Here at EHM, we are more than just giving everyone the basic needs. We also offer safe spaces to learn about important events affecting the community, such as upcoming elections. Everyone deserves to know their rights and to have a voice in important matters, and during these past Municipal elections, with the help from some of our participant volunteers, we worked to ensure our clients were aware of these rights. The voting process can be difficult to follow, especially if you have limited ways of getting information on the different candidates and their platforms, so our Drop In team ensured that they were available to answer any questions and make sure everyone was aware of their options. The drop in also handed out surveys to our clients, giving them the opportunity to voice their biggest concerns that they wanted the elected Mayor and councilors to take action on, showing them that their opinion is important and counted in this election.
We spoke with two of our participant volunteers, Sandy and Val, to hear about their involvement surrounding the activities around the Toronto Municipal Election and why they wanted to be involved. Sandy, who has been a client at EHM for 19 years, spoke on how she wanted to make sure there was more awareness surrounding individual rights and responsibilities and who is actually fighting for these rights. She wanted to be “better equipped to know the [candidates]” and having this information available in the Drop In made that possible. Volunteering was a great experience for Sandy and gave her the opportunity to learn more about the different positions and responsibilities within the government in general and she hoped to get more people involved in the election. It also gave her an opportunity to socialize again, interact with other people after being isolated throughout the pandemic.
For Val, he wanted to help provide information to people who had difficulties understanding who the candidates were and to ensure they were able to get the answers they needed. This included translating the survey for someone who was interested in filling it out but was unable to understand it. He helped to ensure a language barrier wasn’t going to stop this individual from voicing his opinions. He also wanted to give back and help the organization that has helped him, “[EHM] has given me things that I needed…I wanted to give back”. The most common issues that Sandy and Val heard primarily surrounded the overwhelming need for housing, benefits and basic human needs. By volunteering to help during the election, they were able to help give their peers the opportunity to voice these opinions.
While we were talking, Sandy and Val also spoke on how coming to EHM has helped them over the years. Sandy stated how “if it wasn’t for evangel hall mission, I wouldn’t be here today.” She has appreciated the various programs that EHM provides and the friendly staff that work here, “you come here and they make you feel at peace.” For Val, coming to EHM has helped with “getting [his] feet back on the ground… providing the needs.” They know that if they ever need help, Evangel Hall Mission is here for them.