Highlands United Church, 3255 Edgemont Blvd. North Vancouver, BC V7R 2P1

604-980-6071 churchoffice@highlandsunited.org

www.highlandsunited.org Rev. Will Sparks, Lead Minister

HIGHLIGHTS

June 14 2020

Between: Standing on the brink of the unknown “We stand on the brink of the unknown, which is to say that things are

normal, and good, and permissive of joy!”

- Daniel Berigan

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the

questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a

very foreign tongue.” - Letters to a Young Poet (public library) by Rainer Maria Rilke

Silver Linings—True Stories

During the COVID 19 Pandemic

Shelter to Home is a volunteer organization

that provides furniture and household goods,

free of charge, to people in need, on

Vancouver's North Shore. Over 12 years

we've assisted 1700 people as they

established new homes after a difficult period

in their lives. We work in cooperation with

North Shore agencies which assist people in

need, including Lookout Homeless Shelter,

Women's North Shore Crisis Center and its

residence, Sage House, Hollyburn Seniors'

and Family Services, Vancouver Coastal,

Health, Canadian Mental Health Association,

and others.

COVID 19 brought our program to a halt.

Social distancing meant that we could not go

into homes of donors to assess the furniture

they had to offer. It also meant that we could

not invite clients into our small storage facility

to choose what they needed. Since March 14,

2020, we have received no donations of gently

used furniture, electrical appliances. dishes,

pots and pans etc from the community.

Then a wonderful thing happened. Shelter to

Home is a member of the Furniture Bank

Network (FBN), a network of furniture banks

across Canada. Dan Kershaw, chair of FNB

and Annalee Sawiak, CEO of Furniture Link,

which facilitates connections between

business, government and non-profit

organizations, to power the Circular Economy

for social good, were approached by IKEA to

assist them to distribute donated goods, on a

national basis in response to the COVID 19

crisis. Right in the middle of this pandemic

their work came to fruition. IKEA donated

$2,000,000 worth of furniture and household

goods to Furniture Banks across the country,

and Shelter to Home was one of two BC

Furniture Banks to be included in this donation.

Shelter to Home received $25,000 worth of

couches, beds, dining tables and chairs, bed

linens, dishes, cutlery, pots and pans and

more. With our church closed due to COVID

19, our Shelter to Home team received this

incredible donation on May 26th and the

Church gym became a workshop. A team of 8

people began building couches, beds and

tables. A team of 3 assembled household

goods, requested by clients, into big IKEA bins.

And then clients and moving companies

started arriving to take away the contents of

our clients' new homes. We have already

been able to fill the requests of 9 households!!

The Shelter to Home team is filled with

gratitude for this unique donation from IKEA,

and to the people from IKEA, Furniture Bank

Network and Furniture Link, who made this all

happen. We are also in deep appreciation for

our team of volunteers, who put in countless

hours assembling furniture, working with

clients, and organizing the project in a safe

way.

Sincerely,

Ruth Kershaw for the Shelter to Home Team

A Work in Progress

(Circle of Care Housing)

At the end of May an Outreach Worker contacted

Shelter to Home. She was seeking to completely

furnish a 5 bedroom home. The Circle of Care

Housing is a joint project of Vancouver Coastal

Health, Canadian Mental Health Association and

the Alliance Church in North Vancouver. So now,

Highlands United Church, through Shelter to

Home, will join this project. Using both our IKEA

donation and second hand furniture sourced from

the community, this home will be ready to receive

5 formerly homeless men on June 15. The men,

all of whom live with mental illness, have been

chosen for this home. It is believed by the social

workers that, once they have stable housing, they

will be able to move on to productive, independent

lives. After taking stock of what we needed, I

realized that the main item we were missing was a

dining room table and chairs for 6 to 8 people. I

asked myself how we could find such a table

during this time when our operations are closed. I

didn't have to ponder long. The phone rang and

the familiar voice of one of the ministers at

Highlands United Church said, "Can Shelter to

Home use a big dining table and 6 chairs. One

problem, we have to get it out of the house

tomorrow, because the new owners are moving in

soon". And so, we met the CMHA social worker

at this house on the North Shore, and the first

piece of furniture was put in place. For me, this is

more than coincidence that everything we need is

falling into place, and I am filled with gratitude.

