FRIENDS of EVANGEL HALL

Annual Report 2007

Evangel Hall is an Inner-city Mission of the Presbyterian Church. It is located on Adelaide Street West, in Toronto. Homelessness and life on the streets in an urban environment is a phenomenon that defies an easy explanation. Everyone who comes to the Drop-in or lives in the Evangel Hall Residence is a unique person reflecting a particular set of circumstances leading them to need help. The Drop-in is a beehive of activity and often is literally bursting at the seams with people who are seeking a safe and warm refuge from the streets. Evangel Hall Residence offers 120 persons a dignified and affordable home they otherwise could not afford. The Residence is always full with a waiting list that is considerable. Evangel Hall Mission is making a difference in the lives of many people that are isolated, lonely and otherwise forgotten about by friends, family and society. Just as the circumstances that brings someone to the hall are unique, so everyone is treated as a unique and valued person, a child of God and a gift of God. Food clothing and shelter are necessities of life and are freely given away at the Hall. Thank you for your continued support that allows them to assist so many people who have come to rely on them.

Annual Report 2006

Evangel Hall is an Inner-City Mission of the Presbyterian Church. It is located on Adelaide Street West, in Toronto. They continue their good work of reaching out to the poor and socially isolated persons. They have this past year moved into their new building and are thrilled to be able to extend their supportive programs to even more people in need. Over the past half year, they have been able to help many new residents move into their new homes. By providing low-income, transitional housing and expanded program space in the new facility, they are providing a very much needed resource in the Greater Toronto area. The generosity of the congregation is always so vital to their mission, and allows their crucial ministry of the Presbyterian Church to continue to offer spiritual, emotional and material comfort to downtown Toronto’s most marginalized and impoverished individuals.

 

Evangel Hall:

These are a few of the programmes offered at Evangel Hall
The Voluntary Trust Program Talking to a new participant in the voluntary trust can be quite an education. On the street, there's a parallel financial system. Along with money, it has its own currency - cigarettes, tokens and other items that are in demand. It has its own lending institutions. Some people and even some local businesses extend credit to those whose cheques are spent long before the end of the month. Then, they have first claim on the next month's cheque, and substantial "interest rates" are often added. Failure to repay these debts can have dire consequences, so this type of borrowing can often lead to a vicious cycle. Once old debts are paid, new ones must be incurred to get through the month. Often when a new person comes into our voluntary trust program, the first thing we do is negotiate a repayment schedule for debts. Repayment may take months or years, but gradually people can regain control of their monthly income and escape from this cycle of despair.
Volunteers Without our faithful volunteers, Evangel Hall wouldn't be Evangel Hall. Some come every week, sharing their gifts with those who come here daily. Others may come for a few weeks or months before moving on with their lives.
One day a woman who could speak no English came from a nearby women's shelter to volunteer in our kitchen. At first, she was so depressed that she kept breaking into tears. The cook offered to pray for her, and she became calmer. She was heartened to know that she was in a Christian house.
We gave her referrals to services and a church which could speak Portuguese, but she continued to come to help us out, communicating by means of a few words and lots of pantomime. The sound of laughter rang through the building whenever she was here. She managed to tell the cook that she needed some eggs by pantomiming a chicken! The eggs were made into delicious  rice pudding that provided a wonderful treat for the people in the drop-in. One week, she brought another woman from the shelter with her. "Do you speak Portuguese?" was asked the newcomer. "No, we can't speak to each other at all, but she saw me reading my Bible and knew I was a Christian, so she insisted I come here with her to volunteer." We welcomed these two new members of our community and celebrate the gifts they bring us.
The Drop-In A man has been in and out of prison. He is HIV positive. He's homeless. Now he really wants to conquer the drug addiction that has ruined his life. Day after day, he comes to use our phone, calling one drug treatment program after another to try to find one that will be able to accept him soon. Many
times, he is told to call back the next day and the next. Then the news is that the programs suitable for him are all full until three months from now. Still he searches for other alternatives until he finally finds a
residential program out of town. Why is it so difficult for those who want to make positive changes in their lives?
A lonely woman often comes by just to have a sandwich to sit with a staff member and talk for a while. One day she said to me, "You're okay. You have a husband and a family. But if you were like me, maybe would want to just sit on a rock by yourself too. I feed the birds, you know. They relay on me. When I came out yesterday, all the little ones, the sparrows started chirping in the trees. They talk, you know,. Sometimes I go without food my self to feed them because they're so helpless. The pigeons and the little ones come right up to me, but the big white ones won't come so close. I throw them something to make sure they get food too, but I won't let them steal the food from others." As I listen, I think about God who sees the little sparrow fall. Surely his love extends to this poor woman whose heart is filled with pity for these little birds.
The Employment Program The man who come to Albert, the Employment Counsellor, is at his wit's end.
The rent of the apartment where he has lived for many years is now greater than the small pension that has been the man's only source of income since he was let go by his company in his early 50's's several years ago. He has no recent work experience and no confidence that he can do anything to save himself, but he has come here as a last reset. Albert works with him and with several potential employers to create a part-time job that will enable him to keep his apartment

 

For a closer look at Evangel Hall, feel free to click here to visit their website.

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