Two Are Better Than One
By Outreach Team
As I sit down to write this, there are 48 shelters with reported COVID outbreaks. Most of them are congregate settings, which means people have to make impossible decisions: stay inside and get COVID or venture out into freezing temperatures to live. Beyond this, hundreds of people aren’t able to access a shelter bed - outbreak or not - because they are full. This week another person in our community died of a drug overdose.
It has been a hard year for us here at Sanctuary. So many of those whom we love dearly in our community have died. As housing costs keep rising and we navigate another wave of the pandemic, it is at times difficult to wrap my mind around the context that we find ourselves in and to think through what it means to support our Sanctuary community well. What does it mean to offer meaningful care to those facing relentless loss, danger and cold nights?
During this time where we are encouraged to distance, mask and limit our contact with people, I am drawn to these words that talk about the importance of connection:
Two are better than one,
because they have good return for their labour:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
I know many friends who have no option but to sleep outside in these temperatures, friends who rely on each other's body heat to survive. For so many, this passage isn’t a metaphor, it’s reality. I also feel some measure of hope in the generosity and care that I see between people each day: simple and yet profound acts, like offering a friend a jacket, a listening ear or advice on the best place to bed down for the night.
As an outreach team, we have been challenged to imitate these acts of care. The change in seasons and evolving COVID situation are difficult. Earlier in the pandemic, good support meant more work near our building as we increased the number of meals we offered. Simon has steadfastly delivered groceries to people in our community who aren’t able to access meal programs at this time. We have had to find creative ways to assist people in hospital as a result of the more restrictive visitation protocols. Doug and Lorraine have collaborated with shelter providers to ensure people in our community have better access to shelter-hotel rooms. We make an extra effort to visit many in our community who have set up an impromptu drop-in for themselves at Union Station when there aren’t any other inside options available. Richmond Hill Chinese Baptist Church came down and put together hundreds of Christmas gift bags so we could offer meaningful gifts to those in our community during our Christmas Dinner that we had out in front of our building on December 16.
As mandated isolation winds on, I am continually convicted to value the moments of connection that I observe and experience myself. The joy of warm food being shared on our front parking pad. Connections made with other organizations doing similar work, like Church of the Redeemer, Church of The Holy Trinity or Anishnawbe Health Toronto, as we coordinate around a vaccination clinic or a tent drive. Or the sense of support we felt when Richmond Hill Chinese Baptist Church came down and put together hundreds of Christmas gift bags for our Santa to hand out those in our community. We are definitely stronger when we stick together, even in conditions that feel so overpowering.
Written by: Greg [January 8, 2022]
