The arrival of winter weather last week had most of us reluctantly pulling out parkas, gloves, boots and snow shovels.
It also found us besieging local automotive services with phone calls in search of someone to install winter tires... yesterday!
At St. Francis of Assisi Anglican Church near Airdrie’s downtown core, the colder climate means the congregation can expect an influx in attendance at their monthly offering of hot meals, warm showers and a comfortable place to sleep for the night.
“We’ve been partnering for close to 15 years now with this important Calgary-based initiative,” explains Janet Grein who leads the initiative at St. Francis.
Given the remarkable population growth Airdrie has experienced over the past decade, one might expect there to have been a corresponding increase in the number of our city’s homeless people as well. Grein, however, suggests such is not necessarily the case.
She points out that, due in part to our proximity to Calgary, most of the guests at her church’s every third Thursday of the month service are actually brought to Airdrie from Calgary by van or bus.
“They spend approximately eighteen hours with us,” Grein notes.
“From around noon hour on Thursday overnight until 6:30 the next morning.”
During that time, the lower level at St. Francis functions as kitchen, dining hall, family room and large bedrooms for the visitors who number anywhere from a dozen in summer to 30 or 40 in winter.
“I am fortunate to have a very dedicated core of volunteers here which includes our minister, Rev. Gordon Jackson,” Grein said.
“We prepare the meals from scratch in the kitchen and make sure that everyone is well fed. Many times there are a number of children who arrive as guests so we have to make sure there are adequate entertainment options for them,” she advises, pointing to a large TV and corresponding DVD that occupy a corner of the family room.
Grein insists that at least one adult be awake and “on duty” throughout the night since providing such a service has a number of inherent risks.
That being so, she maintains she can only point to a couple of instances over the years where a guest has proven to be belligerent or uncooperative.
“We ensure that rules and expectations are clearly communicated,” she says.
“And given the number of citizens who have made use of this service in the past, we’ve been very fortunate that most of them are well-behaved.”
“You can appreciate that most of our visitors are very, very appreciative of what we offer them,” Grein smiles.
“So are eager to cooperate with our efforts. Sometimes former guests who now find themselves in more stable circumstances will drop by just to say “hi” and “thank you!”
On behalf of all the residents of Airdrie, here’s a shout-out of applause to Janet Grein and her devoted team of volunteers at St. Francis of Assisi Anglican Church for their practical demonstration of Christian compassion. You are truly an inspiration to us all!
Tim Callaway is pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church. He can be reached at [email protected]
Tim Callaway is pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church. He can be reached at [email protected]
