Colette Eirich, managing director for the Mustard Seed Medicine Hat, is excited to open the doors to the fully finished community centre, which will provide meals, laundry services, hair cuts and more to those in need.--NEWS PHOTO KELLEN TANIGUCHI
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The Mustard Seed made its ribbon cutting official on Thursday afternoon – its brand new community centre on Allowance Avenue is finished and ready to serve those in need, says its managing director.
“Today is a very special day. We are honouring all our donors who have put their hard work gift of donation into our community centre which is now complete. It’s complete with the community kitchen on the main floor and our health and wellness centre on the lower floor,” said Colette Eirich.
With the centre now complete and most COVID-19 restrictions lifting July 1, Eirich is excited to be able to feed more people at a time during the breakfast program, however she adds the Mustard Seed’s goals go beyond food.
“We’re looking more into their health and their wellness … there is a thin line between asking for help and homeless. If you’re not healthy, if you’re not well that’s when the cycle of poverty and homelessness starts to happen,” she said. “We want to work on all four: physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally on our guests to guide them, to give them the supports that they need so they can become independent.”
The main floor of the community centre is home to its kitchen, seating area for meal programs, a laundry room and a hair cutting room. While the lower floor boasts its health and wellness centre, which includes addiction counselling, spiritual care, a clothing room and more.
The Mustard Seed also unveiled its new donor wall on Thursday, honouring all the donors who contributed nearly $400,000 to allow the Mustard Seed to be debt free today.
“I want to just say thanks to all these amazing donors. If it wasn’t for them, we would not be where we are today and we made it, we’re exactly where we need to be. We’re done, we’re open, we’re ready to serve,” she said.
Eirich says the breakfast program will continue to run daily from 8-10 a.m., but the goal is to give access to the community centre during evenings and weekends, too.
