Wayne Fraser introduced our speaker, Kristi Blakeway, Principal of Laity School in Maple Ridge. Along with Kristi came Maya, a grade 8 student who has been involved with the Beyond HELLO project since she was in elementary school.
Kristi, while she was a high school teacher, started a project that wasn’t meant to become a long-term thing. Some students wanted to help out in the community, particularly in the downtown eastside. Their initial thought was to provide some service, clothing, food, or the like. After looking into it further and realizing how many groups were already providing such services, they cancelled the project. The students were incredibly disappointed, so they looked into alternatives and decided to reach out to people who were homeless.
Irvin was the 1st man whom they met. He is homeless and was staying in a seasonal shelter in Coquitlam. Living in his family home as a child, his house went up in flames. Irvin rescued one of his sisters but was unable to reach his other two other sisters who died in the fire. For Irvin, he was very much stuck where he experienced the unbelievable trauma in his youth. This conversation started to change how the students think. Irvin showed them that when you looked a little deeper, there were personal stories that led people to where they are today.
The next step in the project was to go to Vancouver’s Eastside. They brought with them blank Xmas cards. They offered to help people send them to someone they care about.
One person who took them up on their offer was Sandra. She wanted to write to her daughter in Alberta. The students started to research, looking for her daughter. It involved lots of calls to anyone with the same last name. Eventually they did find her and found out that she’d actually been in Vancouver looking for her Mom. The students were inspired to bring the family together, they fundraised and were able to bring daughter to mom.
For the last 13 years elementary students make cards for Xmas and Mother’s Day. High school students bring them to the downtown eastside. They’ve made over 800 connections so far.
Students want to continue to be involved even when they move into post secondary.
Maya, who accompanied Kristi to Rotary, started working with the project by making cards, then progressed in high school to taking people out for lunch and listening to their stories.
The interactions between the students and those on the eastside are very emotional lessons in compassion. A chance to connect on a very human intimate level. The Beyond HELLO project creates a more in-depth connection by taking one person to lunch per month.
Another story: Cindy was a down and out lady they encountered. They gave her water and then treated to lunch. She was deep into her addiction and was in a rough place. Part of her tory was that as a teenager gave up a daughter for adoption. Her daughter’s name was Paige she remembered her birthdate. With only these two pieces of information the sleuthing began. Through social media, they found her but she wasn’t active. Reaching out to one of her on-line friends it turned out luckily that this person knew a former student of Kristi’s. The connection was made.
Paige related that she herself had hit hard times, struggling with addiction, and only through reading Gabor Mate’s book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and in particular the section about living with pregnancy through addiction, it helped her to recover.
When Cindy was told about this she knew of the book, in fact the section referenced was about her under the pseudonym of Celia. Her daughter, Paige, had read her mother’s story! Cincy didn’t want to meet her daughter in the state she was in and asked to be brought to the hospital. She was determined to become clean before reuniting with her daughter. She did it and met up with Paige. Since then, through the media coverage, another family reached our and has facilitated Cindy being reunited, so far only virtually, with the daughter she had while on the eastside. She remains clean and is doing her best to improve her life. A no less than miraculous story all because of Beyond HELLO.
It is eye opening – everyone really does have a story not apparent by simply looking at them. The lives of both the individuals on the eastside and the students involved with Beyond HELLO have been forevermore altered.
The book, Beyond HELLO: Rekindling the Human Spirit One Conversation at a Time, is available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Indigo.ca, Langley and Coquitlam Indigo, Black Bond Books in Maple Ridge, and Westgate Flowers in Maple Ridge. The proceeds from each book sold will buy a meal for someone living on the streets through A Better Life Foundation.
Kristi can be reached at kblakeway@beyondhello.org to answer questions or to arrange delivery of a larger order locally within the lower mainland.
For decades, June Goldsmith has charmed audiences with her knowledgeable and enthusiastic approach to classical music. Her lifelong commitment has led to a rich and varied career as a concert presenter, entrepreneur, music educator and pianist, and now as a radio broadcaster and lecturer. Her warm style and personality has brought classical music to life for audiences in Vancouver, and indeed, across the country.
