News from Visitation Province (Canada)
STIR
Have you noticed these STIR announcements on Facebook and other social media? In July 2020, Sr. Sheila Sullivan, Arleen D Souza (a young adult whom we met at Theology on Tap) and Sr. Josephine Badali began to gather bi-weekly with young adults via Zoom for an hour of Lectio Divina prayer. The prayer is simple and the sharing is profound. The group varies. We are generally around 12 in the group: young women and men and three of us “older” women. There is a woman from Argentina who joins us regularly, as others from Prince Edward Island, Montreal and Toronto. We now meet every three (3) weeks. Our next gathering will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 26. Perhaps you know a young adult who would be interested in joining us. Just send us their name and email address and we will send the Zoom link close to the date of the prayer. Also, if you see the ad on the social network, please share it. This will allow us to reach a greater audience. Thanks for your prayerful support. Sheila Sullivan and Josephine Badali
Announcement
Last week, the federal government announced the National Housing Council and launched the process to select the National Housing Advocate. This Council will play an important role in accountability and oversight of the federal government’s housing policy, recommend improvements to the National Housing Strategy, advance the progressive realization of the right to housing and, most importantly, provide a venue for people living in housing need and homelessness to have a voice in the policy that affects them.
Recovery for All, the National Right to Housing Network and many other partners have been pushing for the appointment of the Council. We are glad that the government has made this announcement but there are some important gaps on the Council that must be addressed. The council features a highly qualified group of experts but to be a venue for people living in housing need and homelessness to have a voice in the policy that affects them, people with lived experience of homelessness must be on the Council.
Ensuring that those with lived experience are at the decision-making tables is something that our Recovery for All campaign has taken very seriously. This includes partnering with the Canadian Lived Experience Leadership Network (CLELN) to launch a campaign last week to push federal decision-makers to ensure lived experience voices are at the table to make decisions on the future of Canadian housing and homelessness policy.
The Council is an important vehicle to improve federal housing policy, address Canada’s lethal housing crisis, and end homelessness. It’s vital people with lived experience of homelessness are at the table.
Thank you for your support! Recovery for All Campaign Team https://www.recoveryforall.ca/
Anne T. Gillis, CND
CNWE (Catholic Network for Women’s Equality) Virtual meeting
Women from New Brunswick (Saint John, Saint Andrews, Fredericton, Woodstock), Truro, NS, and Calgary, AB met in a virtual gathering. We rejoiced, seeing each other’s happy faces, without masks! We sang, prayed, shared news, welcomed a new member, discussed some business issues and took an in-depth look at a couple of questions proposed: What is keeping you grounded, connected, rooted in these pandemic times when so much has changed? What gives you courage? What stirrings of the Spirit are you experiencing?
We appreciate access to technology and the staying power of dedicated women!
Eleanor McCloskey, CND