by Pat Miller

On June 24th, Rev. Al Tysick spoke at Sunday Service at the Church of Truth Community of Conscious Living in James Bay and shared personal stories from his diary to give us an insight into members of his street "family" and on their struggles as they face day-to-day life. After Sunday Service, the Spiritual Directions Committee, consisting of Pat Miller, Rita Roy, Moneca Gabriel and Linda Chan interviewed Rev. Allan Tysick, Spiritual Leader and Director of Our Place. Here are a couple of excerpts from our interview.

SDC: What about what they're doing in Portland, Oregon the way
they' re housing and looking after the homeless people?

REV. AL: They made a commitment to say, That's it! And our vision is to end homelessness. We've got enough money in Canada to do that. Right now we're running surpluses where we could end homelessness if we chose. So it's will that' s needed.

I think you'll always see people wandering the streets who are mentally ill but I think the poverty and death that we see now does not have to continue. And I'm not just talking about in Canada. I'm talking all over the world. We can do what Portland's doing. We can end homelessness.

SDC: Tell us about the new Our Place.

REV. AL: The new Our Place is going to be a bigger place and I hope that it can still operate in a non-judgmental way with unconditional love. I hope that the rules and the regulations don't overtake the Ministry that it doesn't become like other agencies. I've seen them doing good work but they play by the rulebook. I hope that Our Place is more flexible, that it is more open, that it is more loving.

The place is going to be totally different than we understand or see it today. It will still serve food and I'm looking at serving better meals. I want to continually push ourselves to what we can do better. And I have my role now in training staff and training volunteers and sharing the spirit of the place, hopefully making that understanding among more people.

There will be a programmer employed so there will be just one person doing programming which will be a very big help to me. That person, I hope, will be able to dream dreams about new programs and be able to look for funding for them. And then we can say to a person who comes in yes you can have a coffee and just sit there but we can also offer you this, this and this if you want it: yoga, meditation, acupuncture, literacy programs, etc.

The space is actually not as big as it sounds. Three floors are housing. The kitchen takes up most of one floor, so it leaves one floor for programming and there's a drop-in center on that floor too, so it leaves little space for programming actually, but all those things are possible. As long as we set mission statements, visions and core values. That's why I'm spending time and energy and ensuring that those core values are not just on a wall but are what we practice. Let's not blame the victim for their vulnerability. Let's create an atmosphere where they can once again gain wellness.