Belong’s Centre 454 location has operated in the lower level of St. Albans Church for decades, providing basic services such as meals, shower and laundry facilities, as well as equally essential social connection and care.

The Rev. Michael Garner, incumbent of St. Albans, welcomed everyone into the church. He said the staff and volunteers are “an inspiration to me personally and to this congregation. I just really want to thank you for all you do. It is not easy work. We see that…. The way that you show up with passion and love and understanding for people who really need it in this moment is amazing.”

The Rev. Victoria Scott, the director general of Anglican Community Ministries, added her own thanks to the staff and volunteers for “the ways that you all make this a place of dignity and hope and connection. For me, it is absolutely at the centre of the Gospel to walk in solidarity with those who are experiencing vulnerability and marginalization. And there’s tremendous opportunity in places like this for connection in the midst of the disconnection in our world and for a way to find hope even in the darkest times. And so just know that I personally am so grateful for each and every one of you…. and really recognize the transformative work that you do.”

Shauna-marie Young, executive director of Belong Ottawa, thanked St. Albans and Garner for hosting the celebration in the church and for the parish’s hospitality and support of Belong Ottawa’s work.

She also thanked Paul Weber for providing music for the celebration as well as for the concert he and his band performed at St. Albans in February with all the proceeds benefitting Belong Ottawa.

 “Belong Ottawa is truly fortunate to have 31 dedicated volunteers…. You offer your time, your energy, your compassion, and in many cases, your personal resources in support of our mission. You contribute in so many meaningful ways — serving meals, offering companionship, supporting programs, trimming hair, mending clothes, gifting donations,” Young said. “Everything you do helps Belong Ottawa create safety and belonging for every person who walks through our doors.”

Volunteers’ commitment has made it possible for Belong Ottawa to serve 162 ,000 meals since June 2025, she said. “That number …represents far more than food. It represents dignity, stability and community for those who need it most…. From the bottom of our Belong hearts, thank you for your generosity, your spirit, your unwavering dedication. Each of you make a difference, and that’s why we wanted to honour you today.”

The post Belong Ottawa day program toasts its volunteers appeared first on Perspective.

As an Anglican Community Ministry, Centre 454 has offered care and essential services to adults experiencing homelessness, poverty, mental health challenges, substance use related harms and social isolation for 72 years. St. Albans Anglican Church at the corner of King Edward and Daly Avenue has housed this ministry for most of that time. The City of Ottawa, which provides core funding for the program, has advised Belong Ottawa that Centre 454 will need to relocate, with a current deadline of end of January 2027.

Belong Ottawa has sent a formal written request for an extension of the transition timeline to ensure its “essential service continues without interruption for everyone who depends on it.”

The prospect of any move of this kind is daunting. Belong Ottawa welcomes 600 to 700 people to its three locations every day, with about 45 percent of them at Centre 454. In addition to meals and other essential services, Belong Ottawa provides referrals to help participants access income, housing, newcomer supports, addiction and mental health treatment services, education, employment, health, legal and other supports.

In recent years, Center 454 has upgraded its kitchen and laundry appliances. The centre provides access to showers, laundry and lockers where people experiencing homelessness can temporarily store their possessions, and cots with clean linens where they may rest in a safe space. Moving locations in the dead of winter would add another level of complexity at a time when the City requires warming centres and safe places people can seek shelter from the cold.

Belong Ottawa is a low barrier drop-in day program. Everyone is welcome, and for the safety of everyone involved, open use of drugs or alcohol has always been prohibited inside the program and on other Community Ministry properties. As the opioid crisis intensified over the past several years, however, the increasing prevalence of public drug use created new challenges for participants, staff, volunteers, and the surrounding neighbourhood. It also intensified pressure from some nearby residents who had long called for Centre 454 to relocate. Belong Ottawa staff have been trained in the use of Naloxone to reverse overdoses, and they regularly save lives. The recent closure of Consumption and Treatment Sites (CTS) in Ottawa, including two in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood near Centre 454, have increased pressure on the city’s health and social service system.

Kale Brown, director of Housing and Homelessness for the City of Ottawa, acknowledged that “Centre 454 is an important part of Ottawa’s social support network and has supported some of the community’s most at-risk residents for decades.” He attributed the need to find a more suitable location to “the needs of program participants and the surrounding community” evolving. “As a primary funder, the City is working closely with Belong Ottawa to review location options and support the transition. As planning continues, our focus remains on maintaining service continuity and supporting community well-being,” and helping “ensure day programs, like Centre 454, remain a welcoming community resource.”