What a privilege it has been for me to see the

community come together to help all these

people, and some others as well, in an

intensive 12 day period, in the midst of the

COVID 19 crisis. We send our gratitude to

IKEA, the Furniture Bank Network and

Furniture Link for this incredible opportunity to

help level the playing field for vulnerable

people from our community.....a single Mom,

Seniors, a First Nations couple, a person with

disabilities, immigrants, a refugee, people living

with mental illness and a person from the

LGBTQ+ community. Acts of compassion, at a

critical moment, can change the course of a

person's life.

Sincerely,

Ruth Kershaw

For the Shelter to Home Team

A couple of items are still needed for this

project—if you are able to donated the

following, please let us know:

5 bedside tables

7 table lamps

2 living room end tables

and a Bar-B-Q

Many Thanks!

How has this Pandemic

affected you?

What have we learned from this

experience, what has changed in

us that will not go back, but

move forward into a new way

of being?

We invite you to share your stories,

poems, artwork, handicraft, photography,

blog or whatever creative thing you do to

express yourself. It doesn’t need to be

perfect, it just needs to come from inside

of you.

Many of us write in our journals, we draw

in our sketch books, we doodle on scraps

of paper and write song lyrics, we create

art projects and plant flowers—these are

all expressions of our souls, it’s the way

we communicate what’s in our hearts

This Pandemic has touched all of us in

many different ways, the way we respond

to situations and people, how we are

adjusting to the new normal, what we’ve

had to give up and what gifts we’ve

received.

Your stories, your poems, your drawings,

paintings, photos are all welcome. We now

have 3 submissions and hoping for more.

It is our hope that we can share (with your

permission) your creations on our website

starting next week!

Pandemic: Poems, Prose and Ponderings…

An Anthology of the Moment

Send your submission to Anna-Lisa Jones at

jonesalj62@gmail.com or call 604-374-0639.

Happy Creating!

This is an extraordinary year; and is, for Highlands, the

“Year of Living Courageously” - be bold with us and share how this

Pandemic has touched your lives...

Congratulations to all our Highlands

& St. Andrew’s Wesley Grads!

Lianna Rushworth who is graduating from UBC with

a Bachelor in Kinesiology

Michelle Lovely, graduating with a Masters of

Science of Nursing from UBC

Kendrick Rutherford graduating from GLC

Fritz Rehmus graduating from Point Gray Mini School

Emily Anderson graduating from Handsworth Secondary

Chiara DeMarni graduating from Eric Hamber Secondary

Ella Winham graduating from Van Tech Secondary

Cat Kinghorn graduating from TLA High school

Carl Steffens, graduating with Bachelor of Education from UBC,

Gabriela Dodge Graduating from Van Tech

Ken Lawrence graduating from Kitsilano High school

Colleen Chambers graduating from UBC with a degree in Health and Society

Graham Whyte graduating from UBC with Electrical Engineering degree

Madison Blackman graduating from Howe Sound Secondary

Andria Irwin graduating from Vancouver School of theology with a Masters of Divinity

HUC Book Circle

This open-to-all circle is continuing over the summer this year since most of us are sheltering at

home. Our meeting place, like most summer activities, is weather dependent in that we will meet

via Zoom if it is raining and in a private garden if it is not.

Therefore, in order to get the venue information, please contact Phyllis at phyl_ferg@yahoo.ca

if you have any questions and/or to indicate

if you plan to attend.

We meet on the Last Monday of the Month.

June 29th: The Children Act by Ian McEwan (2014) -

multiple copies are available at the North Van District

Libraries

July 27th: anything written by LM Montgomery (1908-39)

Online Security and Privacy

...a Highlands Video Series

It is no surprise that we have been finding ourselves online more

than ever before in these last few months. With

COVID-19 changing the ways we live outside, we have had to change the

ways we do things inside — everything is online now, from our socializing

to our shopping.

