CALEDONIA—It’s been seven years since Pastor Janice Doyle started at Caledonia Presbyterian Church, and she is no stranger to the issue of homelessness in her community.
“We’ve had the occasional person or persons hang out and camp out in our portico at least once a year,” said Doyle. “In speaking with some of these people, they have usually been just travelling through town and making their way to their next destination.”
Doyle lamented the limited services available in Caledonia and even across Haldimand-Norfolk to give shelter to the unhoused.
She said that the congregation at the church wanted to do something proactive about the issue.
“We placed our first ‘Blessing Bag’ out on the church porch in September 2023, after having evidence of someone sleeping on the steps. In the large zip-lock bag were toiletries, Kleenex, soup, granola bars, and a bottle of water. We also placed a note inside with the names and phone numbers of resources that might be available if in need,” she explained. “The bag remained for a few days and silently disappeared. When we replaced the bag, it stayed for a couple of months before it was picked up.”
Interest in the bags expanded over the winter months and then slowed down over the spring and summer of 2024.
In the meantime, the church continued to work on ways to do something “a little more concrete and longer lasting,” but Doyle noted that “it remains a work in progress.”
The church has also been providing outreach services for the past couple of years, keeping food staples on hand, as well as grocery cards for emergency reserves, for families or individuals in dire need.
Doyle described one person she met last year who was “precariously housed and was sleeping in their vehicle.” During their couple of weeks in town, they were shown support and given food and warm meals, with a similar visitor later that fall.
Come winter 2024, Doyle said the Blessing Bags were being picked up regularly again, enhanced with additional information about resources in the community as well as the church’s open coffee house on Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Doyle said another unhoused person visited the church the first week of January 2025, who was also provided a new winter coat, a bed mat, a sleeping bag, “and more as the month unfolded”.
In speaking with Dorette Allemang, Manager of the Caledonia Food Bank, the pair determined there were “at least three unhoused people in the area who were in need of resources.” One, identified as ‘C’ by Doyle, has visited multiple times and indicated to her “that he feels much safer sleeping ‘on the streets’ here in Caledonia than he has in the cities.”
Each week, at least two Blessing Bags are picked up at the church door, stocked with extra items, like blankets and hand warmers.
“By the middle of February, ‘D’ stopped into the church to say thank you for the bags being left outside – that the food we were giving literally were at time his only meal for days. We stocked ‘D’ up with new socks, more warmers and food, and another Tim’s card for his use,” said Doyle on a fourth unhoused person to visit the church.
Since Christmas, Doyle said the church has been in touch with other ministers in town and just recently posted on social media “with the intent to bring awareness to the needs out there, and hope that people would support the food bank and the Community Support Center in their endeavors to help those in need in our community.”
Allemang said as of their last fiscal year, ending July 31, 2024, that visits were up by 30% over the previous year: “We have been assisting approximately 260 individuals (400 plus visits) from 100 households each month.”
She added that Caledonia, like other food banks across the province, has seen usage nearly double since before the pandemic.
“We have been assisting several homeless individuals this past year,” she said, noting they offer homeless kits, including blankets, toiletry items, and easy-to-prepare foods.
“We are grateful for the meal programs the Community Support Centre has available throughout the week and the Helping Hands clothing closet to assist with peoples’ needs,” she added, noting that the best way for people to help, other than donating needed items (list available at caledoniafoodbank.ca), is to advocate for changes in affordable housing and proper social assistance.
“It’s a systemic problem on many levels and there is no ‘one’ solution,” added Doyle. “We need affordable housing. We need affordable food…. We have a beautiful town and community, but we are not immune to the economic crises plaguing so many people.”
She concluded, “We’re just a small group of imperfect people doing our best to follow a perfect Lord – but like Mother Teresa said, ‘If you can’t feed 100 people, then feed one.’ So that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Below is a breakdown of other available services in the area.
The Community Support Center Haldimand-Norfolk (CSCHN) at 103 Inverness St. has provided resources and services to “approximately eight homeless individuals” over the last year.
CSCHN offers a free breakfast program, Bistro 103, which offers continental breakfast with daily specials from 7:30-10:30 a.m. on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. They also offer ‘Tasty Tuesdays’, where guests pay $6 or an amount within their means to enjoy a healthy lunch between 11:30-12:30 p.m. (pre-registration by noon on Mondays is a requirement for participation), ‘Warm Up Wednesdays’ where $4 gets patrons a bowl of soup, bun, and a dessert, and ‘Cutting For Kindness’, a free haircutting service (pre-registration required).
“When individuals struggling with food insecurity access the centre outside of breakfast/lunch hours, we provide a takeout meal/snack,” said a statement to The Press from CSCHN.
Further, Health and Social Services Haldimand-Norfolk have a Homeless Prevention Team along with emergency housing and housing support. Their phone number is 905-318-6623.
Ontario Works offers drop-in Community Days through CSCHN, connecting people to services they may not have direct access to. For more information, visit hnss.org/ontario-works/community-days.
“The resources within Haldimand are limited for the unhoused as there are no warming centres or shelters with beds. The closest shelters outside of Haldimand are in Hamilton, Simcoe, and Brantford. When a client is seeking shelter, we can provide them with a taxi ride using our My Ride program to the nearest shelter, if desired,” read the CSCHN statement.
“The community can help by donating to our Bistro 103 meal program (monetary or food donations) or donating to our MyRide Taxi program (monetary). If members of the community would like to pay-it-forward by purchasing meal vouchers, they can contact us for more information,” they concluded.
