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Our history
On December 9, 1997, the congregation of Knox church, in conjunction with First Nations’ Gospel Assembly, opened its doors for the first time to the homeless and poor youth in our community, under the Out of the cold umbrella. The idea for the program came from Rev. Joe Elkerton of First Nations’ Gospel, who approached Knox after having to close a program at another downtown church after less than a full season. Joe was familiar with the OOTC philosophy and program format, and as a pastor with a long-time youth ministry, felt there was a need for a similar program targeting street youth, who tend to feel uncomfortable at adult shelters. At the same time, a small group of us at Knox were looking at ways our church could expand its work in its own community.
We started as a pilot program in two ways: Knox Session approved a one-year pilot, and Metropolitan Toronto approved our program as an extension of the Out of the Cold program for one year.
Almost immediately upon starting this program, we learned that a youth program is not the same as an adult Out of the Cold program.
For one thing, we couldn’t expect to simply open our doors and wait for street kids to come to us. We had to build some trust first. So for the first year we would have volunteers out in a van handing out sandwiches and inviting kids to come to Knox. The need for such a place soon became apparent, as just about everyone who came once became a regular, and told their friends. On our first night we fed 10 youth and six slept the night. By that February, we were averaging 35 guests per night.
We continued the van runs to deliver food to people outside and to youth who still didn’t want to come inside for the night. It gave us a presence on the street and also helped show our volunteers where our guests come from, which really helped them to relate to the kids.
Another difference: we had planned to serve an early evening meal at a set time, and then move on to quiet activities and then sleeping time, But we soon found that our young guests were not always prepared to come in for the night right at our opening time. Our vision of a big family-style sit down meal for everyone had to be re-arranged a little.
Now we serve dinner at 6:30 for all guests and volunteers who are there, but kids trickle in throughout the night, and are welcome to eat whenever they are ready.
Activities we offer at Knox include: basketball, games, bowling, movies, hair colouring and cuts, lots of home made desserts, popcorn and conversation. Recent additions include a couple of donated guitars that the kids like to use, and we have initiated bi-weekly music nights, where a couple of volunteers bring in an amp and mics and guitars and drums and welcome any of the kids to join in an impromptu concert. We also have a volunteer who is a lawyer who works with the youth on legal issues. Sometimes we have crafts, but they’re not usually that interested in sitting down that long! If we have the extra hands, we’ll offer foot baths/massages. We have a nurse on duty. Our volunteers range in ages from 14 to 70. More than half have been volunteering for more than four years.
Quite a few of the regulars just like to talk to whoever will listen. We feel the most valuable thing we offer is a safe place where they can be themselves for the night, ask for whatever they want, tell their stories (true or not!), and get a good nights’ sleep.
We are very happy that for four years now, employees from the Royal Bank Financial Group have made it possible for us to extend the Knox program to two nights. The partnership is working very well and we are so thankful for their participation. If anyone is interested in starting a similar program, we would be happy to offer any help possible!
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