By Stephanie Mancini
Published September 2026
Fr. Murray McDermott, C.R. passed away on August 28. Over the years Fr. Murray listened to our stories of The Working Centre and shared his stories of L’Arche Community, with a sparkle in his eye and a recognition of the sacred in every-day experiences. A humble man, he also saw hardship and often shared stories that recognized the simple acts of grace and humour.
It’s a joy to pause and see these moments of grace that occur daily at St. John’s Kitchen as we welcome more and more people. This hub of activity could be measured in the number of people who visit (600 visits between 9 am and 9 pm), the number of times the door opens and closes, the number of toilet flushes or laundry loads, the number of showers, the number of meals, the number of food hampers, the number of socks we share, or the number of people we welcome and help to problem-solve challenges that arise.
The expansion of our hours to 24/7 has been a full-on effort, as new people join our team – the staff teams and the volunteer teams that now fill seven days a week, as we offer 3 meals a day, and respond actively to urgencies in the middle of an ongoing community drug alert. We are stretching, and it feels like a miracle that has come together so we can be present with people who are weary of living outside without the ability to rest securely. We are offering a solution that is only marginally better than living outside. Overnights, we have seen 430 different people since July 27, people who are living unsheltered in our community. Each night there are around 125 people who stay for the night.
Now our challenge is to help people to feel seen and heard, to be welcomed and to be known. Safety on the street can often be found in sameness or in not standing out, to be one of a group. St. John’s Kitchen becomes an anchor, a place you can return to, as people move through the day. We are developing the rhythms of the day, starting first with the meals – delineating breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering variety and choice as we work to stretch the Foodbank donations. We are starting to organize more opportunities that bring people together for social activities, a movie, a learning session. More organizations and services are coming to the space and connecting with people one-to-one. We are growing our health care resources, continuing to welcome Community Health Caring, and our own Street Outreach, Specialized Outreach Services and Justice Outreach Services.
We are exploring ways to embed community resources more visibly in the space, helping to generate accessible pathways towards wellness. Most people cannot see their way out of the cycle of survival created by homelessness and substance use that dominates their days. By focusing on building trust and rest, belonging and connection, we form a foundation from which people can be seen, and be more truly themselves. This will take us time to develop, to reinforce, to play with different ideas, and to learn. We are standing with people where they are at, while also holding space and conversation for things to be different.
We have reached out to the wider K-W community, inviting groups to come together and host an evening a month at St. John’s Kitchen, serving the meals, washing dishes, cleaning the space with us. The number of opportunities for community involvement have grown as our hours have extended to weekends and evenings. As Fr. Murray helps to remind us, this is an act of hope, a way to appreciate that offering hospitality makes us all more human.
“What holds a community together in times of great challenge and change? We believe our collective well-being depends not only on access to support, but also on the empathy we extend to one another. There is a spirit of compassion and care woven deeply within the fabric of every community, and a communal thriving when we feel seen, heard, and cared for.” (Fetzer Institute)
