In this issue:
We opened our doors to 90 displaced residents of Dwayne’s Home, a transitional housing complex that caught fire shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The fire ripped through a third floor suite of the downtown building causing approximately $400,000 worth of damages and leaving the formerly homeless residents out in the cold.
After quick coordination by the Red Cross, residents were transported to Bissell Centre by designated ETS buses where staff and volunteers were able to meet their immediate needs: food, amenities, and refuge from the cold. Furthermore, Bissell Centre served as an operational hub for the Red Cross, Alberta Health Services, EPS, the City of Edmonton, and other service agencies as they formulated a crisis resolution plan.
83 of the 90 residents we’re eventually transferred to other organizations that could provide overnight shelter and care. Seven women remained with us through the night and were fed a hearty breakfast–thanks to kitchen staff–before being shuttled to other accommodations Thursday morning.
Fortunately, most of the residents will return to their homes today as all but fifteen suites have been deemed safe and free from damages. This is unexpected good news as it was initially estimated that the residents would not be let back into their homes for at least a week.
We are equally happy and honored to have been able to provide support during this devastating incident. The residents of Dwayne’s Home are people that we care deeply about; people that we admire; people who have endured the many hardships of homelessness, risen above their struggles and are now off the streets and in homes. Given the complexities and grip of homelessness, it is a truly remarkable feat. We wish them well.
Hope Mission, Salvation Army, and the Shaw Conference Centre are amongst the many groups who generously offered their services and support.
Donations of towels, unopened toiletries, new socks and underwear, clean men’s clothing, and clean winter coats, gloves, hats and boots can be dropped off at The Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society. Call (780) 428-4422 for more information.
It’s what I am feeling. And I must add, I feel grateful often.
I am grateful for each and every one of our 120 plus staff who work so hard to help those who are homeless, hungry, in pain from past and current abuse, and sadly are without the love and support from family and friends that most of us count on. Bissell Centre staff have big hearts and they are committed to making a difference. I am grateful not only for their actions but their ideas about what more Bissell Centre might do to make needed change in our community. I can’t tell you how proud I am to lead this wonderful organization and I am thankful for the leadership they show me.
I am grateful for our incredible community of friends and supporters. I can’t ever hope to mention everyone who contributes to Bissell Centre’s work, but it is inspiring to see young children and teenagers volunteering here, undertaking their own fundraising campaigns, and speaking to other groups about the importance of eliminating poverty. People of all ages and all walks of life are a part of us. People and groups of all faiths are active in our work and support us in so many ways. The same is true of businesses of all sizes.Service clubs, women’s groups, unions, universities and grade schools – it’s a seemingly unending list of people, organizations, and businesses who care, who want to help, who desire a better future for those struggling.
Bissell Centre partners with many funders to deliver contracted services, including several departments of the Alberta Government, Homeward Trust and REACH Edmonton. We also receive grants from the City of Edmonton (FCSS), United Way, Edmonton Community Foundation, and the Stollery Charitable Foundation for ongoing work here at Bissell Centre. I am grateful that these partners believe in our ability to deliver quality services to high standards of effectiveness and efficiency.
I am also grateful that Bissell Centre is not content to just exist off major contracts and grants. Each year we generate 25 to 30% of our revenues through donations from individuals, businesses, unions, service clubs, schools, small foundations and others who help us keep open our drop in centre, feed thousands, give away free clothing, take care of our children in an accredited day care, provide parenting and family support, and deliver services that improve the health and wellness of our community members. It’s riskier to do this, but Bissell Centre’s history is one of partnering with the community, It was the community that gave us birth 103 years ago and has continued to walk with us in our work ever since. Thank you.
I am grateful to the 800 volunteers who give of their time and talents to our mission and work. I tip my hat to my board of governors and thank them for their guidance, intelligence, commitment, and their faith in me as their CEO. We have so many volunteers I have not met them all. They serve meals, staff our free clothing outlets, wrap presents, shovel snow, help with office work, give haircuts, and offer friendship to our participants. They will be there on New Year’s day setting up, cooking, serving,
and cleaning so that Bissell Centre can provide a free turkey meal to more than 1,000 community members. I can’t imagine what things would be like here without our volunteers.
When we experienced the tragedy of our Thrift Shoppe being knocked out of operations by a $900,000 fire, the community responded with clothing drives, donations of thousands of socks, gloves, and caps. Six of our funders stepped up to provide some extra resources. Government and business leaders contacted us to see how they could help. All of this support allowed us to open up a temporary store in time for Christmas. This could not have happened without the community’s care and help.