Belong Ottawa’s executive director Shauna Young told Perspective it is vital that any new home be “meaningfully placed,” so it is accessible to the people Centre 454 serves. Launching a fundraising campaign to uphold critical services and fortify Centre 454 through this transition, Belong Ottawa confirmed its commitment “to continuing Centre 454’s compassionate, low barrier support for generations to come. As community needs grow, we are partnering with the City to strengthen this vital service.” A silver lining outcome would be finding a larger and purpose-built space to help meet increasing needs, Young said.

The Rev. Victoria Scott, director general of the Anglican Community Ministries, said: “As attention continues to focus on Centre 454’s relocation, our immediate priority remains advocating for an extension to the January 2027 timeline and helping people understand the impact this transition will have. As we navigate this moment together, we remain committed to holding with care the longstanding witness of this ministry, the people who rely on it, the realities facing the surrounding neighbourhood and the City of Ottawa, and the discernment required to find a new home where Centre 454 can continue offering dignity, stability, and compassionate support.”

The important role Belong Ottawa plays in the community was evident at a summer barbeque held in Dundonald Park on July 22 that was attended by more than 500 people, most of whom participate in programs at one or all three of its locations.

Rabeya Klein told Perspective that Belong Ottawa changed her life. She recalled being isolated in her home in the years before the pandemic. “I would find myself alone all the time, getting depressed and not feeling like I belonged anywhere,” she said. Fortunately, at that time, she lived next door to St. Luke’s Anglican Church on Somerset Street where the St. Luke’s Table program (now part of Belong Ottawa) served hot lunches and offered other assistance to anyone in need. When she walked in for the first time, the staff welcomed her warmly, and she decided to volunteer. She began helping to serve lunches and then moved to calling bingo numbers. Now she serves as a member of the Belong Ottawa Participant Advisory Committee, gathering and expressing feedback from participants and sharing ideas to improve the drop-in day programs. “I’ve made lifelong friends through volunteering at St. Luke’s,” she said, noting that the relationships and opportunities for social connection are one of the best aspects of Belong Ottawa programs.

Calley, told Perspective that she has visited all three locations of Belong Ottawa at various times, said she found the staff are patient and “are always there to listen to you…They helped me understand that there is help out there.” She added that they helped her find housing after she went through a difficult time. Calley also mentioned the importance of the friendships and social connections formed at Belong Ottawa.

The Rev. Victoria Scott reflected on the importance of the Community Ministries for Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. “As a church, we are called both to respond to immediate need and to name the injustices that create that need. Compassion requires us to meet people where they are. Justice requires us to ask why so many people continue to fall through the cracks and what must change so that people and communities can flourish.”

She added, “Too often these conversations become polarized, as though we must choose between supporting vulnerable people and acknowledging the strain that frontline ministries and neighbourhoods are experiencing. We can hold both realities and work toward solutions that serve everyone. We can affirm the dignity of every person while also saying clearly the current situation is failing many people, including those struggling with addiction, those working on the front lines, and the communities around them.  Held together, these truths invite us into a shared work of discernment—one that refuses false choices and seeks the common good by pursuing solutions that honour the dignity of every person and strengthen the well-being of the whole community.”

Anyone wanting to support Belong Ottawa’s request for an extension to the transition timeline will soon be able to participate in a letter-writing campaign through Belong Ottawa’s website. There will also be opportunities to support the ministry financially through an upcoming fundraising campaign.

Supporters and allies are also encouraged to participate in or sponsor a team in the Ride for Refuge on Oct. 3: Ottawa Elmvale Acres (Belong Ottawa) – Ride for Refuge 2026 In the meantime, donations to support Belong Ottawa’s work can be made through the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa’s online donation page.Donate Now – ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF OTTAWA

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Hobin Architecture will match donations from new donors made before July 1, 2026, up to a total of $45,000. Belong Ottawa will share donations received through the program with two other charities — the Youville Centre, which supports young mothers and their children, and the Ottawa Humane Society.

Belong Ottawa operates day programs in three locations in downtown Ottawa —Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table and The Well — serving vulnerable people who may be experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addictions. The day programs address basic needs such as food, laundry and shower facilities as well as offering other supports that foster dignity, wellness and hope.

