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“The demand for food support has increased over the past couple years.” Julianne Atkin, interim ceo of Siloam Mission, shared. “We know that a lot of people who access services — about one third in our drop-in — are housed. That tells us a lot of people don’t have enough to pay rent and eat.”
Siloam Mission in Winnipeg, Manitoba, everyone is greeted with a warm drink when they walk in the door. From there, staff take the time to connect and understand what each person needs. Their holistic approach to care includes food support, health care, short and long-term housing supports, employment assistance, as well as emergency services including shelter, clothing and overnight winter warming spaces. They also provide spiritual and cultural guidance to help people on their recovery journey.
Even as demand for support rises, Siloam remains committed to quality and dignity.
“We’ve been able to serve really high-quality food at a large scale.” Julianne shared, attributing the quality of food to Siloam’s relationship with Second Harvest. “We believe the people who come here deserve to have nutritious, healthy, tasty food. With Second Harvest, we have different varieties [of food donations] that come in, and the contributions allow the staff to get creative and make new meals.”
Every day, at least 500 people come for a meal, and Siloam serves three meals a day — amounting to more than 540,000 meals last year alone.
“Community members come to Siloam from all over,” Margot Ross, senior manager of development said. She explained that the reasons people seek support are as varied as their stories, from a young person recently aging out of child welfare and facing the world on their own, to a senior at risk of losing their savings to an online scam. “Life just happened.”
“It’s all of us.” Margot noted. For her, the faces in the dining room reflect the broader community. “It mirrors our society, in that I could see my children or grandchildren here, our sisters and brothers come here.”
Behind the scenes, staff and longtime volunteers have also found a home at Siloam. From healthcare specialists to kitchen helpers, everyone works together to ensure community members feel welcomed and receive the personalized support they need. It is that spirit of connection, and the chance to be a part of something meaningful, that keeps volunteers and staff coming back.
“It takes a village to feed a village.” Marilou Castro, foodservice manager, said. “We take it one day at a time, one meal at a time. And it works.”
For Victor Bergmann, volunteering at Siloam reminds him of life in the prairies.
“I’m a farm kid, I drive rural so I see people in the ditch once in a while. Manitoba has a bit of snow and cold weather,” Victor Bergmann shared.
“When you see someone on the side of the road, they need a little bit of help getting out so they can continue their journey. To me, a person stops. You try. If you can’t push them out by yourself, maybe someone else will stop and help you. I’ve never seen a situation where enough people stopped to help, we couldn’t move that person on their journey forward. For me that’s an analogy for Siloam.”
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