The staff at Oasis occasionally gather to pray. It is completely voluntary. And it is led by staff, not management. It is almost always very special. At the last meeting one of the staff said, in her prayer, “please accept our service” ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

One of our volunteers had been punched in the face and was at the hospital receiving stitches. The police were at Oasis investigating. There were special circumstances and I wanted to offer mediation as an option. The police were fine with that (p ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

My eldest daughter had an imaginary friend when she was young, the father of her doll Sarah. No matter how much we established through logic and reason that Sarah’s father did not exist, she always had an answer (usually creative and illogic ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

One of our kindest community members always expressed gratitude for everything Oasis did for him. Sometimes he came when he really wasn't suppose to, saying there was no food in the house. We never sent him away empty handed. He brought others fro ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

It is such a relief when the food room is full on a Wednesday morning. We were stocked to the rafters. More was piled in our Director’s office. Good thing, since we had a big crowd again today. But we had few beans and even less tuna. We mad ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

“I’m just like Jesus”. This was not a grandiose claim of self-importance. Nor was a symptom of an acute mental illness. Our community member was simply identifying with the poverty of Jesus. His point was that Jesus could have ch ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

On April 7, 2016 the Toronto Star published an article entitled: Hunger an issue for one in eight Toronto region households, says new report. It can be found at:

Just Havin' a Conversation

Recently I sat at a table with four members of our community sharing what I had learned about the Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program at a seminar the week before. I expressed puzzlement at how the system worked. I saw four noddin ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far

$626 a month. That is was a single person receives under Ontario Works (sometimes called welfare or social assistance). The speaker from the local legal aid clinic, which also provides housing assistance, went on to say that the typical one bedroo ... [read full post]

Posted in What I Have Learned So Far