“At Belong Ottawa, we are honoured our organization has been featured in this year’s campaign,” said executive director Shauna-marie Young. “This spotlight gives new supporters the chance to discover our essential, lifesaving work, and it reinforces how powerful it is when charities and socially responsible companies come together. Partnerships like these strengthen our communities and create lasting, positive impact. Thank you for this meaningful recognition.”

Steve Clifford, Hobin’s director of marketing and communications, explained that the company started the You Give, We Give program in 2021 in response to the hard times the community was going through during COVID. “We’ve always had a strong philanthropic mandate here, giving a portion of our own revenues, but we wanted to leverage our peers. So that’s what kind of drove this new matching program.”

Architect Barry Hobin founded the Ottawa-based firm in 1979 as a two-person office that has now grown to a team of more than 40 designers, technologists and administrators. It is now the longest operating architecture firm in Ottawa. Woven into the firm’s DNA is a strong belief in and commitment to giving back to the community.

In an interview with Perspective, Hobin explained, “We hold ourselves accountable…. We don’t come to the end of the year and ask ‘Have we got some money left over that we can throw into charitable giving?’ Our regular accounting and profit and loss sheet has built into it an expectation of charitable giving.” He added, “We philosophically want to give to agencies that are small, who are grassroots…. Our first major gifts were to things like the Ottawa Mission and around social justice and compassion. As causes, those things ring true to us.”

Hobin noted that the firm is a secular company, so its charitable giving is described in terms of recognizing “that we exist because of the strength of community, and we want to make our community stronger.

However, he added that the firm “ascribes to the Judeo Christian framework of tithing…. we’re in a time when talking about personal faith is challenging. Demonstrating your beliefs through action resonates with your community.”

You Give, We Give 2026

Ottawa architect Barry Hobin and his firm believe in giving back to the community year in and year out.

photo: metropolis studio

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A modest crowd braved the cold night to attend a benefit concert for Centre 454 performed by the Paul Weber Band, and they were rewarded with great music and songs full of stories and the local history of eastern Ontario.

Mary Martha Hale, a retired former executive director of Centre 454, welcomed the audience and thanked the band for their generosity in doing the concert.

Shauna-marie Young, the current executive director of Belong Ottawa, thanked everyone for coming. “Your presence is an act of solidarity, and it means more now than you may ever know and more than ever before.” Centre 454 faces opposition from businesses and residents in the area who want it closed or relocated. “This evening would not be possible without the ongoing support of St. Albans, and the leadership of the Rev. Michael Garner, and the legacy of Mary Martha Hale,” Young said.

“Every day, the people who walk through the doors of Centre 454 and all of the sites for Belong Ottawa face bitter cold, hunger, loneliness, and the uncertainty of simply making it to tomorrow. In fact, today, on King Edward Street, three of my team who work at 454 offered lifesaving overdose support and revived a gentleman who had stopped breathing and had turned blue overdosing.” By the time paramedics arrived, the man was up walking and refused the ambulance.

“The work we do saves lives,” Young said. Since June 2025, “our team has responded to more 2 ,000 incidents on the streets in this neighbourhood, and with today’s intervention, 27 lives have been saved from overdose,” she reported.

“For more than 70 years, Centre 454 has been a place of refuge, offering warmth, nourishment, dignity, and human connection, said Young. “And the need continues to grow…. Since June of 2025, Belong Ottawa has served more than 56,000 meals from this site here, and 110 ,000 meals at all three drop -in day programs. …Beyond meals, we offer warm, clean, and safe places to rest, along with showers, laundry services, and a real sense of connection. Centre 454 is a doorway to support, and for many, a pathway to recovery. to healing, to employment, to income, and ultimately, it is sanctuary to all.

“Some of our participants recently shared with me at a town hall meeting what 454 means to them: ‘It’s like a second home.’ And another young man said, ‘I feel human again when I’m here.’ Another person responded, “You save lives.”

Young thanked everyone “for believing in Centre 454 and Belong Ottawa, and most importantly, for believing in the people who rely on us. Everyone deserves safety, care, and belonging.”

The post Paul Weber Band performs benefit concert for Centre 454 appeared first on Perspective.

Young welcomed and thanked everyone for their support. “What a beautiful day and what a beautiful group. This is Belong Ottawa’s very first formal fundraising event, and we could not be more grateful or excited to share it with you….We have 56 participants registered and 49 of you here today. We have 14 teams and 23 volunteers.

