Burning
the Mortgage!
In August, OMRA celebrated the grand occasion of paying off the
mortgage on its first house by holding a barbeque and literally
burning the mortgage! (Well, a copy of it anyway…)
It was six years ago that OMRA's first condominium was purchased
in Ottawa South with the help of a loan from Mennonite Foundation,
amortized over twenty years. And here we are with the loan paid
off in six!
Without a doubt, we could not have accomplished this without the
support and initial investment in the project by individuals at
Ottawa Mennonite Church. It certainly also helped that OMRA applied
for and received a Supported Community Partnership Initiative
(SCPI) grant from the City of Ottawa for each of the three houses
OMRA owns in support of the affordable housing service provided
by these properties.
And then there is the grocery card program, administered by Maria
Rigby and supported by the congregations at Ottawa Mennonite Church,
Emmanuel United Church, Glebe-St.James United Church, First Baptist,
the Society of Friends Monthly Meeting (Quakers), and St. Thomas
The Apostle Church. This ongoing program is truly the everyday
financial support that allows OMRA to operate and has helped to
make this early ownership possible.
Thank you to all for your support of our grocery card program,
your gifts, your volunteer hours, and your prayers - and thanks
be to God!
An
Update on OMRA's Families ...
OMRA WELCOMES
A NEW FAMILY
On 10 July 2007, members of the support group from the Ottawa
Mennonite Church Refugee Assistance Program greeted a new family
at the Ottawa airport. They are a delightful family of a grandmother-Madeleine-and
five teenagers. Because Rec. House was overcrowded, they were
taken to the YMCA for a few days until the OMRA house was ready.
The house required a lot of work and Nikki Forfar and the Navigators,
a Christian university group, did a marvelous two-day job a making
it a lovely home for our new family. Len and Ute Gerbrandt also
helped turn the house into a home by hanging curtains and repairing
some cupboards with water damage. OMRA is very grateful for all
the volunteer hours that were put in.
The family speaks French fluently so have chosen to attend French
schools. The youngest child attends a school which is five minutes
away from the house. Madeleine herself is attending English class
nearby and has set herself a goal of learning English in three
months. Madeleine is an accomplished seamstress who has been asked
to teach sewing to French speaking woman at a local community
centre.
The support group has had a wonderful time getting to know Madeleine
and the children. A group of us had an adventure when we took
the whole family to the local swimming pool. Everyone was having
a great time until we tried to go home in the van: it would not
start. We tried to jump-start the van by pushing it down the street
with Madeleine (who is over 60) and the children running at full
tilt. Nothing worked. We had to send the family home in a cab
and then call CAA! Madeleine and her family have a great sense
of humour though and said that they were used to trying to get
run-down cars to jump start.
We are very fortunate to have this lovely family in our OMRA house.
They appreciate the house and are taking good care of it.
Notes
From Our Families...
Former OMRA Family Welcome New Daughter
On 4 October 2007, a former OMRA family welcomed their seventh
child and third daughter. She is a beautiful child and she and
her Mom are doing very well. The other children are so delighted
with the baby's arrival that all wanted their picture taken with
her first. We wish them all the best as their family expands and
as they settle into their new home.
Another
Successful Soccer Season
One of our current tenants, "Wee" Charles, age 8, enjoyed
another summer sharpening his football skills. The young men in
this household enjoy playing with the Gloucester Dragons.
WINNING ESSAY
Charles won a $500 award for an essay submitted to the Gloucester
High school last spring. This is the first paragraph:
I came to Canada from Sudan in 2004, as a permanent resident.
In the same year I enrolled myself at Gloucester High School in
order to achieve my secondary and post secondary education which
I could not afford due to financial conditions back home. Here
I met great people who had a very positive impact on my life.
They have made me feel very comfortable here in Canada. I work
part-time at Tim Horton's and go to school full time. I expect
to graduate in June of 2007. I have applied to study nursing at
Algonquin College after I finish at Gloucester.
An
Update on OMRA's Supporters ...
HELLO AND
WELCOME TO ST. THOMAS
OMRA is very pleased to welcome the congregation of St. Thomas
The Apostle Church which has chosen to join OMRA's other supporters
taking part in our Loblaws/Loeb grocery card program. Also a special
thank you to Sandra Wright, the coordinator at the church, for
her work to involve members in the food card program. At present,
about 10 people are buying grocery cards from Sandra and it would
be wonderful if more of the congregation became involved.
To participate, all that is necessary is to purchase gift cards
once each month. They come in many denominations - $10, $25, $50,
$100 and $250. The purchaser receives the full value of the card
that is bought and the store gives the OMRA 5% or 4% on the total
order. This money is critical to OMRA as it helps us to provide
subsidies and financial assistance to our tenants, and is also
used to cover expenses associated with OMRA's properties and to
pay down the mortgages. This August, OMRA was delighted to pay
off its first mortgage. Just two more to go!
We would also like to thank Janice Peron of Emmanuel United, Marg
Eisner of First Baptist, Carol Dixon of the Quakers, Maria Rigby
of Ottawa Mennonite Church and Joan Fairweather of Glebe St. James
who coordinate the OMRA food card fundraiser for their congregations.
Without your continued support, it would not be possible to operate.
Thank
You Matthew Bonsall
(We'll miss you)
Since 2002,
Matthew Bonsall has been the coordinator of the OMRA fundraising
program at Glebe-St.James United Church. Matthew has been an amazing
supporter of this fundraiser in a number of ways. First, he coordinated
the Loeb cards for the other participating churches. All we had
to do was to give our order to him (and pay him, of course) and
he would do the calculations, the banking, the purchasing and
the distribution of the cards. Secondly, he coordinated the sale
of Loblaws cards for Glebe-St.James. Thirdly, he guaranteed OMRA
$500 each month no matter what the total sales were. This was
wonderful for OMRA because it was a large sum and it never fluctuated.
Fourthly, he used the Great Glebe Garage Sale as an OMRA fundraiser.
Fifthly, he gave OMRA annual donations if he had a surplus from
the yearly fundraising projects. This meant an extra $3000 in
both 2005 and 2006. Lastly, he was always positive and enthusiastic
in his support of OMRA.
We will miss him greatly, but are very pleased to have Joan Fairweather
as the new coordinator of the fundraising at Glebe-St. James.
Welcome Joan, and thank you so much Matthew.
