S TANDARD TERRACE
1.30
$
$1.24 PLUS 6¢ GST
VOL. 27 NO. 31
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Homeless help expands By MARGARET SPEIRS IT’S A Wednesday night in George Little Park, chilly with snow on the ground. You can see your breath and your fingers and ears get cold quickly. Music wafts through the air next to a travel trailer where warm jackets and sweaters have been collected and laid out to be chosen for those who need one or two. People are offered sandwiches, snacks and coffee. They talk, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Men are offered a bag of toiletries, packed in a sealable plastic bag or kids lunch bag from a local restaurant. It has been this way each Wednesday night since last month, organized by four friends who also draw on the assistance of others. The group is called the Field of Faith Foundation, a new non-denominational Christian group with a goal of helping the homeless. Group founders Kim Alm, Troy Idler, Barb Bond and Dan Lusby would often talk about what they should be doing for the homeless until they decided this year the day before Halloween that it was time to just do it. So they chose Remembrance Day Wednesday and went out to the park to launch their homeless outreach. On this Wednesday, their second in the park, Alm and two others, Tarea Roberge and Jennifer Lepage, gather around a young girl. She has wet feet and wet shoes. They give her a pair of donated socks. There is no boots for her so they put plastic wrap around her newly dried and socked feet and put back on her wet shoes. She also gets a warm jacket, a sandwich and coffee. A couple of men take seats in lawn chairs arranged
MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTOS
WOMAN WITH back to camera receives a warm coat as well as socks from Kim Alm, far left, Tarea Roberge and Jennifer Lepage who, with others, set up a travel trailer weekly at George Little Park. Coffee, soup and toiletries are also provided to anyone in need. Below, group member Troy Idler sorts through donated clothing in the travel trailer to find the right size for a person. in a circle. Alm says she has ordered a propane fire pit so the next time, they’ll have a place to sit and relax that is warm. She and the others ask the men their names and chat with them. Later that evening, Alm goes to pick up some men to play some music. Three men climb out of her truck – they used to live on the streets but now have a place to live. The trio, Tom, Willy and Arthur, sing a prayer song from Haida Gwaii that Tom says they sing every day because it helps them stay sober. Tom drums and sings while Willy and Arthur sing and play rattles. Before they are done
singing, Tom puts his head down and softly cries. When the song and a prayer are done, he says that he cannot believe that someone cares about him. Kim and Barb hug him. “They know the devastation and sadness of the street and are passionate about speaking life into the homeless and addicted,” says Alm later. “God has worked powerfully in their lives.” In a separate interview, Alm recounts walking down the street one day with her son, Matthew, 8. They saw Gary, a wellknown street person and Matthew said, “look at that hobo.”
Cont’d Page A18
Royal help
Better living
Volleyball champs
Local group assists children financially thru a variety of tough times \COMMUNITY A10
Houses are being built with thought given to the needs of their inhabitants \NEWS A5
Centennial senior boys won zones and play in provincials Nov. 26-28 \SPORTS A27