There were no changes to the service model in this quarter as Laichwiltach Family Life Society believe that a meal holds a profound significance in representing care, compassion, trust and nourishment for the soul. When we offer a warm, nutritious meal to someone who is homeless, we are not just addressing their immediate hungry; we are helping the citizens to better address needs they have beyond hunger.  

The Hama?elas Community Kitchen continues to serve between 80-120 unhoused community members each night, and during one breakfast per week.  Raising food costs have impacted service and increased the cost to feed hearty and nutritious meals.  We continue to hear from other service providers that their meals and snack budgets are not going as far as they previously did, and we know that even those living in shelter situations where meals are provided, they are sometimes not sufficient.  In this funding year we served over 28,000 meals at the Hama?elas Community Kitchen and held a series of workshops with Peers, dieticians and other service providers.  

The Hama?elas Community Kitchen continues to be a place to meet, gather and give back. We continue to have a steady increase in volunteer Peers who are interested in serving meals at the Kitchen. The regularity and frequency of Peers have amped up in the last 6-8 months, and we are currently working with adjacent social service providers to ensure they are supported with Social Workers, honoraria, and where possible – the opportunity to transfer skills into the workforce.  We were able to hold a handful of workshops in the Kitchen including free sourdough workshops.