“As of a few moments ago, Belong Ottawa has exceeded our first fundraising event goal, and we are at 101%. We have raised $20,300,” she announced to cheers. She noted that donations were being accepted until the end of October, so there was still potential to raise more funds.

Young added that the event was also about raising awareness of the vital work that happens at Belong Ottawa’s three sites, where they welcome about 600 people every day.

“At a recent townhall meeting with our participants, those who use our centres, I met a gentleman [who gave Young permission to share his story]…His name is Red. He’s a regular visitor to at least two of our three sites. He shared how Belong Ottawa has made a difference in his life, and that having a place to get clean, to wash his clothes, to rest, to eat, and to work with our team and meet with other participants and our staff and our most valuable volunteers is very important to him. ‘If it weren’t for places like Belong Ottawa, I would have starved a long time ago,’ he said.”

Young added that Red’s story’s not unique. Between early June and the end of September, Belong Ottawa’s three locations served 67,000 meals. “Those meals are for people, our neighbours, our brothers and sisters experiencing poverty, homelessness, substance abuse and mental health challenges. The need is urgent … and the need is growing. And that’s why today matters, because every dollar raised today is going directly to programming that provides life-giving support for our most vulnerable community members,” Young said. “Thank you for walking, for riding, for fundraising, for volunteering, for standing with us together.”

City councillor Marty Carr, who serves on the Public Health Board, the Community and Social Services Committee, and is also the vice-chair of the Police Service Board, thanked Belong Ottawa for supporting vulnerable individuals. ‘In many cases, [they] are not only experiencing addiction and crises, inability to afford housing and homelessness but are also often some of the people that are the most vulnerable and being put in positions such as human trafficking and abuse on the streets. That is something that we talk about often in the Police Services Board is ,.. seeing that rise and how these people are being victimized further,” she said. “It’s just wonderful to have a place where people can go to a safe place, where they can get their wound care, where they can get food, where they can get their clothes washed and I just really want to thank everyone who helps support the most vulnerable.”

The Rev. Jarrett Carty, a deacon who serves as a chaplain for the Anglican Community Ministries to support participants in the programs and staff, said that Belong Ottawa is always in the thoughts and prayers of people in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. Parishes want to lend their support and care for their neighbours, he said. He offered special praise for the staff at Belong Ottawa, who clearly care deeply for the people they serve. “I just want to do a shout out to them and to say what a great success this is. Hopefully, we keep this up and make it bigger,” he said.

And with that, everyone set off on foot or by bike to do laps in the neighbourhood surrounding St. Aidan’s before returning to the church to eat a celebratory lunch together.

By the end of October, Belong Ottawa’s Ride for Refuge had raised more than $23,000.  Those who wish to support Belong Ottawa can make donations any time at belongottawa.ca

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Belong Ottawa is proud to be joining dozens of charities across Canada for this family-friendly event that brings the community together to walk, pedal, push strollers, wheelchairs, and walkers, or pull wagons—all in support of people seeking hope, safety, and freedom.

Organizers hope parishes across the diocese will participate but also that they will spread the word in their communities.

There are lots of ways to get involved and help. Individuals can step up as team captains, form and register a team; invite friends, families, and co-workers to rally to fundraise, and then walk, ride or roll in the event from 10 am to 1 pm on Oct. 4. Those who don’t want to form their own team can join another team or donate funds to support a team.

“Ride for Refuge is a powerful expression of our community’s compassion—people walking, riding, rolling, and pulling together to offer hope, safety, and belonging to those who need it most,” Belong Ottawa’s executive director Shauna-marie Young says. “As the number of people turning to Belong Ottawa continues to grow, so too does the importance of this event. We are thrilled to welcome our Anglican parish partners on October 4—their heart and energy are a gift to this movement,” she added.

St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, Elmvale Acres (934 Hamlet Rd.) has volunteered to be  the start and finish point. Participants can choose the length of course that suits them — 2.5 or 5 km or bike 10 or 20 km. It is a great way to provide vital support for vulnerable people in Ottawa, but it can also be a fun opportunity for team building.

“If you haven’t joined yet, there’s still time—come be part of something that truly makes a difference,” says Young.

Register at: https://en.rideforrefuge.org/location/ottawaelmvaleacres

The post Belong Ottawa launches Ride for Refuge fall fundraiser appeared first on Perspective.