Join our online minister, Andria Irwin, in a series of conversations with

local computer engineer and Highlands monitor, Ken Brough, about how

we can best protect ourselves and our machines in this time.

Each video is about 25 minutes long and covers topics such as why we

should care about online security, the basic things we should be putting in

place to protect ourselves, common and current technological scams,

how to create the perfect password (and why!), what privacy means these

days, and basic configurations to keep our information safe.

The first four videos of this 6-part series are up already on our YouTube

channel at www.youtube.com/HighlandsUnitedChurch

A message from Highlands Local Connections Committee

Our two partners in the DTES are suffering the most since the COVID19 outbreak in March. We at

HIGHLANDS quickly got funding to FIRST UNITED & WISH in April & they were so appreciative of

that. They both have had an increased number of people using their services. Just this week, we had

another plea from WISH to say “Women in our community are facing the worst series of

compounding crises (Opioid & Covid) that we have ever seen”. Women are experiencing more

violence, more fear, and are needing more help. WISH has expanded services: extended drop-in

service to 24 hours a day, expanded daytime MAP van

hours to 18 hours a day with trained staff to support sex

workers across Vancouver, installed washroom trailers in

parking lot, introduced peer witnessing to prevent

overdosing & other related risks.

WISH serves over 9000 meals a month. They have started “The Courage Campaign” for increased

support. If you are able to help WISH in these critical times, please go on their website

“WISH DROP-IN CENTRE SOCIETY” and follow the info to DONATE directly.

In the month of JUNE your donation will be doubled by a corporate sponsor. You will help build the

resilience & courage of this community & the safety, autonomy & well-being of some of the most

vulnerable among us. If you can help, it would be so appreciated.

Thanks,

Highlands Local Connections Committee

The healing hands ministry team is offering

distance healing sessions each week. Here

are some responses that may help you

understand the potential of these sessions:

“My spirits were lifted.”

“I felt so relaxed I fell asleep. I never sleep in

the afternoon!”

“My sorrow has released and I feel joyful.”

“It was as if the cloud of my sad feelings had

been lifted and vaporized away somewhere.

I feel happier.”

“I damaged my lower back by too-strenuous

digging in the garden. My back was very stiff

and painful, especially in the mornings, and I

was having a hard time finding a comfortable

sleeping position. After a week, Sharon heard

about this and invited me to have a distance

healing session the next evening. She

instructed me that at 7:30 I should find the

most comfortable position I could in a chair or

on the bed and try to relax. Some minutes

after, I started to feel more relaxed, and half an

hour later I was almost asleep. When I got up I

was feeling much better, could sleep better that

night and was much less stiff in the morning. I

believe that healing session was the turning

point in my recovery.”

If you wish to experience this form of healing

prayer or want more information:

call Sharon Yetman 604-988-5827

Quicklink for Intro Workshop: https://www.pachamama.org/engage/drawdown

Quicklink for Getting into Action: HighlandsDrawdown2020-06.eventbrite.ca

Drawdown – Getting into Action!

Starting ONLINE June 3, 7 pm.

Learn and research and plan with others how you can

act against global warming.

Sponsored by Highlands and St Andrew’s Wesley, a 5-

part online series using Zoom. We recommend taking

the Introduction to Drawdown first, offered online

here: Pachamama.org/engage/drawdown (unless you’ve

taken it before).

Our leaders Jim, Sandi and Ross are just winding down

their first online series, sponsored by NVan City Library.

They report, "We've been delighted to discover how

interactive the classes can be, and how well we can

create community even when we’re not physically

present. These workshops lead participants deeper into

the Drawdown solutions, introduce them to what’s new in

the Drawdown Review 2020, and allow each person to

figure out the answer to the question, “What is mine to

do?” Most of all, together we become part of a

compelling movement towards a better future for the

planet.

Highlands United Church

Notice of Congregational Meeting

June 28, 11:30am via ZOOM

(Zoom invitation will be sent out closer to the date)