March
17
2020
A Letter to Our Community: COVID-19 Response
By Jim Bell, CEO, Siloam Mission Dear Friend,I hope you and your family are safe. I hope you’re healthy. And I hope it stays that way for you.At this time of great concern for us all, please be assured that you remain in our prayers. I know that everyone’s inboxes are inundated with information about how organizations […]
Tags: Community, Homelessness, Jim Bell
March
01
2020
Being Homeless is Hard Work
By Jim Bell, CEO, Siloam Mission ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** There are many assumptions about men and women facing homelessness. Perhaps the most common one is that they are too lazy to work. But what if I told you being homeless is actually a lot of work? Let […]
Tags: Homelessness, Jim Bell, Systems
January
28
2020
Cold Weather Freezes Body and Soul
By Jim Bell, CEO ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** With a deep freeze on our doorstep, many people are turning their attention to the needs of the homeless. At Siloam Mission we get dozens of calls per day from caring Manitobans wanting to know how the cold weather […]
Tags: Cold Weather, Homelessness, Jim Bell
December
30
2019
A Paycheque Means So Much More Than Money
By Jim Bell, CEO ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** I’m often asked what’s the best way to end homelessness. The answer is complicated. But at the most basic level, we know that we can end homelessness in three steps. First, we need to help people deal with their […]
Tags: Homelessness, Jim Bell, Social Enterprise
November
30
2019
Good Will to All is the Greatest Gift
By Jim Bell, CEO ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** I dread this time of the year. It’s not that I don’t like the Christmas season. In fact, it’s one of my favourite holidays and gives me hope every year. It’s not the fact that the football season is […]
Tags: Community, Homelessness, Jim Bell
October
28
2019
Entertaining Angels Unawares
By Jim Bell, CEO ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** It happened at 4 in the morning on a cold and rainy night last week. The wind was howling. We had just come back from walking through the downtown core with the Bear Clan. Along the way we had […]
Tags: Homelessness, Jim Bell, Siloam Sleepout
August
30
2019
Manitoba Rallies Around People
By Jim Bell, CEO ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** It’s been said Manitoba is the hardest place to get someone to move to — and also the hardest place for someone to leave. I believe it. While the prairies aren’t usually known for their majestic landscapes or cosmopolitan […]
August
01
2019
An Open Invitation
One of the most heartbreaking revelations of the final report on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry is the constant threat Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people have to live with. It’s clear that, no matter the setting or region in Canada, security is a key concern for the overwhelming majority of […]
Tags: Homelessness, Jim Bell, Make Room, News, Systems
June
19
2019
Begin at the Beginning
By Jim Bell, CEO ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** How can we end homelessness in Winnipeg? It’s one of the most frequent questions I get asked. For a long time I didn’t have a clear answer. So I would reply by saying homelessness is a complex issue; that there […]
Tags: Exit Up!, Foster Care, Jim Bell, Systems
March
20
2019
Calling All Villagers
By Jim Bell, CEO **This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press** There’s an adage that says it takes a village to raise a child. Nowadays, it often gets misinterpreted. The proverb was never meant to say that the entire village is responsible for raising that child. It simply means that an entire […]
Tags: Community, Homelessness, Jim Bell, Partnership, Systems