Belong Ottawa, which has three service sites, was celebrating the 70th anniversary of Centre 454, the 41st anniversary of St. Luke’s Table and the 40th anniversary of The Well. All three offer compassionate care to vulnerable people who struggle with issues such as poverty, homelessness, mental health and addictions.

“Congratulations on achieving this incredible moment,” the mayor said. “Seventy years of Belong Ottawa helping the most vulnerable people in our community. That really is remarkable.

“And I want to thank the entire Belong Ottawa team, the members of the team past and present, the staff, the volunteers, for everything you have done and continue to do and will do to support those experiencing homelessness or those who are precariously housed.

“For decades, this has been an amazing place where people can drop in … for a meal, a hot drink, and some companionship,” Sutcliffe added. “When they did, they were met always with compassion, with dignity, and with respect. That was true 70 years ago, and it’s still true today, even as we are facing unprecedented challenges in our city,” he said, mentioning higher levels of homelessness, a mental health crisis and substance use disorder.

The civic recognition was undoubtably welcome at a time when Centre 454 is facing intense pressure from some neighbours who oppose its presence to move out of its long-time location in the basement of St. Albans Anglican Church on King Edward Avenue and to relocate.

The Rev. Canon Peter John Hobbs, director general of the Anglican Community Ministries, shared a brief outline of Belong Ottawa’s history. The Anglican Social Services Centre began 70 years ago as a way to support men who were leaving prison, he explained. “From the beginning, the centre was swamped with work, and in its first decades, it moved to many locations… In 1976, the centre moved to St. Albans at 454 King Edward. And in an early exercise of rebranding, it became Centre 454.

“Forty years ago, The Well began at St. Luke’s Church before moving here [to St. John the Evangelist] a few years later, providing services to women and women with children.

“St. Luke’s Drop-in Centre and Lunch Club, began 41 years ago, started by a group of parishioners and it would be renamed St. Luke’s Table in 2013. And in 2021, these programs amalgamated, being branded, Belong Ottawa.”

Reviewing documents in the Diocesan Archives, Hobbs said it was fascinating to see a community in action. Although the names of the people involved have changed over the decades, “the core values in programs have held fast. Everybody is welcome, included, treated with dignity and respect,” he said.  Programs and services, though shifting in time and context, have also been consistent—providing basic needs, meals, laundries, showers, offering support navigating the system, referrals, advocacy, accompanying and creating community, social recreation, arts-based programs, spiritual care, outings and more.

“Sadly, what has also persisted is the need for our services in the social challenges facing our neighbourhoods,” he added. Archival documents referred to a lack of affordable housing, unsafe rooming houses, food insecurity, a lack of resources to address issues around poverty, trauma, addiction, and mental health, and the needs are now even more acute, he said.

“Today, though, is a moment of pause, to celebrate, to remember our remarkable grace-filled legacy of service to others,” he said. He noted that the celebration is a shared one. “From the beginning, we have always looked beyond ourselves to a greater community,” he said, giving thanks for “partnerships with other agencies, other churches, so, so many donors, and three levels of government, especially the city of Ottawa.”

Community development manager Liz de Melo has worked with Belong Ottawa in various roles for 25 years. She described how the three agencies rose to the challenge of the pandemic.

“We pooled all of our resources to help to address food insecurity and isolation that people were experiencing while delivering food to people’s homes and offering street outreach,” and gradually merged into Belong Ottawa.

“Over these years, I’ve had the opportunity to celebrate, grieve, support, and offer hope to those who call us family.…We at Belong Ottawa are described by some as a living room of the poor and a place for someone, anyone, to just be without judgment. The past few years have presented many challenges because of the pandemic, the abject poverty, the drug epidemic, and the ongoing and worsening lack of affordable housing,” she said. Participants in the programs are often described as resilient, and that is a term she agrees with, but de Melo cautioned that resiliency is not a state they aspire to achieve.

She read a few lines from Louisiana writer Zandashe L’orelia Brown: “I dream of never being called resilient again in my life. I’m exhausted by strength. I want support. I want softness. I want ease. I want to be amongst the kin, not patted on the back for how well I take a hit, or for how many.”

Bishop Shane Parker thanked Mayor Sutcliffe for the honour he had bestowed on Belong Ottawa and for his and the City’s support. Many years ago, the Anglicans who started what has now become Belong Ottawa “looked around them and saw other human beings who were experiencing distress or marginalization or poverty. And they saw it with their eyes and then they felt it in their hearts, and then they chose to act,” the bishop said. And they invited other people of compassion to come and work with them, and in doing so, they created a sanctuary where “everyone has the opportunity to be received, to be valued, to be seen as a whole person without judgment and made to feel that they belong. Thank each of you for participating with us in creating sanctuary. Thank you for your hearts of compassion, for your hearts of love, and thank you for sharing this wonderful celebration today.”

