The Bricker Block story has its roots in 1877 when David and Aaron Bricker purchased the site after a catastrophic fire burned through the Royal Hotel and properties around it. Aaron Bricker established a successful Blacksmith and Livery service out of a wood frame building that he built after purchasing the property.
On May 9th 2026, we celebrated Arleen Macpherson’s immense contribution to the development of The Working Centre community. For over 30 years from (1987 – 2017) Arleen offered unwavering commitment to support those who have been left out. Her work was marked by her natural ability to combine prayerful reflection with thoughtful action. Her practicality was demonstrated by taking on St. John’s Kitchen and creating a place of welcome and hospitality. This work stretched from organizing and cooking in the kitchen, to walking gently with those facing struggles, to writing and reflecting on poverty and relationships.
I had the privilege to work for The Working Centre, a truly amazing organization, which feels like a living, breathing organism, with all its parts deeply interconnected. One of those parts is the Job Search Resource Centre, where I spent 17.6 incredible years learning from and giving back to the wonderful community we serve.
As we go about our days, we are each drawn into zones of seeming familiarity. Work, family, routine, the ordinary fabric of everyday life—sometimes so familiar as to be taken entirely for granted. But if we pay close attention, we may be struck by the hidden depths of the everyday. Suddenly, the face of the other ceases to be just another passing shape; instead, I am seized by a living Thou, revealing depths of vulnerability and transcendence.
It has been a long journey since Wednesday October 31, 1984. That was the day, during a late afternoon meeting held by the Core Area Ministry Committee, when a decision was made to develop a downtown community meal service. The discussions that resulted in St. John’s Kitchen had been going on for more than a year. Churches and social services were recognizing that many people living in the downtown struggled to access a daily meal.
One might say that my placement at St. John’s Kitchen began by wonderful happenstance, while others might attribute a more Divine intervention to it. As a pastor in Waterloo Region, I had been asked by TWC to help lead memorial services and I was grateful to be able to be able to help them in that way. Somehow, we made the jump from memorials to my upcoming need to find a placement…
I have worked for 25 years in many roles with agencies and services providing support to the community and particularly to those most vulnerable and marginalized. It was always a calling for me from an early age. Throughout those years I worked with so many wonderful people and had experiences and growth from the community I was present with. While the work was always well intentioned, there were systemic blockages which hindered truly aligned work. You could feel the blockages and the dissonance it created for individuals – a dissonance between your work-self and your true-self.
The following text is reprinted from the Dreamland Newsletter report on the Kensington area in Philadelphia, PA
I’ve been several times to the district in Philadelphia where dealers awaken their customers each morning with cries of free “Samples!” Kensington was once all about heroin. But fentanyl has taken over and addicts are frozen in bizarre positions — “Kensington yoga,” as it’s called.
One of my mentors in ministry was the late Father Bernie Hayes, of the local Roman Catholic community. I remember him saying in a wedding homily: “You know I’ve never been married…” and amidst the gales of laughter, with his great sense of timing, Bernie added: “But, I hear it is hard work…and worth the effort!” This remarkable gathering tonight reminds us all that building community is hard – and at times, fun! – work together, and is always worth the effort.
We are starting to get ready for the Point in Time (PiT) count, which is a national coordinated effort to take a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in one night. It is important to recognize the many ways that homelessness is increasing in our communities, especially for people just trying to cope as best they can. Encampments demonstrate that we no longer have an effective social structure response to homelessness.
The Integrated Circle of Care is a fluid and collaborative approach followed by workers from different agencies weaving through St. John’s Kitchen. Within this approach, staff members from each agency are aware of their specific personal roles. However, the high level of collaboration between workers means that people can approach any worker, without knowing their agency association or specific role, and still receive support – either that worker will support the person directly, or they will introduce the person to another worker who can support the person more appropriately.
This approach makes relationships more natural and support more accessible. Workers from different agencies are easily approachable, meaning that people build relationships with multiple workers. Having relationships with different workers is important to a person’s support – it makes support from a trusted source easy to find, and means that people have a choice of worker to approach in any given situation.
In order to maintain a circle of care around a person, workers from different agencies ask for consent from the person for information to be shared between workers. Continuous communication between workers helps to ensure that people do not fall into gaps between services, and also that services are not duplicated.
