June
05
2020
Coronavirus Brings Out the Best in Us
By Jim Bell, CEO, Siloam Mission ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** It’s been almost three months since most of us went into lockdown. Months of anxiously waiting for the daily announcement of new COVID-19 cases. Months of wall-to-wall news coverage about how the coronavirus has disrupted the lives of […]
May
12
2020
‘Caremongering’ in the Midst of a Crisis
By Jim Bell, CEO, Siloam Mission ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** There’s no denying it. Many of us feel anxious and stressed about the coronavirus situation. Even though restrictions are slowly lifting, we know there is a long road ahead, and all of us will need to continue to […]
April
19
2020
Cheers to Volunteers – National Volunteer Week 2020
It is National Volunteer Week 2020, and although we can’t be together right now, we still want to celebrate the commitment and contributions of Siloam’s volunteers. To all of our volunteers, THANK YOU. Volunteers contribute greatly to Siloam’s mission. Last year, between our registered volunteers and community members, 93,939 hours of volunteering were contributed. With […]
April
09
2020
Caring Needs to be Contagious
By Jim Bell, CEO, Siloam Mission ** This column first appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press ** How will we keep the homeless safe from a highly contagious virus that’s spreading into almost every community in the world? These days that’s the question ringing in my head from the second I get up to the […]
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