The post City of Ottawa honours Belong Ottawa’s decades of service appeared first on Perspective.

Belong Ottawa is an Anglican Community Ministry, which serves hundreds of vulnerable people in the city who struggle with poverty, precarious housing, mental health issues and addictions, providing for basic needs and social support at three locations — Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table and The Well.

Young brings with her a wealth of experience as a registered nurse, educator and leader in health care and management. She earned a Master’s degree in conflict studies and is an accredited mediator. She kindly made time to talk with Crosstalk in late October.

How are you settling in?

“It’s going really well. I’m extremely impressed by the dedication of the entire team, and so that’s really helping settle in for sure…. The team has been warm and welcoming and informative.”

What drew you to Belong Ottawa?

The opportunity to work with an organization whose mission, vision, and values aligns with both my personal and professional vision and mission and value system was really the calling to join the organization. My passion has always been serving those who are less fortunate, whether that’s marginally housed, living with substance use or comorbid psychiatric conditions. My background in nursing has led me to be aligned to serve those who are most in need in our society.

What pats of your experience best prepared you to lead Belong Ottawa?

Belong is a small organization, recently amalgamated, and so there is a growth opportunity here…. I have worked with Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Care Centre (formerly the Royal Ottawa Hospital) and with Carlington Community Health Centre. In those positions, I was responsible for change leadership and management, whether that was at the point of care, or organizational infrastructure, so all of those skills are very important for me in this role now, as is my background in nursing and knowledge around mental health, addictions and psychiatry.

I worked at the Royal Ottawa for about six years, managed the substance use and concurrent disorders program at the time when the hospital was evolving to become a tertiary care centre, and a centre of excellence, so there was a huge transition. My knowledge, skills, ability and experience in mental health and addictions is also as important because I very much understand the needs of our participants.

I’m an accredited intergenerational mediator, so I understand family systems and the methodology and the research around various issues families face. And often some of those issues are what led our participants to have lost their contact in their support systems.

I’m am also an accredited manager and leader, and I am committed to the people that I work for. That is not just the participants, but the amazing team at Belong — so supporting the excellence in the service delivery to our participants and also serving the staff, the employees, our valued human resource, which is the why and how we can do what we do. They are equally important to me.

I don’t think there’s one piece of my background or experience or knowledge that is more important than the other in this role. It’s the whole basket that I’m bringing forward, and to be honest with you, I have tapped on every bit since my first day.

Early in your career, you lived and worked in the North. What did you do there?

I was living in Iqaluit…Working with and serving in health services in Iqaluit—a formative experience in my early nursing years….

It was really an important personal family experience and a professional growth experience….I wanted my children to learn, to experience part of Canada that they might never see [otherwise]. I wanted them to understand what it’s like to live as a minority, even in their country of origin. It was a great adventure to live there, to understand the eastern Arctic and Nunavut and learn that Canada isn’t just the east and west coast, there’s three coasts in this country…. Many Inuit populate that north coast, and the Inuit Regions are are vital to our country — a very rich ecosystem, very rich in culture and traditional Inuit knowledge .

More recently, you served as director of programs at Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada here in Ottawa. What was the focus of your work there?

I was hired to create a division where we addressed social and economic prosperity, safety, justice, health and well-being, and anti-violence in support of Inuit womens rights, health and prosperity.

What are the biggest challenges you see at the moment or on Belong Ottawa’s horizon?

There’s still opportunities for …supporting our team and further development of the infrastructure, and creating stability in a newly amalgamated organization….

There is ongoing opportunity to work with our allies and partners in Ottawa to address the issues of food insecurity, lack of affordable housing… and finding creative ways with our partners to address and eliminate homelessness.

Are there specific hopes you are envisioning?

Consolidating the organizations in ways that continue to support the current day programming we are engaged in that makes a difference in the lives of 600 to 700 people a day in Ottawa, and also really focusing on supporting the entire team … so they may continue to do the work they’re doing.

We are really looking forward to the rebuild of St. Luke’s [which was severely damaged by a fire in October 2022.]

