Many great things happen at Outreach but none of them would happen without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers.  Being a volunteer at Outreach is like joining a second family.  Everyone works together to help each other out; guests and volunteers alike. 

I'd like to introduce you to Deb, one of our newest volunteers.
Deb has been here for two months as an advocate.  An advocate helps our guests work through their problems.  Their problems could be things like getting on to social assistance, finding an affordable apartment, getting ID, and pretty much anything they need help with.
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"I was inspired by a news article about the coffee boy who was concerned about the homeless in the cold and wanted to do something, so he set up a coffee stand for people waiting in line at Outreach.  I was sitting at home, during Covid and recently retired and thought this was something I would like to do with my daughter.  A couple of weeks later my daughter and I served coffee to people waiting in line outside at SCO.  I was so impressed with the warmth and welcoming atmosphere at Outreach and I felt like I wanted to become a part of it, make a difference, to help, to give back.  After that first day of working alongside Irene and Myra I really felt called to be here." ~Deb

There are many reasons people come to volunteer at SCO.  Quite a few of our volunteers are recently retired 55+ people who are looking to fill their time by giving back to the community.  A handful are young adults looking for work experience that is also self fulfilling.  A bunch of our volunteers are also our guests who are looking to give back to the place that has helped them out so much.

We have a lot of fun here at Outreach and learn many surprising things during our time here.
"What has surprised me the most is the high number of women in domestic violence situations who come to us and are homeless. Also the number of men and women with mental health challenges.  I expected the majority of guests to be homeless as a result of addictions, but this isn't the case.  Each person has a unique story that deserves to be heard." ~Deb

There are tons of jobs that volunteers help with at Outreach.  There are always donations that need sorting, food and hygiene hampers to hand out, food that needs to be made into casseroles, and furniture to be moved, but the most important job is simply connecting with our guests over a cup of coffee.  If you would like to come by and see what we do, meet our guests, and perhaps join our team of volunteers please send an email to Myra at steinbachoutreach@gmail.com.  We would love to connect with you!

The other day the gentleman who delivers our bread came in with our usual order.  As I collected our boxes of bread from him he explained he had met someone on his route this morning.  They had struck up a conversation and it was obvious the person was homeless.  So our delivery man said he knew of a place that could possibly help and offered the man a ride to our drop in centre.
The person who came through the doors was the quintessential picture of a homeless man.  He was tall and scruffy looking with an unkempt beard and two green reusable bags stuffed with all of his worldly belongings slung over his shoulder.  
I introduced myself and invited him to have a seat and warm up.  He placed his bags on floor within direct sight of where he was sitting and shared his story.
He was quite an interesting character.  At different points in the conversation he described himself as an inventor and a researcher of people.  He said the bread man had asked him if he was homeless, but he wasn't homeless, he was travelling.  He preferred to sleep rough in order to reduce his carbon footprint.  I asked him where he'd slept last night and he named a spot we were familiar with in the bushes next to the library. It's amazing to me how even out of towners have an instinct for finding the places in town to sleep to get out of the wind. The previous couple of nights he'd slept in other places familiar to us.  An entryway where the heat blew straight down on you and an atm vestibule.
He was headed from BC to Ontario where he would stop and see his sister before he decided where to go next.  On the way he wanted to interact with all the cultures and had come to Steinbach looking for Mennonites. He'd been in town for a few days but hadn't noticed any.  I explained that the Mennonites around here looked and acted just normal people every where else.  It wasn't like the old days of horse and buggy.  He looked a little disappointed but then said maybe he'd find some Amish on his travels.  I suggested he look around the Vita area south of here.
He stayed with us at the drop in center all day that day, mostly doing research on human behavior at our computer station by watching Youtube videos, music videos and reading articles online.  He had a habit of sucking the flavouring off of potato chips for his lunch and then discarding the soggy chips afterwards.  He also enjoyed a tin of meat with his meal when it was offered to him. He came back to the drop in center every day for about a week, watching the people come and go and visiting with our regulars, until one day he didn't.  We heard he was spotted south of Grunthal with his two large green bags hooked over his shoulder.  I like to think he was on his way to spot some Amish.
Every once in a while we get a person through here who is simply a traveler making their way across the country.  They always have an interesting story to share and a world view that makes one pause and assess their own point of view.  Is it sleeping rough or is it eliminating your carbon footprint?  Is it goofing off online or is it the study of human behaviour?