To our wonderful donors, volunteers and supporters.
Thanks to each of you who have reached out to offer your assistance to Matthew House Ottawa and the people we serve during this difficult time. The groceries and meals, toilet paper and cleaning supplies, grocery cards and donations, prayers and concern continue to be much appreciated.
The fact that you are sharing what you have with vulnerable people in our community at a time when many people are panic buying and hoarding says a lot about the character and integrity of our amazing supporters. Thank you!
I am writing today – in these uncertain and fast moving times amid the COVID-19 pandemic – to provide an update on Matthew House Ottawa and our programs, and also to highlight our current needs.
In fact, let me start with how you can help, as many of you have been asking and I don’t want that to get buried below.
Our current needs
Currently the best ways for you to help are with:
Donations: you can give online here or cheques can be mailed to 380 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa ON K2G 6A1.
Grocery cards, groceries and frozen meals to help feed the refugees we have welcomed at the house. Call 613-591-6681 to confirm drop-off plans before you come. (We can also use cleaning materials, hand soap, laundry soap, toilet paper and paper towels if you come across any of these when you are shopping).
Furniture: call 613-591-6681 to discuss options for a safe pick up (see below for more on that…)
Challenges we are facing
We are facing many challenges and adjusting to losses at many levels, due to this pandemic.
Matthew House is a volunteer-based charity, so you can imagine the disruption to our operations is significant when, for the safety of our volunteers and the vulnerable people that we serve, we had to ask all of our volunteers to stay home.
It’s tough on our volunteers, who have lost a regular opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and miss the meaningful relationships and social connections that are a key part of their volunteer experience.
It’s tough on the 4 members of our staff, who are doing our best to carry out the work of Matthew House, which is normally supported by 75+ active volunteers.
It’s tough on the people we serve. Can you imagine being told daily to stay home, but your home is nothing but an empty shell: no kitchen table, no chairs, no sofa, no mattress for your children to sleep on? This is the reality for families that we serve. So it was heartbreaking to temporarily shut down our furniture bank operation until we can run the program in a way that is safe for everyone involved (more on that below).
Our refugee services program has had to adjust to a new reality without volunteers on-site preparing meals and providing settlement support. Our residents miss the community, connections, and friendships that our volunteers provide. For refugees who have left everything and everyone they know, developing and maintaining new relationships is important. So the absence of volunteers is a huge loss.
COVID-19 is also proving to be a significant challenge to us financially as well. We don’t receive government funding and currently, each week that our operations are affected by the pandemic we are running a loss of $4,000. Furthermore, upcoming events have been postponed or cancelled, which means a loss of donation income as well.
If you are able, now would be a very helpful time to donate to support the work of Matthew House Ottawa.
10th anniversary event
Sadly, we had to postpone our 10th anniversary celebration that was scheduled for May 3rd. This will come as no surprise, as we have all been dealing with event cancellations over the last weeks.
Our plan at this point is to reschedule the event for later in the fall, but we will wait a few months to set a new date for the event (when we are confident that we can safely gather).
Thank you so much to each of you who wanted to celebrate this milestone with us, and for the many ways that you have helped to make the work of Matthew House possible. We look forward to the party later this year.
Innovations to serve our community
A crisis like this one forces all of us to innovate – and quickly. At refugee services several of our volunteers have begun to meet virtually with the refugees we serve. And we have developed a physically-distanced and safe way for people to drop off groceries, gift cards and other essentials at the house. If you want to support our refugee services program in any way at this time, please call or text Doreen at 613-262-3643.
At furniture bank we are actively developing a “no-contact” version of our operations where we can safely pickup donated items and deliver essential furniture without any personal contact whatsoever. We have consulted with city and province staff, with public health specialists, and with partners and we are close to being able to implement a plan that will allow us to continue serving the most vulnerable families in our city who are in dire need of furniture essentials. Our #1 priority is and will be the health and safety of all involved (e.g. staff, donors, clients and the broader community). We will put the furniture bank operation on hold again if at any point we do not feel confident that we can run the “no-contact” version of our program safely.
Please note that our furniture warehouse and showroom will NOT be open to the public, volunteers, or clients for the duration of this crisis. Drop-offs of donated items are NOT being accepted at this time. Please call furniture bank at 613-591-6681 if you have any questions.
Thank you
Thanks again to each of you who continue to support the ministries of Matthew House Ottawa at this difficult time. I am so grateful for every one of you.
May God bless you and keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy. This is an unusual and unsettling time, but we will get through it.
Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions: 613-591-6681 or arm@matthewhouseottawa.org.
Sincerely,
Allan
Allan Reesor-McDowell
Executive Director
Matthew House Ottawa
p.s. If you are able, please make a donation to support the work of Matthew House Ottawa at this challenging time. Thank you!