Ecumenism, Social Justice, Community Initiative: Let’s start from the edges: The two men at either end are Rev. Don Mayne and John Wright (United), co-chairs of No Room In the Inn Committee of Edmonton, which provides safe affordable housing for the underprivileged. The two women in the middle are Judy Lynn Archer and Barb Wychopen, both with Women Building Futures, an organization that provides employment and mentorship programming for women. WBF is building a housing unit for women; NRII is helping in the fund raising. Forty-two thousand dollars have been raised through Edmonton and area churches. The other two women are Presbyterian Millie Seitz, left, and Anglican Rev. Eileen Conway. The photo was taken in May at St. Barbara’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral.
Women Building Futures (WBF) is a registered charity in Edmonton, Alta. with a mission to help women build strong lives and achieve economic independence through pre-trades training, employment support and mentorship. For about six years it has been successful in carrying out that task. Ninety per cent of the graduates have been successful in finding and keeping work in the trades. WBF now has managed to get more space and able to expand and take in more students. Affordable housing for prospective students has been a problem all along and to address this issue they want to construct a 42 housing unit for the women by adding two floors onto their building. Raising funds was the next step.
The Edmonton and District Council of Churches supports a No Room In The Inn (NRII) Committee which, since 1999, has been taking on projects annually to help with providing safe affordable housing for the underprivileged. As Christmas has approached each year, NRII has sent out information to Church congregations across Edmonton and area about the housing project selected for help. The request each time has been to share in whole or part the Christmas Eve Offering. As the years have passed and NRII has become better known the response from various denominations including the Presbyterian churches has grown. In the seven years over $200,000 had been given to the causes.
WBF was the one selected by NRII for Christmas 2006 and the donations kept coming in through the winter and early spring. More than $42,000 was realized for this worthy and rather unique cause. The building is well underway and we expect the official opening to be in early 2008.
NRII has been researching the newest housing projects being planned by charitable organizations starting this fall or into 2008. With the population growth that the Edmonton area has been experiencing we know that there are many more disadvantaged people without proper housing. Early in the fall our churches will learn which one has been deemed to be the most needy. Once again it is most likely that there will be a generous sharing of Christmas Eve Offerings.
Mille Seitz
Braeside Presbyterian Church
St. Albert, AB
