharing our life and resources (even from a distance) is a powerful way to protect the life and health of ourselves and our neighbours.  It also helps take some of the burden off our emergency service providers. 

A download of the file is available at the following link:  https://interfaithhousinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/neighbouring-with-covid-1.pdf

We recommend faith communities follow these three steps as a way to use this resource and encourage Neighbouring in your faith community:
  1. Print off cards and deliver them in a batch of ten or twenty to members of your faith community.
  2. Make the file available to people digitally via email so that they can print off more as need be, or share with people in their circle (friends, families or neighbours) who would like to practice this as well.
  3. Encourage everyone who uses the cards to see this as a way to form simple, supportive, caring relationships with their neighbours. 
May this tool serve us well on our collective path of love and service to our neighbours,

From all of us at Edmonton's Interfaith Housing Initiative  
www.interfaithhousing.ca


 

Got a Neighbourly Story?  Let the Neighbourly share it!

One of the main reasons Interfaith Housing began this publication was to provide a place where we could tell stories.  Stories about radical hospitality.  Stories about generosity and sacrifice.  Stories that inspire us all to step out, to extend warmth and welcome and love to our neighbours.

In this current crisis, we would like to put that purpose front and centre, but we need your help.  Are you hearing stories that inspire you from here in Edmonton?  Share them with us! 
 
  • Tell us what your faith community is doing to care for each other or your neighbours. 
  • Tell us how folks in your neighbourhood are watching out for each other.
  • Share the stories you see and hear that inspire you.

We are glad to share the news and learn together how we can best respond in service and love for our neighbours.
Submit stories to the Neighbourly by sending them to: mike@interfaithhousing.ca




Interfaith Habitat Works Project - Cancelled for 2020

Hello everyone.  Unfortunately, due to Covid 19, this year's Interfaith Habitat Works project is cancelled.  Our thanks to everyone who helped out getting ready for this year's project, and for all of you planning to come join us.  We'll be back in the Spring of 2021.  Until then, we pray together for safety, solidarity and a swift resolution of this crisis. 

Interfaith Habitat Advisory Council.
Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities
 
Welcome Home
One of the biggest reasons people struggle or fail as they come out of homelessness into housing is loneliness.  Welcome Home assembles and trains a small team of volunteers to walk with someone as a friend.  This is a one-year commitment to go for coffee, go bowling, take long walks, to encourage and pray for a fellow human being on a tough stretch of the road.  ​To find out more information about volunteering contact the Welcome Home Coordinator at 780-378-2544.
https://www.cssalberta.ca/Our-Ministries/Volunteer-Mentoring-Support

Volunteer with CRIHI on one of our working committees:
Help plan and organize events with Education and Advocacy
Join our steering committee to help us find meaningful ways to work together and learn together in addressing poverty and homelessness in Edmonton.
Email: mike@interfaithhousing.ca

Get Firsthand Experience
CRIHI's website has a strong list of opportunities where volunteers can learn by serving.  Here's the link: http://wp.me/P20ewB-5R

Get involved in your Local Community
Visit or Join your Community League - engage in your neighbourhood's efforts to build community, go for coffee with the leadership, and learn about some of the justice issues taking place in your neighbourhood.  http://www.efcl.org

Explore the social dynamics in your neighbourhood
Unsure what the needs are in your community?  MAPS Alberta is a great resource to see how your neighbourhood stacks up on a range of social demographics.  Explore their Social Atlas and numerous other useful resources at: www.mapsab.ca
Connect, Contribute, Inspire!

Join our Learning Community!
The Interfaith Housing Initiative was formed in response to a City of Edmonton and Province of Alberta commitment: the Ten-year-plan to End Homelessness.  Faith leaders from across the city came together to say, “Addressing homelessness is important to our communities too!  How can we help?”

Get Involved! Join the conversation! 
Sign up for our email newsletter and learn with us.  This is a monthly publication where we will be provide good information, generate ideas that work, tell each other’s stories, and share how communities and organizations around Edmonton are responding to the needs of Edmonton’s most vulnerable.

Share your stories with us!
A good story reminds us of what is possible.  The work of providing help, support and home to a neighbor is nothing new, and people of faith tell many stories that inspire.  Stories from today, or stories from a thousand years ago; we want to hear them!  Share the stories of compassion, hospitality that inspire you and your community so that their sharing can inspire others around Edmonton. 

Submit stories and insights to mike@interfaithhousing.ca
 
Contact Us:

Mike Van Boom
CRIHI Housing Ambassador
Mike@interfaithhousing.ca
(780) 554-2703

 
 
Religious and spiritual communities working to end homelessness in Edmonton
Copyright © 2020 Edmonton Interfaith Housing Society, All rights reserved.



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