I am grateful, as well, to the people we serve. Living in poverty, living homeless, living with mental illness, living with the abuse of their past… and still they keep on trying. They line up each day for casual labor jobs. They work with our staff to change their lives and find homes. They try to quit drinking or doing drugs. They sing and play music in our drop in centre, and I am always honored when they shake my hand, give me a smile or a hug. I am grateful for the many people who overcome their obstacles and land good jobs or become addictions free or find the courage to leave abusive situations.
I am grateful for those who love me and care about me, who are there for me when I am sad or frustrated or feeling lost. I am especially grateful for those times they forgive my own shortcomings and continue to walk with me toward a better place.
I am grateful for being able to serve. And to all of you for helping me to do that with my life.
Wishing you peace, hope, and joy.
Mark Holmgren, CEO
We don’t just rely on government grants.
Bissell Centre’s fundraising goal this year is $1.8 million.
If you can, please invest in our work.
On Monday, December 2nd, Bissell Centre’s Temporary Thrift Shoppe will officially open as a store where low-income people and families can shop for gently used items. The Temporary Thrift Shoppe has been open since October 25th as a location to drop-off donations but will now be 100% operational as both a store and a donation drop-off facility!
This will benefit the 5,000 to 6,000 low income people who utilize the Thrift Shoppe on a monthly basis to shop for much needed items including clothing, household goods, children’s toys, and personal care items. 
The Temporary Thrift Shoppe is located only a few blocks from our original Thrift Shoppe location that is currently under renovations due to fire damage that occurred in early September. All of the donations were lost in the fire and we are encouraging the public to continue to help us “Restock the Shoppe” by donating items such as: clothing for all ages and seasons, new socks & undergarments, footwear, backpacks & purses, linens & bedding, kitchen items, and toiletries & personal care items.
Location and Hours of Operation:
Temporary Thrift Shoppe (behind the Burger Baron)
11817 80 Street, Edmonton T5B 2N6
The holiday season is quickly coming upon us, and people everywhere have started shopping to buy gifts for their loved ones and friends.
This can be a stressful time of year when thinking about what to buy for whom or how much you can spend. Sometimes shopping to find all the “right” gifts can tire you out and negatively impact the good feelings we want to feel when trying to do something good for others.
Savvy shoppers looking for deals know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday Now GivingTuesday is coming to Canada on December 3, 2013. It is a new Canadian movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Cyber Monday. The “Opening day of the giving season,” GivingTuesday is a day where charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about others. Read More…
” On the streets, a shopping cart is called a “buggy.” When I was homeless, I avoided “pushing a buggy” as long as I could. When that day finally came – when I had to get something from point A to Point B and had no other option but to use a shopping cart – I could no longer be in denial about my situation. I was homeless. As you can imagine, accepting that reality was devastating. That day was really a low point of my life. Maybe one of the lowest. I wish I could put into words how crushing it was to my sense of worth. Accepting that I was homeless meant that I had to also accept I may never get out of homelessness. But I was one of the lucky ones.”
Taken from “Invisible People,” a blog by the homeless about being homeless. Click here to read more.
The photograph above made me think. How often I am annoyed when I have a grocery cart with a wobbly wheel or that puts out an irritating squeak while I fill it up with food and supplies. The photograph reminded me of how crazy that is — to be so blessed that I can fill a grocery cart but instead of being grateful I am whining about a very small inconvenience.
A short while ago I wrote a blog posting here called “Move the Homeless Along?” in which I shared with you the pressures we are facing at Bissell Centre to actively discourage homeless people from congregating around our facilities. As mentioned in that narrative, I shared that there are voices telling me that it is better to scatter the homeless around the city than have them grouped together. I also shared my view that the rising pressure we are facing to move the homeless along is motivated by a desire for a better, cleaner, less upsetting aesthetic. Simply put, homelessness is ugly and upsetting and people don’t like to look at it or put up with its many side effects like drunkenness, human waste, needles scattered across lawns and in back alleys, and the eyesore of unkempt people.
I am troubled by all of that, too. We have staff make rounds several times a day picking up needles, cleaning up waste, and trying to stop open drug and alcohol use. We also had a crew going around the neighborhood recently cleaning up debris and litter as well as the paraphernalia of homelessness. I have no delusions about making a huge improvement doing that, but it’s better than doing nothing.
Now we are facing pressure to participate in actions that will take away grocery carts from the homeless. Yes, I know those carts were stolen from grocery and department stores and I know it is a crime to steal such carts. If the theft of grocery carts is a high priority for the police, I will understand if they take actions to reclaim them; the police have a mandate to stop crimes and arrest people breaking the law. Arresting people for grocery cart theft won’t end the use of carts by homeless people, however.
