Our community at MetroMercy (MM) lives out our compassion, and we love people.  We want to help the broken find healing as we seek restoration in our own lives. We want to stand with the oppressed and fight for justice by their side.  We want to partner with organizations and agencies that are doing good work downtown because we don’t want to duplicate what’s already being done well – we want to lend our ability and willingness to care with a personal touch to the missions we believe in.

Everyone at MM is encouraged to find a way to connect with another person outside our church community who could use a friend. Some of these are monthly commitments, some weekly, and others are less formal, but the intention is the same: to find ways to love our neighbour, not just talk about it.

New Canadians @ Central United

• We hold conversational ESL classes once per week at Central United Church.  These classes do not require official ESL training certification, and training will be provided to new volunteers on site.  Anyone who speaks English well will be able to contribute in this partnership – the class members have all covered the basics of the English language and simply want to improve their conversational skills.  The classes provide a great atmosphere to share stories and a starting point for teachers and students to get to know each other and share their lives.
• Participation in this partnership is very non-threatening and open to anyone interested in joining in.

Elder Care

• This partnership is under development, and further details will be announced as they become available.  Our intention with this partnership is to identify an organization or residence serving seniors downtown who could use some company.  We will be commissioning a first contact team to identify potential partnerships and choose where we will engage.
• To serve in the context of this partnership will require deep commitment and consistency as we will seek to develop very personal one-on-one relationships with seniors who will look forward to our visits with great anticipation.  This type of serve will be a stretch for most of us, and certainly open to everyone desiring to get involved.

Inn From The Cold @ Central United Church

• We host Inns at Central United once per month with a focus on spending personal time speaking with guests and hearing their stories.  Details are available on the events calendar.
• This type of serving can be intimidating for those who are new to serving downtown, but there are always experienced volunteers on hand to answer any questions you might have and to help you engage meaningfully.

Transition Partnership @ the Seed

• We are currently working with the Seed to help guests transition from living at the shelter to having their own home.  Such transition requires strong support and reliable community, and we commit 7-10 MetroMercy community people to every one person we are helping transition.  This way we can connect and support each other every day of the week, and walk together through to realizing our shared goals.
• Participation in this partnership requires a high level of commitment and familiarity with homeless culture and associated challenges.  If you are new to serving on the streets, you’re going to want to get some experience under your belt before you jump into this kind of commitment.