Regardless of whether or not we are in the middle of a great economic expansion or sliding into a massive economic contraction, our communities are going to change and different pressures are going to be out there.  There isn’t an easy fix to homelessness and poverty in North America.  Despite the rhetoric, it won’t come from the government and there are very few cities in North America who have the political will to do anything about it.  Instead of waiting for the meta fix, there are a lot of opportunities to support something existing or help form something new.  Start small and see what happens as those mustard seeds start to add up.

As part of my job managing a homeless shelter, I was asked along with my boss to join the Inner City Council of Churches giving a presentation on homelessness in Saskatoon.  We talked about the activities at our Centre, the problems we faced, and at the end of it we had an engaging Q & A session with church leaders from most of the mainline churches and cathedrals in our cities core.  One of the pastors said during this time, "While we all want to do something, we don’t have the resources or the expertise to do all of it.  We need to get behind and support those that do have the expertise."  It was an interesting thought and got me thinking about how we all work together to help those who are struggling in poverty and homelessness in our city.

A short time later, we had an incident at work that put some of those thoughts to use.  I had to formally evaluate how our portion of the system worked and as I reviewed my notes, I realized how complicated that system is, even in an urban area of only 300,000 people during a time of (for now), unseen prosperity (we are still booming in Saskatchewan).

It’s a complicated system.  In Saskatchewan you have the Ministry of Social Services, the Ministry of Justice, the Corrections Services of Canada (there are two half-way houses downtown), the police, fire department, the Friendship Inn (two free meals a day), Catholic Family Services, the Salvation Army Community Centre (men's shelter), the YWCA (women's shelter), Core Neighborhood Youth Co-op, Quint Development Corporation (community economic development), Egadz (youth drop in centre and group homes), both school boards, White Buffalo Youth Lodge, Westside Clinic, Friendship Centre (drop in centre), Crocus (employment cooperative), the Lighthouse (assisted living), Saskatchewan Health Region, Mobile Crisis, Youth and Family Services (especially the 16-17 year old program) Crisis Management, Mental Health, CPAS, Sask Housing, and the Bridge.  The specifics are not that important but the point that I am trying to make is that it is a large complex system, and this is just a small sampling of organizations.

It's also an inter-connected system which is reliant on a lot of external factors.  Private sector funding, government funding (some NGO's have three different levels of government and even within that, multiple government departments), the ability to hire staff, influx in population in need, facility space, and even the weather outside.  If one of those external factors changes, it affects the entire system.  I experience that first hand every day.  Where I work, we are the safety net for when other parts are overflowing, overwhelmed, or just not working.  That of course places burdens on us which changes our effectiveness, which reverberates back through the inter-connected system.

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Churches are often outside of that system for many reasons.

1.        Many have an awkward relationship with the social gospel.  Fundamentalists equate it with liberalism while many evangelicals see it as a secondary mission. 

2.        Despite their humble roots on the fringe of society, evangelicals have become middle to upper class over time.  Part of it is that most larger churches are upper-middle class and full of people who chose to live in the suburbs to get away from the social problems of the core neighborhoods.  It isn't just a quality of housing and financial differences, but a difference in values.

3.        While much of the discussion on poverty and homelessness deals with financial issues, this is often a superficial treatment.  It isn’t just financial problems that lead people to the streets.  There are complex mental health issues that haven’t always been addressed and in some cases, the people refuse to address them.  Those issues take a lot of time, training, resources and a physical presence to overcome and in case you haven’t noticed, in times of a tough economy, coming up with money to have a long term presence if you are not all committed to the cause, is a tough, tough sell. 

4.        Finally, too many churches see the problem and see themselves as the solution as opposed to being a small but important part of the solution.

A while ago I heard a wonderful story of about a Jewish congregation deciding to host community dinners aimed at building community ties between people in a large urban centre.  They brought the food, invited community leaders, police, and other parties to a giant neighborhood pasta party.  They made special invitations to those who benefited from a city wide housing initiative with the intent to creating community roots and relationships.  Over a couple of years a lot of food was eaten but studies showed that those in that area were more stable, committed less crime, and used less city resources then those in other areas.  While I am sure that there were relationships built between the congregation and the community, the real reason behind it was to create links and friendships between the the community members themselves.  When I think of the resources needed to host a dinner / barbecue a couple times a year, I was amazed at the dividend that investment in the community made.  The most interesting part of it was that it wasn’t the Jewish congregation's first idea.  Their first idea was to provide blankets for the homeless but the city asked them to stop because it was enabling people to sleep outside when there were resources for housing for them.  While at first glance, providing blankets was a good idea, working with the city and other agencies allowed them to find a way to make a bigger difference and from the accounts that I heard, seemed to fit their core competencies really well.  It’s a mustard seed solution which has paid off for the men and women in that community.

One of the reasons why I am cynical about political rhetoric when it comes to homelessness is that it tends to focus on too big of a picture while ignoring the incredible complexity of the problem.  Generations of bad parenting, low incomes, institutional racism (think of the impact that redlining had on the development of inner city black and Latino communities), substance abuse, child abuse, residential schools, and domestic violence has changed the face of entire neighborhoods.  Many of the men and women that I work with have more serious problems than just financial ones.  They struggle with living in a community, struggle with basic instructions, many don’t have basic literacy skills, while others have socialization and severe substance abuse problems.  Whatever the cause, they can’t function in the system very well.  Not only that but they are also being hurt by the protestant work ethic ideal that says, if you work hard, everything will be okay and you will prosper.  Even people living under the bridges believe it. It’s not true for everybody. Some people need help. Some need a lot of help. Some people are damaged in a way that they are not going to recover from and need to be taken care of. Others can get reconnected but it’ll take time and money.  Whether we like it or not, there is a  larger consciousness that has decided to accept that people at the bottom rung of society don't matter.

When and if the church decides that these people do matter, it is going to take a change in our praxis if we are going make a difference in their lives.  The church seems to struggle in areas of individualism.  The church growth movement has taught us to be about the masses.  Musical styles are dictated by the most popular radio stations, programs are specifically tailored after polling the community, sermons are preached to have the widest possible reach imaginable, and church membership has a lot to do with conformity to the Christian sub culture. 

For the church, it is learning to move from the masses to the individual and embracing people over a long term that may never conform.  They may never fit in but have value because of who their creator is.

How does the church make a difference?  There is no formula for making a difference among the poor.  Every jurisdiction is different.  Saskatchewan is the birthplace of medicare in North America with a proud history of providing a social safety net.  Even within that you have the inter-connected complexity of a city like Saskatoon while a couple hours a way, you have small Anglican parishes that serve with the RCMP as the sole clothing exchange, emergency food bank, and crisis centre for the entire community.  The gaps in a small town are much different than in a big city. 

I enjoyed the book, An Irresistible Revolution and I think that the Simple Way in Philadelphia is doing some excellent work.  I have given away my copy of the book more times than I can imagine.  At the same time my community is a long way from Philadelphia.  It doesn't need me to sew my own clothes.  It needs an emergency shelter for women and children, and we have worked awfully hard at that.  There are others that are working hard at setting up community gardens, so it doesn't need me to do that.  At the same time we know that there are kids who need nutritious breakfasts but are too far away to get to our Centre.  It's a simple process of always asking the question: How can I make a sustainable difference in the lives of those that need it?

Jordon Cooper is the Residential Coordinator of the Salvation Army Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and is one of the founding members of Resonate. He is married to Wendy and they have two sons, Mark and Oliver. You can find his blog at www.jordoncooper.com.