And ongoing community relations with our neighbours around each of the service areas, continuing support and education and raising awareness of the needs of the populations we serve…trying to be good neighbours, working closely with our parish partners.

The post Shauna-marie Young is Belong Ottawa’s new executive director appeared first on Perspective.

Bishop Shane Parker thanked her for 14 years of service with the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, initially as senior manager with Cornerstone Housing for Women, followed by 10 years with the day programs (Centre 454, The Well, St Luke’s Table), which were amalgamated into Belong Ottawa in 2022. “We wish her every blessing for this new chapter of her life,” he wrote.

The Rev. Canon Dr. PJ Hobbs, director general of the Anglican Community Ministries, praised her as a “a transformative leader in our Community Ministries, leading a process that saw the merger of our three Ottawa day programs into one ministry. While such a feat speaks of Rachel’s organizational abilities, what I will always value most about Rachel is her vision and passion for supporting the most vulnerable in our midst. Her participant/client centred focus is rooted in compassion, thoughtfulness, and research—an inspiration and good reminder to us all.”

Belong Ottawa board chair Lorraine Tell said that a key area of Robinson’s impact has been “her presence and participation in the local social services network and advocacy agencies where she tirelessly offers her experience and works to be the voice for those who are in need and need support for their voices to be heard.”

Tell added that the staff and participants in the programs “feel Rachel’s impact every day; her focus on participants and her championing of the staff at Belong Ottawa are what make our programs so effective and what makes Belong Ottawa an organization that attracts the best staff in sector.”

Robinson grew up in Birmingham in the West Midlands in England and studied literature and drama at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth before earning a Masters of Science degree in psychology. In an interview with Crosstalk, she said didn’t know exactly what she wanted for her career, “but I always knew I wanted to try and make an impact … a difference.”

Her father had been a civil servant and her grandfather a police officer and following on that path, she knew she wanted to work in the public sector.

She began working with the British National Health Services as a management trainee at a time when they were closing psychiatric hospitals with the idea that people should live and be cared for in their communities. “At the time everyone believed community care was the answer,” she said, noting that the same policies were followed here in Canada. “There were bad things about those asylums, very bad things, but one of the functions that they did fulfill was that they housed people. Now, probably many of the people that live in shelters, downtown, would have lived in the psychiatric hospital previously…. There’s a shortage of good, supportive housing so now we’ve got a crisis downtown of 200 people every night sleeping outside.”

Robinson moved to Ottawa with her family because her husband worked with Nortel.  She started her work in Canada as a frontline worker with Ottawa family shelters and the Elizabeth Fry Society before being hired by Cornerstone Housing for Women to help open its Booth Street residence in 2011.

Four years later, she took on a role as interim executive director at The Well, which became permanent. In 2018, she became executive director of St. Luke’s Table also.

In March 2020, the executive director of Centre 454 left, and Canon Hobbs asked her to fill in while they hired a new director. But then the pandemic hit and suddenly she was in charge of all three ministries while they figured out how to continue to provide service in the midst of lockdowns.

“Rachel’s work to stabilize the three-sites day programs during the pandemic isolation period was instrumental to our participants who were suddenly without the basic services that were keeping them alive and connected during that difficult time,” Tell told Crosstalk.

They got a van and began delivering food to the people who used to come to all three locations, which also helped to mitigate loneliness and isolation.

“It was that feeling of all hands on deck. The team really pulled together. Everyone did what was needed in the moment,” Robinson recalls.

The pandemic was the biggest challenge she and the staff faced, but she says that now sees it as a highlight of their work together as well. “It was really difficult and a struggle and tiring…, but also there was a satisfaction of knowing that we were keeping the services going. We stayed open when other programs closed. So, for me, there’s a sense of pride and reward… You can learn and become stronger and grow from adversity.”

She said another highlight was renovating the St. Luke’s Table location, but the satisfaction of seeing that project completed was dashed soon after when a fire devastated St. Luke’s Anglican Church and St. Luke’s Table facilities in the basement. The satisfaction of seeing that restoration, which is still ongoing, will be for her successor, she says.

Robinson mentions her relationships with Belong Ottawa participants as another highlight.

“I’m still very on the ground and connected to participants…Having relationships with such a wide range of people … is really meaningful.”

In her retirement, she is looking forward to spending more time in the U.K. with her family, but she says she will take some time to just decompress. “I’m really just going to wait and see how I feel before I decide what I might do with my time next,” she says.

Congratulations and best wishes, Rachel!

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