As rain battered Victoria’s streets on Tuesday, hundreds gathered on Pandora Avenue to enjoy a hot, hearty holiday meal.
Organized by Our Place Society – a non-profit that offers food, counselling, housing and recovery services to people struggling with mental health and substance use issues in Greater Victoria – the free lunch provided folks in need with turkey, stuffing, veggies, hot coffee and pumpkin pie.
Community leaders, including Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock, served heaping portions to the event's 600 attendees. Behind them, a large crew of kitchen volunteers worked tirelessly, sauteing vegetables, carving turkeys and preparing pies.
“Our goal is for anyone to come in here, get a meal, meet with our outreach providers,” said Janice Kalin, Our Place Society’s director of philanthropy. “We can help them on that pathway into wellness, so either getting them into housing or getting them into addiction recovery.”
Recently, Our Place has seen a rise in demand for the nosh it serves, despite plating a whopping 1,400 meals every day.
“Just over the past three months, it's gone up by over 25 per cent. Several other food services have closed down within the downtown core. A lot of those folks are coming here,” said Kalin. “As well, the cost of living is going up so dramatically.”
In addition to often much-needed calories, events like this one also provide a connection to those who need it most.
“It’s a community,” said Kalin. “Social isolation, especially for our seniors, is a huge problem. We’ve seen, over about the last year, a huge increase in the number of seniors who are starting to access our care and our supports here.”
Paul Fenje, one of the event's attendees, expressed a similar sentiment.
“Generally speaking, of the attendees here – whether they have addiction issues of different kinds, whether they have mental health issues – many, if not most, are estranged from families,” he said. "This kind of a gathering serves to consolidate people, so they're not eating ... individually but as one large, happy family.”
Our Place is set to host a second holiday meal on Dec. 20 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
