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Providing hope to those in need for 25 years

Siloam Mission hosts party for milestone

By: Katherine Dow

Posted: 08/25/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Kerry Sutherland (right) and Patrick Nicholas enjoy a barbecue lunch provided by the Manitoba Pork Council at a block party hosted by the Siloam Mission on Friday. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Attendees line up to take part in Siloam's 25th-anniversary event. (WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Wayne Norton sat outside Siloam Mission and watched Friday's festivities to mark the 25th anniversary of the agency that serves those less fortunate in Winnipeg.

Norton has been staying at the facility for the last eight months while he turns his life around.

"They're very open-minded here. I've never felt judged. They've been there for me at a time when friends and family weren't. They're just good people doing a very good thing," Norton said.

Norton wouldn't elaborate on the circumstances that brought him to Siloam, other than to say he "took a tumble" after working in government health care for more than 20 years. He was on his third and fourth chances when he found the mission, "like a hand pushing me down Princess Street to find Siloam," he said.

Norton's is just one of the many success stories in the making told Friday as the mission hosted a block party outside its Princess Street facility. Dozens of the mission's guests, volunteers and friends showed up for a barbecue lunch, a visit and enjoy the music of the DJ St. Germain Band.

What started 25 years ago as a small soup kitchen in a cramped building on Main Street, serving a few days a week, has grown into a four-storey, full-service organization. The mission now offers daily meals, an emergency shelter, clothing and hygiene items, a health-care centre, employment training programs and transitional support.

Executive director Floyd Perras finds the anniversary a bittersweet occasion.

"Twenty-five years later, the growth of homelessness here and across Canada, I don't know if the correct word is explode, but continues to grow," Perras said. "There's been fabulous support from Manitobans to help Siloam and help the individuals that are here today. That's the sweet part of this job.

"The bitter part is that (homelessness) continues to be a problem."

Siloam Mission was founded by Suk Woon Lee on Aug. 24, 1987, in a tiny building on Main Street. Lee was a Korean immigrant and former inmate of the Stony Mountain Institution.

Lee served time after being convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting death of his wife, who he discovered was having an affair.

During his time in prison, he became involved with the Korean Nazarene Church and eventually received full parole. The church later helped him secure Siloam's first building.

Perras met Lee when he started volunteering at the mission during its first year of operation. However, Lee fled Canada in 1999.

According to Perras, once Lee's parole was completed, that meant deportation back to Korea -- a country that still had the death penalty.

Perras said Lee is the perfect example of what charitable organizations such as Siloam Mission can do for those looking to turn their lives around.

"If I would pick anyone as a founder, as someone who had really messed up his life pretty much as badly as you can and then make some decisions to go forward -- that's a hopeful story. He motivated an organization that is still striving 25 years later," Perras said.

Wayne Norton's is another hopeful story. After eight months at the shelter, he is transitioning to live at the mission's Madison Memorial Lodge in the Wolseley area.

After that, Norton is confident Siloam has given him the tools to be self-sufficient.

"This place is like a warm hug; I owe them my life. At this point, I owe them everything."

katherine.dow@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 25, 2012 A11

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