Day 4 - July 28 - Play days at Limbrick

 It's Tuesday July 28 and today we had our first day at Next Steps, and also Play Days at Limbrick housing.

So how are you all feeling today?  As a team we are kinda tired but excited at the same time.  Our usual routine is up by 7, out by 7:30, breakfast at the office around 8:15 and then start the day at 9.

Did you know you can bake your eggs instead of boiling them? In needing to do hard boiled eggs I decided to just bake the case of 30 instead of boiling all the water.  Just put them in a muffin pan, bake at 325 for 30 minutes and then ice bath for 10.  Only "problem" is they sometimes get a burn mark where they were touching the pan. In the end, an easier way to make so many hard boiled eggs!

Today we were introduced to the Next Steps team.  This team of 3 people can often see 100+ participants in a 3 hour window at the Next Steps program.  Jasmin, Anton, and Steve.  A small team but a mighty one!  What is Next Steps?  Glad you asked!

Next Steps is a program that NWFM runs Tues-Thurs and provides clients with coffee, tea, juice and bannock (think bread with butter, jam or other toppings) It is a safe space for clients to come in from the cold, and the streets to get a warm drink, something to eat and just a space to rest or get support. Our team is able to help them in getting the drink ready, serving our guests and just talking with them if they want. Some of our clients might still be struggling with alcohol or addictions and needing just a space to be for a little while. This is a space for only adults to be present. 

Our youth were preparing some activities for the play days - making more balloon butterflies, and also preparing a craft we will do to present to the Northwind staff after we leave. Lots of team laughter today.  Although people are tired, everyone is bonding well as a team.

Limbrick was where we held play days. A large complex, and one which has historically been one of the "roughest" housing complexes.  Definitely the grounds were not as well maintained as at Academy; there was much garbage around and more graffiti on the playground structure. However the kids were fairly happy, and we saw more families coming out today than yesterday!  We gave out over 100 hot dogs today, and likely had over 120 people come out to play games, get snow cones and hot dogs. The community was welcoming and I think that's a change from over the years. The people were very welcoming and kids were out playing! I think in the past I felt that there was less community between people.  I do hope that is changing for the better. We did see more families and those family units coming out to play today.

We asked people to talk about a "rose, bud or thorn" from the play days so far.  Some logistics came up as thorns - with this feedback we can make some minor adjustments.  Many of the roses or buds were about the people. Great to see some families come out.  Northwind knocked on a door and no one answered; but they had a camera and so the staff told them that we had the playday today and invited them to come - and they did!  I had one gentleman say he needed a hot dog for his girlfriend in the house - and that she wouldn't come out - turns out it was true - but I invited him to invite her to come out and she took a chance and did!  We had a chat and I told her glad to see her out here. She said she has a lot of social anxiety and it's not easy to get out. So glad she made it!  Many of the kids who came out were very cute - wanting to play, eat hot dogs and snowcones. Some just stood and asked with their eyes while others were more outgoing. They'd look out for each other; I believe most of them did have a sibling at home when they asked for another hot dog - and often the sibling came out eventually and had a good time!  It was the best when a little boy came up to us and thanked us for coming and said that all his friends want was to just have some fun - and they did!

The trip is over half done.  We have 2 more locations to visit this week before heading home.  We return Sunday. If you want to hear more from people about their experiences I do encourage you to reach out to them to chat!