Happy Mardi Gras from Hamilton!

Happy Mardi Gras from Hamilton!

Today was quite a busy day for us here at L'Arche! This morning, we made the hour and a half long drive into Toronto to visit the Sole Express program run through L'Arche Toronto! This program helps core members from L'Arche, as well as other people with disabilities but who have different living situations, get in touch with and learn about the arts. The group we worked with today was a performance group. They work on all sorts of projects throughout the year based on the year's theme, and are even preforming at the Fringe Fest coming up in Toronto! During our time with sole express, we participated in the group's improv exercises, ate lunch with them, and joined in some other activities. We then traveled back to Hamilton to set up for the L'Arche community Mardi Gras party and dinner. We were very excited, we knew that all of the core members had been anxiously looking forward to this Mardi Gras party.
As each core member arrived, they put on the masks they had made on Tuesday and their beads. Before we arrived, some of the assistants had already made the pancake dinner. Once it hit 5:30pm it was time to eat. Each student served either pancakes or sausages to the core members. After everyone was served we were able to sit down and eat with the core members. We love building on the connections we have created and spending time with the core members.
We are excited to see what tomorrow has in store for us!!

A Birthday Celebration

Hello everyone!

This beautiful Monday started with volunteering with a community program in Hamilton called the Welcome Inn Community Center and New Horizons. The Welcome Inn is a community outreach program that serves the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods, it creates a diverse community that is welcoming to anyone. Half of us served at the Welcome Inn consisting of setting up the food bank, cleaning up outside, and baking. The baked goods will go to the after school program and food bank participants. The other half of the group went to New Horizons, the community's thrift store. We tagged clothing and cleaned around the store. From interacting with the staff and volunteers, we could all sense a true sense of teamwork and family.

For dinner we went to our individual L'Arche homes where we were able to dive deeper into the relationship with the core members and assistants. After only the second day there we can all sense that the level of comfort has increased with the core members and students.
It is very special that this community invites us into their homes and lets us experience their everyday life. Today it was one of the core member's birthdays, after dinner there is a tradition where each core member goes around the table and says something meaningful about the birthday core member. Listening to each little story or loving memory each core member expressed was so impactful. This led to a realization that L'Arche is not just a community, it is a family. The birthday core member was moved by each story and began to cry; it was quite a beautiful  tradition that we were able to be a part of.

There was a big celebration for the birthday core member. All core members came to one L'Arche home for cake. We were able to interact with all of the core members in a home setting. It was easy to see that the birthday core member was so happy that all her L'Arche family was there to celebrate with her, and being in this experience really made us feel like we were part of the family. The love was overflowing and the sense of community was great!

We are excited for the rest of the week. Tomorrow we spend the day in Toronto and then have a community dinner for Mardi Gras!!

Finding Love in Chaos

Chaos is often something most people are afraid of. However, this trip, even with it only being the second day, has taught us to embrace chaos.Today we started off by eating breakfast as a group. Some of us experienced almond milk for the first time because we didn't know that regular milk does in fact come in a bag (dang Canadians). Then we split off and went to church, and eventually reunited to find out we had no clue what we were doing. This is where the chaos came in. Our group leaders worked extra hard to figure out what we were all doing for the day and ended up doing an awesome job. We were all sent to different L'Arche houses to experience the unique love that each home had to offer. Later we spent time with many core members making masks in preparation for Mardi Gras. During this time we enjoyed the core members company and tried Ketchup Chips. We got a taste of the beautiful city by exploring the edgy and modern Locke Street and going to the highest elevation of the city and looking out across Ontario. We had dinner with the L'Arche homes again and then came back to the Hamilton home to spend some more time in our home base.

One of the most impactful moments of the day was when a couple of us witnessed an incredibly touching moment between one of the core members and assistants. It was the end of the day, and most of us were lounging around in the living room while others were getting ready for bed or working on other things. The core member sitting on the couch near us was obviously upset for some reason- whether it was from not wanting to take some medicine, or being slightly off her routine, or something else entirely, she was clearly angry and grumpy. The assistants had been on and off trying to make her feel better, with no success, but when she started to raise her voice, one of the assistants went over to see what was the matter, and hopefully put it to rest. He sat down, put his arm behind her on the couch, and looked her in the eye, asking what was wrong. She made a couple disgruntled sounds and looked away, unwilling to reconcile, before he finally asked her again, "what's wrong?" They locked eyes, and a look of tired sorrow and frustration came over the core member's face. Without another sound, she lowered her head to rest on the assistant's chest, and they both closed their eyes for just a brief moment.

The action, so simple, was loaded with love, and was apparent with the joy their reconciliation obviously restored. After a moment, the core member tugged on the assistant's hood, and with a little laugh, he tapped her on the nose (which was obviously something they did to communicate). She returned the gesture, and before we knew it they were laughing and happy again. The assistant walked away with a smile, and the core member continued laughing for another five minutes or so, the pain of the previous hour entirely forgotten. The joy that this little exchange brought to both the core member and assistant was profound, and not something that could be communicated in any number of words. It was the joy of unconditional love, captured in a small moment in time, that we were blessed and honored to witness. It was certainly a moment that one walks away from changed- perhaps not in a way one can put into words, but a different person nonetheless.

Today helped us to realize that some of the most inspirational and touching moments can come from turbulent times. Whether it be an unknown itinerary that leads to a delicious meal shared with friends or a frustrated core member showing what unconditional love really is, never be afraid to embrace the chaos.

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Where are you going? Canada!

Hello everyone!


Our group left Gannon this morning for Hamilton and built community along the way by stopping at a fun coffee shop and singing along to music together. As part of our journey, we stopped to see Niagara Falls and explore the area. We walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada and experienced the intense winds and beautiful views. We thought the powerfulness of the water was humbling and noticed the diversity of people there. We had an interesting experience with the border police that made for an uncomfortable interaction, but also gave us a better understanding of what people crossing the border experience. We were greeted in Hamilton by the members of the Sherman home and enjoyed sharing Indian for dinner, watching a movie, and being present with everyone. We are looking forward to what tomorrow will bring!