Food for the soul at Oak Table

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2021 (622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another walk around my neighbourhood and another opportunity to learn so much. This time I met a homeless woman my age looking for a place to pitch her tent. Ironically, she was also searching where to get food having recently lost benefits after losing her job at a restaurant which closed owing to COVID-19

One of the closest places to Crescentwood serving those at risk is Oak Table at Augustine United Church, so I suggested she check it out. Then it occurred to me that if I’m making a referral, perhaps I had better check it out also. 

You can’t buy what I found there. What’s on the menu is hope, even during a pandemic.  Guests are served dignity, acceptance and the main ingredient of love.

 One volunteer in particular was pure inspiration in the power of kindness. Guests at Oak Table did not know that Justine Rory Ramos was only in Grade 8 when she decided she wanted to research and write a book about poverty. When she began volunteering in high school as part of the Maples Collegiate Met School, everyone thought she was a university student because of her mature demeanour. 

As a result of her respectful listening abilities, Oak Table guests spoke freely in recorded interviews resulting in a published book, Angles of Reality: Winnipeg Voices of Resilience & Stories of Courage. All proceeds from the sale of her book are being donated to Oak Table.

At her tender age, Ramos figured out that being poor is not a moral failure and that many people are one paycheque away from being homeless or needing a food bank.

Imagine being only 16 years old and witnessing the toughest life stories imaginable. People dealing with addictions, PTSD, poverty, abuse, abandonment, jail, mental illness, depression, anxiety  and traumatic foster care experiences are but a partial list of what greets Rory every volunteer shift.

Most homeless folks want a safe place to sleep, a safe place to keep what things they have, no hassles from police and a bit of kindness. The stories in Rory’s book are first-person accounts of what can happen to anyone. 

Rory learned that “your reality may not be someone else’s reality so I chose the title of my book to reflect hope and to present a different light on the topic of poverty.” 

 She credits each book participant as “a hero, unbelievably resilient and strong.”

 Some of those participants include grandparents, former professionals with houses and cars, drug dealers and university graduates, many with a common thread of being in foster care. All expressed gratitude for Oak Table because “downtown is a war zone with people dying on the street and nothing ever changes.”                     

Rory’s book, described by many as “an act of love,” can help us see things with new eyes. Walking back home I couldn’t help but notice all the elections signs on lawns. I’m still looking for the candidate whose platform is kindness.

The first printing of Angles of Reality sold out and a second edition of what should be compulsory reading for every politician and student of life can be ordered at: anglesofreality@gmail.com or www.anglesofreality.ca

Heather Emberley is a community correspondent for Crescentwood. Email her at heather.emberley@gmail.com if you have a story suggestion.