In September 2019, St. James Assiniboia CWL was offered the opportunity to help the homeless in Winnipeg. End Homelessness Winnipeg, an organization that coordinates all the efforts of homelessness in Winnipeg, was hosting a one-day service event called Gizhe Was Ti-Sii-Win Expo. Service providers across different sectors come together to deliver essential, dignity-enhancing services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The event was originally planned for June 24, 2020. St. James Assiniboia CWL was asked to provide the welcome packages - 1,000 for adults and 100 for children. When the request was made, the executive enthusiastically replied, “Yes, we can do this!” It was decided to make this our 2019 Centenary project - celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Catholic Women’s League organization.
It was important to inform members and other parishioners about the work of End Homelessness Winnipeg and our upcoming initiative therefore a presentation was arranged. It was essential that the project be environmentally friendly so it was decided to sew cloth bags to contain the welcome package items rather than using plastic.
We asked members and parishioners to donate fabric. Kits containing templates, cut material and instructions were distributed. Our volunteers accomplished the amazing feat of sewing 1,100 cloth bags.
Our next challenge was obtaining items for the Welcome Bags. St. James Assiniboia CWL is comprised of four parishes. Each parish undertook to collect 1,000 of one specific item: St. Charles collected new reusable water bottles, St. John XX111 collected socks, St. Paul the Apostle and St. Ann collected hairbrushes and combs. There was a substantial financial donation from the St. Charles Ladies’ Association and a generous contribution of reusable water bottles from the Manitoba Metis Federation.
In March 2020, Covid-19 brought everything to a halt, and over the following few years, items were stowed away. Finally, the event was rescheduled for June 24, 2022, at Siloam Mission in Winnipeg.
At the general meetings in April and May, CWL members filled 550 bags (totalling 1,1000 bags). Each tote bag contained a reusable water bottle, a pair of socks, a brush or comb, a granola bar, miscelaneous toiletries, and a card with greetings from the CWL. End Homelessness provided two bus tickets and passes to city recreational facilities. The children’s bags contained coloring book, crayons, small toys, socks, reusable water bottles, granola bars, fruit snacks and a city recreational pass. The monetary value of each adult bag was $30.00 and the child’s bag was $5.00. When calculating the value of the 1,100 bags, it totaled an astounding $30,500.00.
It took four vehicles to transport the Welcome Bags to the event location. Catholic Women’s League members volunteered as the welcoming committee and distributed the Welcome Bags.
The event’s name, Gizhe Was Ti-Sii-Win, aptly means “working with love, kindness, and generosity for others” in Anishinaabemowin. This was an opportunity for CWL members, as well as other parishioners, to be involved in many capacities. The project was done in the true spirit of the event - kindness, generosity and love for our less fortunate brothers and sisters.