A Little More Good. Victoire: A Rock and Roll Tea Party
Check out my latest post at A Little More Good, it features Katie and Regine, the wonderful women behind Ottawa’s charming Victoire boutique.
Tag Archives: A Little More Good
Making things Grow
Great piece featured on the wonderful A Little More Good website
My Grandpa worked in the University of British Colombia’s Department of Plant Science from 1949 to the early 70’s and, among a lifetimes worth of work to make the most productive of us feel shamed, he made really big deal developments in terms of pesticides, herbicides and other advancements that allowed folks to grow sustainable and healthy food crops without moving their homes, families and communities.
He also contributed his knowledge to the initial planning or maintenance of the famous UBC farm, and the Van Dousen Gardens in Vancouver, as well as the Experimental Farm here in Ottawa.
I used to bring him leaves and flowers that were somehow blemished and ask him what was wrong with them. I didn’t really care about the nature, I just wanted him to share what I knew to be his boundless knowledge about plants with me. He always corrected people that soil was ‘earth’ not ‘dirt’ and his personal gardens were renowned on Gabriola Island, he had (my Mom now has it) a rose bush almost one hundred years old that has been transplanted to and from at least four family homes in B.C.
As an educator, he made a huge impact: from high school teacher to Principal to Professor. He even walked one of his Master’s students down the isle. Simply, he made things grow. He was the strong silent type you stood close to in hopes some of his talent might be transferable.
Cheers, Grandpa.
Tired of bad news? Check out my latest post at A Little More Good. It’s a ‘lil diddy about doing yoga on a hill.
Building Community With Innovative Solutions
My latest from A Little More Good:
Over 700 people came together in Ottawa’s Convention Centre to celebrate two notable Canadians who pursue innovative solutions. Keynote speaker Mark Brand and Community builder of the Year award recipient Diane Morrison’s body of work has centered on providing innovative and lasting solutions to social problems in their respective communities of East Vancouver and central Ottawa.
United Way has developed three areas of focus: Growing up Great, Belonging to Community and Turning Lives Around undoubtedly, Morrison and Brand embody these values. One is newly retired but never far from the community she has created. The other is a dynamic figure who is reshaping Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Both Morrison and Brand are pioneer problem solvers who specialize in community.
Diane Morrison, former Executive Director of the Ottawa Mission received the evening’s highest honor, Community Builder of the Year. Under her guidance the once humble shelter has grown from 75 to 250 beds. With the tireless dedication she has become known for since first volunteering with the Mission in 1991, countless meals have been served, and many programs added: addiction counselling, job training, medical and dental care, as well as Canada’s first hospice for the homeless providing those who otherwise wouldn’t have access to specialized end of life care.
Like so many others who work in the field of social welfare, they saw a need and knew how to fill it. Brand admits, “I’m a good cook, cooking with very little money.” Instead of seeing social problems as insurmountable, both Brand and Morrison looked them head on, and began doing what they do best: be it cooking food or connecting like minded folks, they make a success out of failure through conversation. Both saw communities worth the effort where others saw infestation and crime.
Dignity is a word both Morrison and Brand used frequently; providing dignity with the ability to choose one’s next meal, with clean socks and new underwear, with jobs, with being taken seriously, wholesome and warm food, a handshake, a smile. They both believe in the simplistic yet transformative power of conversation. Providing food and shelter is not good enough. The food must be good, the shelter safe.
At United Way’s Gala, both spoke to past conversations with individuals that affected them deeply: Morrison recounting her experience busking with a shelter patron who insisted eyes be kept downcast to show humility. Brand explained how a truly well known member of the DTES community (who is also his friend and employee) never asked anyone for anything. After hearing a bit about how this friendship of over seven years has progressed, the valuable service and loyalty Mike brings to the Downtown Eastside, the audience of over seven hundred people in attendance warmly and genuinely applauded Football Mike. He’ll never know that sound. He’s too busy keeping his community clean.
The lines between friend, family, and colleague are non-existent for Brand and Morrison. Likewise between work and home, between weekend and weekday. Simply, they both work harder than those who take the time to publicly critique their accomplishments.
Facing one of Canada’s most informal modes of trade, Mark met challenges from all corners in his fight to provide free and cheap nourishing food to his neighbours, “People said there’s enough food in the Downtown Eastside, you just got to line up over there. Well, that’s a really great way to spend the day trying to figure out the rest of your life: spend six hours waiting for soup that might have protein in it. End up spitting it on the ground because you’re so disgusted. That works out right? So I fight that fight.”
Currency is relative, and monetary value is all at once fluid and steadfast: there is more cash passed from one hand to another in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside than a Saturday morning on busy Robson street. So Brand created his own currency. The denominations of the tokens are so small (1.60 for a breakfast sandwich) they have not been absorbed into the informal drug trade. He is the first person to note the irony of a ‘token program’ for the down and out members of his community. But it works. And it’s growing: 80-120 tokens are redeemed every day. That means 80-120 people will have a positive interaction with others, on their own terms that they otherwise would not have: that is the most poignant victory of this program, token or otherwise. There are plans for more programs based on this system of exchange.
At the helm of the Ottawa Mission, Diane Morrison brought a maternal air to what began as a run down shelter serving just a few ‘grumpy old alcoholics.’ In a recent interview for the Ottawa Sun, Morrison touched on some of the most simplistic measures she was able to take in the early days, “It started because of underwear. They had no underwear, no socks. People needed some dignity. You need to have underwear and socks, if you don’t have anything, you feel like you’re nothing. And it’s just all the stuff we take for granted, razors, shampoo, deodorant, the stuff that gets a person together. You’ve got to feel you’re worthwhile.”
Over the course of her 20 year tenure, she steadily built program after program while engaging the surrounding community and creating measurable change. In her much deserved retirement, she looks forward to spending more time with her grandkids and resuming her work on the board of the Ottawa Food Bank.
United Way has a number of programs that aline with Brand and Morrison’s ability to create community, provide nourishing meals and holistic relationships between caregivers, business owners, clients and citizens across Canada. They continue to lead the country’s service providers specializing in disadvantaged populations, affordable housing, food access and skills development.
Brand never finished university, and Morrison went back to school at 50. Innovative solutions to complex social problems do not require post secondary education. It requires the tenacity Brand and Morrison have in spades.
Credit: Image of Mark Brand by Rafal Gerszak// Image of Diane Morrison
Community Builder of the Year Awards Gala 2013
I’m really excited to be covering United Way’s Community Builder of the Year Awards Gala tonight here in Ottawa. Look for that coverage here, and on A Little More Good. In the meantime, check out this great video on tonight’s keynote speaker, Mark Brand: restauranteur, entrepreneur, and all around good guy.
A Little More Good (Comes to Ottawa)
I’m a really big fan of A Little More Good. And I write for them, too. Check out my recent post on my experience with a crazy vocation I discovered: Folks who distract toddlers who are bleeding profusely.
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