Every Saturday, a Westside Anglicans Neighbourhood Ministry Street Outreach team consisting of two or three individuals takes to the westside streets to connect with our friends who live on the street, delivering food, toiletries, sleeping bags and other supplies.
Street Outreach teams also provide Information about the services offered by the WANM’s twice-monthly Mobile Care Unit—housing applications, tax forms, ID replacement—as well as doctor’s services.
On average, Street Outreach team members connect with 20 street friends each Saturday. Serving our homeless and vulnerable neighbours provides an incredible opportunity for each of us to feel gratitude, not just for the blessings we have, but to each of those we serve for letting us into their lives.
Following is a poem by Eric Pollins, a member of a Street Outreach Team at St. Anselm’s, University Blvd., and presented as part of the parish’s special activities during Homelessness Action Month in October 2021.
Eric joins his wife, Peg, on Street Outreach outings whenever he can and brings along their dog, Stella, much to the delight of all whom they meet.
The Sixth Day
By Eric Pollins
My old friend woke me today
Same as yesterday,
Same as tomorrow.
“What’s for breakfast?”
As if I knew
Half a smoke
Will have to do
For now.
Today, we may get lucky
I say:
“A kind stranger
May drop enough
For a whole pack!”
My old friend quiets
For a moment.
Until tomorrow,
And tomorrow,
And tomorrow,
Somebody said.
The petty pace
Never outruns the dark,
Stops the cold,
Or quiets my old friend for long.
But
On the Sixth Day
New friends wake me.
Their faces change
But not their names:
– Warmth
– Compassion
– Dignity
– He/She/They
Remind me who I Really Am.
Bearing gifts of Hope, of Friendship, of Warm Socks and PBJ
When my new friends come
My old friend is quiet for the whole day.
Today is good!
My old friend will be back tomorrow
And tomorrow,
And tomorrow.
But on the Sixth Day
Our new friends will return
And we will rest
Again.
Neighbourhood Ministry 