Shelter House

Well, today consisted of me waking up at 10:00 am (enjoying the fact that for once I can sleep in), and getting ready to go work at Shelter House. For those of you who do not know what it is; Shelter House is a drop in/soup kitchen for the homeless in Thunder Bay. Shelby and I volunteer there once a week. At first we only went for the eight hours we were supposed to in order for us to recieve 5% extra in my Social Work class, but something keeps drawing me and her back. We have this strange sense of obligation to continue going. For us it is fun, I can't describe it. I mean, yes, the place smells awful, it looks run down, and one feels dirty once they leave but there is this strage enjoyment working there.

The place definately is a weekly reminder of how blessed I am and how thankful I should be for living and being raised the way I was. The homeless here in Thunder Bay are very different from Toronto's homeless. Many here are wanderers from nearby reserves, they are broken people and it cuts me when I hear their stories. They are really the forgotten people of Canada...they are the ones shut out by the rest of this country.

Niles