Grocery carts or “buggies” represent the last efforts of homeless people to have the ability to keep what little belongings they have: their blankets and tarps,extra clothing, bottles and cans, and so on. People pushing buggies and carts are doing so because, without them, they have nothing. Our mandate is to help the homeless. We help them by housing them, linking them to needed health services, assisting them with addictions issues, and we also feed and clothe them. There are very few organizations that welcome the homeless into their facilities daily and actively care about them and for them.
That’s why our drop-in centre is staying open this winter seven days per week from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. and why we have outreach staff on the streets 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. We are able to do this with the support of organizations like Homeward Trust and REACH Edmonton, among other funders, but also because of individual donations from citizens across the city who actually want us to do as much as we can to help the homeless and the poor with housing, support, and the wide variety of interventions we are able to provide.
Ending homelessness will not be served by scattering the homeless across the city. It will not be served by stripping the homeless of their carts; in fact, doing so will do nothing but harm the general community’s interest in stopping homelessness from occurring in the first place. It may improve aesthetics and it may give some of us the impression that homelessness is not such a huge problem, but the truth is that if we want a community free of people pushing grocery carts, we need to end the homelessness of those currently experiencing it while preventing others from ending up on the street.
If anything, feel free to pressure Bissell Centre to do more of that work to end poverty and homelessness. Share that pressure with our provincial and civic leaders, the lead staff of funders and faith groups, and our corporate leaders as well. Yes, all of those mentioned are trying to end poverty and homelessness, but we have a long ways to go. We feel that pressure every day at Bissell Centre when we have to tell a homeless person there is no place we can find for them – and we are pretty good at finding accommodations as are other organizations focused on finding homes for the homeless.
There are a number of definitions for the word, “crime.” One of them is about doing something against the law and stealing a grocery cart fits that definition. In this instance, the homeless would be seen criminals and could be arrested. But there are other definitions of crime such as “a grave offense especially against morality” and “something reprehensible, foolish, or disgraceful” (Merriam Webster). In this case I suggest that homelessness is the crime. That said, I am not sure who should be arrested for that.
Bissell Centre will continue to work hard to eliminate the need for carts by participating in the collective efforts of those committed to ending homelessness.
If you are interested and able to help us with our work to do more, please consider investing in Bissell Centre by donating to our mandate to eliminate poverty and end homelessness.
Mark Holmgren, CEO
Thank you to DOTS Clothing Store for donating three pallets of women’s clothing to our Temporary Thrift Shoppe on Wednesday, November 6th after our original Thrift Shoppe was severely damaged by fire in September. All of the donations were lost in the fire and the generous efforts by DOTS will help to restock the shoppe and provide much need clothing to those living in poverty. 
We look forward to strengthening our relationship with DOTS through regular clothing donations to the Thrift Shoppe, which will benefit the 5,000 to 6,000 low income people who utilize the shoppe on a monthly basis. Read More…
The other day I was talking with two of my staff about the increasing efforts we are seeing across the city to “move the homeless along.” Some who advocate for dispersing the homeless tell us it is better to scatter the homeless across the city than to allow them to congregate around places like Bissell Centre or to camp out in groups in the river valley or other “hidden” places. I am not really sure how it’s “better” but it appears the sentiment is shared by more than a few.
I do realize that the aesthetics of homelessness are unpleasant and can make those who have a home to go to each night uncomfortable, if not distressed by what often accompanies homelessness: drug use, public drinking, needles on the ground, and human waste in the back lanes. I get it. I don’t like it either. It is unsettling.
But moving the homeless along does nothing but make the reality of being homeless less visible, and perhaps for some the illusion that things are getting better. I don’t think it improves public safety or the safety of the homeless, and I am sure scattering the homeless does not solve the community’s problem of homelessness.
Being homeless is degrading and painful. Not having a place to call home hurts. It is humiliating to have nowhere to go to the bathroom. Drugs and alcohol are both among the many the activities that lead to homelessness and the means by which people escape the despair of having no home.
Solutions are not easy. Despite the hundreds of chronically homeless people we successfully house each year, we see more and more homeless people walking through our doors. Lately, we are seeing more families. The other night a family slept outside by Bissell Centre. One of them was a two-year old. Where should we move them along to? Read More…
In the recent annual readership poll undertaken by Vue Weekly, Bissell Centre was voted the best non-profit in Edmonton.
Each year for the past 18 years Vue asks Edmontonians to identify those organizations, individuals, businesses, venues, and locations that they believe are the best in Edmonton.
We are proud to receive such recognition and also celebrate with the two organizations that were runners up: iHuman Youth Society and the Edmonton Humane Society.
To see all of the Best of Edmonton Winners, click HERE.
