Representatives of organizations that create London's food security network at St. Mark's on September 26
By Lori Manicom Prentice
On Thursday, September 26, a group of twenty-three people representing organizations serving the community struggling with food security came out to St. Mark’s to share in coffee and pastries and have an honest discussion about the programs we each offer.
Our topic of focus was to look at the question, “Are we serving the same people?”
St. Mark’s started our evening introducing a diagram of the 55+ organizations in their food security network. Representatives in attendance included St. Aidan's. St. Michael's and All Angels, Church of the Ascension, Trinity United Church, the Nation of Oneida of the Thames, Just a Bunch of Friends, Ward 4 Councillor Susan Stevenson, and others interested in joining the discussion.
Groups represent those who serve housed and/or unhoused populations. A map of the City of London indicated the 47 known homeless encampments, there is an estimated 74 encampment in London. The majority are in east London, with a large number in Susan Stevenson's ward, but there is, sadly, so much representation throughout the entire city.
Discussions did indicate duplication in the area of Dundas and Lyle, and other areas in parks and by the river.
Duplication was seen with mixed thoughts. We are providing sandwiches to people who are hungry. Duplication for many individuals really just means getting more than one sandwich every few days, but the human connection may be the only opportunity for care and compassion in their lives.
Many ideas were passed around about how we may serve people better if we looked at perhaps designating an area, however we do already know that word does travel through the communities regarding where the meals are provided. Some of the more outlying areas may have more of an issue with lack of resources.
Councillor Susan Stevenson joined in on the discussion that we don’t really know what is being done with all of the funding. She was also not aware that funded programs like Ark Aid, are also receiving the benefit of community groups providing them with supplies for meal distribution.
While she is appalled at the handling of the homelessness situation, she also knows that this is proving to be a potentially dangerous, and extremely disruptive situation for area constituents who own or rent in the area. During the night residents can hear strangers turning door handles and otherwise trying to access their homes, they have property destruction, and they are threatened and treated abusively. Their right for the government to take greater responsibility and provide genuine affordable housing, does not allow for the infringement on the other members of the community who also have a right to live in a safe, supportive community.
Anthony from Oneida discussed the possibility of supplementing meal offerings with soup that he would be make by enlarging the batches he makes for the soup kitchen on the reserve. This is an area some other groups were going to discuss further.
Generally, the gathering was compassionate people, hoping to make a difference in the lives of others. There was some lingering blame in individuals who thought that the housing and food insecure population should just be able to fix their problems and were responsible for all the suffering they have without the consideration for myriad reasons unknown to us.
A thought-provoking statement was made that evening. “Just when did it actually become “okay” that we see people living in the streets”; “why is this becoming normal and expected, that we are delivering food to people who need shelter before anything else can actually come together for them.”
Attendees were thoughtfully engaged in this discussion, and ongoing discussions are in the works. We are hoping to see our network, and the volunteers wanting to make a difference in numbers continue to increase. If you have any questions we’d love to hear from you, and invite you to join the conversations.
Lori Manicom Prentice is a St. Mark's, London parishioner.