Dear Friends,
We made it through another harsh winter dealing with a large number of less fortunate people needing our assistance. Again, we would like to thank you for your support and to let you know how much we appreciate you. We couldn’t do this important work without your backing.
The homeless and the impoverished of Oceanside have seen little improvement
in their situations, on the contrary, we can honestly say their standard of living has been hit even harder. We are seeing more people becoming homeless due to a sagging economy.
Many of the charitable groups working with the less fortunate are forced to give less because of increased demand and limited resources. It has caused a rippling effect putting more pressure on Manna Homeless Society to provide shelter, tents, tarps, sleeping bags, camping gear to survive in the elements, food bags, survival clothing like toques, gloves, coats, sweaters etc. as well as personals for men and women. Your support helped to meet this challenge.
This year we celebrated the opportunity to provide a few trailers, motor homes and campers to some of our homeless individuals. This was done mostly by matching people who want to donate the “home” directly with the client. It is a joyous occasion when a homeless individual receives a home to call their own!
We continue to have calls for bikes. Many people have heard about our bike program which has been very successful to date. We carefully screen our clients making sure they are given the right bike for their needs.
There has been an noticeable increase of drug and substance abuse as drugs become stronger, cheaper and more addictive. Many of these people were not users until they were put into the position of being homeless. We try to bring hope to them as well as help for their situation.
Sadly, mental health issues of the homeless are largely ignored. Oceanside has limited services left in our area due to healthcare cut backs over the years. We see very few successes as we try to connect people with the professional help they need. The present system has made it almost impossible for our clients to receive help in this area. As a result they rely on people like us or on other charities to assist them.
Housing people in the Oceanside area is still our biggest problem due to limited vacancies and high rent. Manna recently wrote a letter to the Mayor of Parksville, Marc Lefebvre and after receiving the letter he asked to meet with us. The meeting on the whole seemed to go well and he assured us he was willing to provide land or purchase land for the less fortunate. Sarah Poole from the Oceanside Homeless Task Force is submitting a proposal in May requesting a building containing 15 rooms for the homeless, an all weather shelter and office space to meet with clients. If the proposal is accepted it would take a few years for it to be up and running.
I recently spoke with Dwain Round from the Lions club and they are still planning to demolish the old Kingsley buildings which presently has six housing units and to rebuild a new complex with twenty nine units. Most units would rent for $700 to $800 hundred and approximately five would be set aside for affordable housing. The service clubs have been on board for a number of years assisting elderly, young families and the less fortunate. We can’t say enough good about the service clubs of Oceanside.
Manna is now encouraging the Churches of Oceanside to unite and to take an active role in this social issue and step up as the churches in the past have when needed. The churches in this community could take a huge bite out this problem by meeting the needs of the less fortunate, as well as continuing to assist in other areas of the world.
Over the last few years the homeless have gone from being almost invisible to quite visible. You’ll see them in front of the banks and other businesses in the downtown core of Parksville and Qualicum. It is has come to the point where we as a community need to show compassion and love for the less fortunate and build a safer and healthier community for all our residents.
In the Christian Bible, Proverbs 19:17 states, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord and He will repay him for his deed”.
Many Blessings to all and thanks for your support.