Crowded table

Loving Spoonful (not to be confused with the 1960s band Lovin’ Spoonful) has long been one of my favourite not-for-profit organizations. It was founded in 2008 as a collaboration among social justice organizations in the Kingston area and initially housed in a small office under a staircase at a community arena. The mandate at that time was to reclaim and distribute surplus perishable food. This included picking up produce from grocery stores, collecting unsold vegetables and fruit at the farmers’ market and accepting donations of leftover food from events and distributing it to shelters and other locations where food was needed. Everything was done by volunteers.

Over the next 16 years, Loving Spoonful’s programming has expanded considerably.  It no longer relies entirely on volunteers, although they remain an important part of its team, and it is no longer housed in a tiny beneath-the-stairs office. Its GROW project has operated in more than 20 elementary schools, it has run a number of community kitchen programs, a garden network, pay-what-you-can harvest markets and, working with local farmers, a gleaning program as well as a community training farm.

Last year, the community harvest markets were used by 1,550 people, $70,000 worth of produce from the community garden network and the training farm were distributed through local food stands, the community kitchen held more than 200 workshops, and $100,000 worth of food was collected and distributed though the gleaning program.

Shocking news

And yet, last week, the Board of Directors of Loving Spoonful issued the following statement:

“The current economic landscape has presented funding challenges for many charities across Canada, including Loving Spoonful. After a great deal of careful consideration, the board of Loving Spoonful has come to the difficult decision to cease operations.”

While the Board has said that negotiations are underway with another community organization “to continue the wonderful legacy of Loving Spoonful,” both those who support the organization as donors and/or volunteers and those who benefit from its programming are reeling.

Unhousing the unhoused

On September 12th, three people connected to the main encampment for unhoused folks were attacked by a man who was known to all of them. Two of those people were killed and one sustained life-threatening injuries. Kingston’s mayor, Bryan Patterson, was very quick to use this tragedy as an opportunity to blame both the residents of the encampment and community activists who supported the encampment for what had happened and to call for the immediate closure of the encampment and the nearby services.

The encampment was closed by the police while they conducted their criminal investigation, forcing those who lived there to leave with no opportunity to gather up their belongings and with nowhere to go. All the associated services were also closed.

However, the police investigation ended after only a few days, yet the space remains closed. Ostensibly, this is to allow the city to do a major clean-up of the grounds and to conduct “operational reviews” of the various services. It has now been more than a month, and people who used to live in the encampment are still fending for themselves.

The Integrated Care Hub (ICH) provided a drop-in space, rest zones, meals, showers, harm reduction supplies and more. Other services ran out of that space. Kingston Community Health Centres ran consumption and treatment services which, in addition to providing safe injection space, also connected users with a wide range of other treatment options in the community through “warm handoffs.” Home Base Housing, Trellis HIV and Community Care and community-based addiction and mental health services offered programming there.

The informal co-location of the ICH and encampment made it easier for people to access overdose emergency help, which has saved lives. But it did much more than that. A sense of community developed; those who lived and spent time there reported feeling safer. It was easier for people to connect with a wide range of services and supports without having to navigate formal infrastructures. Peer support was key – many of the volunteers and some of the staff of these various services had been themselves unhoused and/or drug users.

Now what?

Over the past week, many of us – including me — have enjoyed harvest feasts of one kind or another, often at tables filled with families and friends. As I digested my turkey, stuffing, and the rest of the trimmings, I found myself thinking about the families that may have been counting on one of Loving Spoonful’s programs to help with their harvest meal and the individuals who were spending another week kept out of their home, however humble.

The demise – even if temporary – of Loving Spoonful and the arbitrary closing of the encampment and the ICH have made already vulnerable people even more vulnerable. Both could have been prevented if the political will to support these services had existed. Instead, at least in the mind of the mayor, the people who need these supports are somehow to blame for their situations and less deserving than the rest of us of compassion and support. That’s just not acceptable.

Note: As I prepared to post this blog, the Integrated Care Hub announced that Kingston Community Health Centres will be re-opening their Consumption and Treatment Services at the ICH later this week. Fencing will remain in place around the facility “to manage the flow of participants entering CTS,” and other services remain closed.

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