In early May we received our building permit. The month of May was spent organizing volunteers and securing contractors. To date the plumbing is roughed in and fixtures will be installed upon completion of some drywalling. Likewise, electrical is underway. The major work is the installation of the kitchen exhaust. The equipment for this is on order and will be installed upon its arrival. We still hope towards a July completion! Renovation Timeline:
Recently on a Monday night, one of regular friends at Next Door, Renee,[1] invited someone to join us for dinner. Renee, who has experienced profound pain in her life, had met this other woman the day before, when she found her distraught outside the local McDonald’s. Renee approached this stranger, told her she looked like she needed a hug, and then hugged her and listed to her painful story. She then followed up with her
To Trust and be trusted. These are good things. Recently, I was feeling encouraged and thankful for the level of trust that we have established with our guests at Next Door. In particular, the subject of trust came to me as I was thinking about Chris*, the coming winter and Chris’ home – a tent in the woods on the outskirts of Aldershot. As I was thinking about him I wondered, how would I know
New habits are difficult to form. Things can start out well but it’s tough to keep it up. Thus, when I publicly committed myself to weekly prayer walking in the Next Door neighbourhood I knew that I was in for a battle. I am two weeks into my new commitment and things are going well, but come September my schedule will fill up and, come winter and shorter days, motivation will wane to make it
What do Laundromats and Community Gardens have in common? Not much I suppose, except they both came through my inbox on a recent Tuesday afternoon as I waited for my daughter to get off work at the Aldershot Library. Earlier that Tuesday I had been having conversations about Next Door. If you haven’t been, Next Door is the ForestView ministry centre. Specifically, it’s a funky little storefront in Aldershot where good things are happening. One
