Bingo builds community at Main Street Project

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This article was published 25/07/2016 (3583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Shelley Malo was looking for a fun, recreational volunteer opportunity, bingo was the answer.

Malo leads the game every Thursday evening at the Main Street Project, an organization in Winnipeg’s core that offers a variety of programs and services to the city’s vulnerable, from basic food and shelter, to crisis support and transitional housing.

Malo said she looks forward to the bingo games as much as seeing the players.

“This gets me out of the house and out with a group of people, having fun playing games,” the 47-year-old said, adding volunteering with people who are marginalized and at-risk gives her a better perspective on her own problems. “It’s very grounding.”

For Malo, the Main Street Project is the latest in a series of volunteer commitments she has made during the past three decades.

Immediately after high school, Malo took a one-year paralegal program and soon found work thereafter.

The program left Malo ill-equipped to handle the secretarial aspects of being a paralegal though, such as typing. She floundered in her first job and quit after two weeks because she couldn’t keep up with the work.

Malo felt volunteering might be a good way to learn how to type. She found an opportunity at the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Manitoba, where she volunteered typing documents all day.

After six weeks, Malo was a formidable typist, and she soon found work.

“I have been volunteering ever since, often to see if a career path was right for me,” Malo said.

When she considered studying criminal justice, Malo volunteered with the John Howard Society in Calgary as an adult literacy tutor. She realized criminal justice wasn’t a good fit, but that she really enjoyed training and tutoring.

“Training has developed into my greatest professional passion,” said Malo, who today leads software training and quality assurance projects through her work as a business and technology consultant.

For Malo, who has lived in B.C., Alberta and Oregon, volunteering has also contributed to her social life.

‘Any time I lived in a new place, I did special-event volunteering, and that was a really great way for me to get out and meet people’– Shelley Malo, Main Street Project volunteer

“Any time I lived in a new place, I did special-event volunteering, and that was a really great way for me to get out and meet people,” she said.

Carla Chornoby, volunteer and community engagement co-ordinator at the Main Street Project, said Malo is an energetic person who takes initiative.

“She’s very kindhearted and easy to connect with,” Chornoby said. “The clients definitely appreciate her coming every Thursday evening.”

Malo first volunteered with homeless people while living in Calgary more than 20 years ago. She knows how having something can give someone who is homeless a purpose.

“It’s so important for your sense of self and self-esteem to have something to do,” Malo said. “We need to invest our time in helping them find that sense of self through interacting with others, through hobbies (and) through exploring interests.”

The Main Street Project is looking for committed, passionate volunteers to help with many of its programs. Anyone interested can fill out an application form at mainstreetproject.ca, or call Chornoby at 204-982-8242.

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.