Meet Sister Carole Anne Guay, CSJ Hamilton
“I love being a Sister of St. Joseph and I love what
I do.”
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Sister Carole Anne Guay
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When Sister Carole Anne retired from teaching after 35 years,
she wondered what she might do next. The youthful looking
Sister had always had a concern for the poor. So when Sister
Agnes pointed out that the poor needed to be fed, she knew
what she had to do.
Out of the Cold
She and a friend, Gloria Colizza, visited Sister Anne Anderson
who has been working with the Out of the Cold program in Toronto
and spent a night at St. Pat’s with her. They talked
with Sister Susan Moran who began the program in that city.
Then they came back to Hamilton and in December, 1997, initiated
the program in Hamilton.
Service to Guests
Out of the Cold offers the homeless a hot meal, a bed for
the night if they need it, and most importantly, some dignity
in the process. Sister Carole Anne refers to those who come
as guests, and that ethos is carried throughout the program.
Guests don’t line up, but sit at tables and are served
a nutritious supper by volunteers. Indeed, this may be their
only nutritious meal in the week. It starts with a bowl of
hearty, vegetable-laden soup to warm them up. Later, there’s
a full dinner of meat, vegetables and salad, followed by dessert.
Many guests use this as an opportunity to talk and socialize;
others may just read the magazines available. Afterwards,
they may play cards or checkers or chess. And they tell the
volunteers they like to come here because they’re so
friendly.
“We treat them with dignity and they treat us with respect,”
says Sister Carole Anne. “It goes both ways. There’s
always a please and thank you. And because they’re in
a church, they treat the place they are in with respect.”
James Street Baptist Church was its first home and remains
home to Out of the Cold on Mondays and Tuesdays. But other
churches have joined the fold: Centenary United Church is
open on Tuesday and St. Lawrence Catholic Church is open on
Wednesday nights. Guests are welcome to Central Presbyterian
Church on Thursdays and because of the increasing numbers
parishioners at Church of the Ascension Anglican welcome guests
on Mondays and Saturdays.
While it’s usually the parishioners who do the volunteer
work required, at James St. Baptist Church on Tuesdays, the
congregation of Beth Jacob Synagogue with help from Temple
Anshe Sholom provide the labour. And once a month, the Ismaili
Community provides a break for volunteers at Central Presbyterian
by taking over the work for the night. “This is truly
an ecumenical effort,” beams Sister Carole Anne. “People
are good. You ask them and they come through every time.”
Service by Community
She lists the dozens of community businesses and individuals
who have helped their efforts, providing free or heavily discounted
food, mattresses for the guests, cleaning services, even parking
for volunteers in the downtown area. Even school children
have become involved. One year primary students at St. Timothy’s
Elementary School wrapped toilet articles in facecloths and
tied it with a ribbon to give out to guests at Christmas.
Toonie Tuesdays at school have netted enough money to purchase
60 more thermal blankets.
Service to God
“When I first started the program I remember coming
into the chapel to pray and saying to God, ‘you must
really love the poor Lord, because everything we need is just
falling into my hands’,” she laughs.
Many of the homeless are on the streets because they have
lost jobs, cleared out of closing mental institutions with
about a third of the guests being women some with children.
Most have lost hope and all seem to have fallen through the
cracks and can’t get out. Last year the program fed 11,704
guests and provided beds for 1,876 overnight. “Most have
many strikes against them,” explains Sister Carole Anne.
“They have no skills; they have little hope. Most aren’t
healthy, and they don’t know how to look after themselves.”
But for one night of the week, from November through March,
they can find a hot meal, a warm place to sleep and the companionship
of others. Sister Carole Anne has dreams too, of providing
real housing for these people in a supportive setting which
would enable them to learn life skills and become self-sufficient.
But first she has to find churches to expand the program to
seven nights a week from the current five, and a volunteer
to take over the program at St. Lawrence, which she is currently
coordinating herself. It’s a busy life for the Sister
who first joined the community 48 years ago.
“I love being a Sister of St. Joseph and I love what
I do,” she asserts. “Our charism is unity and reconciliation
and I think I’m bringing that to the volunteers and in
some small way to our guests.” And in this process we
are doing something beautiful for others, and for ourselves
and for God.
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