Everybody Welcome Story

Immanuel Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia,

Rev. Matthew Bucher, August 2016

On the invite to the birthday party there is an image of a sign saying “Everybody Welcome”, from East Enders Against Racism. 

The sign recalls the ones printed by Immanuel Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia during the 2016 US election.   The pastor, council and congregation started printing election style lawn signs stating “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbour”, in English, Spanish and Arabic.  Variations of that sign, like in Toronto’s East End, have appeared continent-wide. 

Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba.

For decades, housing for Indigenous families was doomed to deteriorate and was designed for “planned obsolescence”.  They were made with shoddy materials by contractors hired by the Department of Indian Affairs, and were not built to withstand Canadian weather or to last more than a few years. 

But now, new modular homes are being constructed with locally-sourced natural materials.  Families who will eventually live in these homes are the ones building them.

In 2017, prototype plans and a demonstration model were completed and took the top prize at an international design competition. 

Soon people will be moving into an energy-efficient village inspired by the ancient Cree concept of “one house, many nations”.

These are the last of many stories from a wide variety of sources and a multitude of forms contributed by people upon request for my 70^th birthday.   They are posted without editing, with the attribution that was with them (these two did not have attribution with them).  I have been posting these stories regularly for over a year. If you send me others, I will post them on my Facebook page: JoFacilitator’s Stories: Ordinary People Making a Positive Difference.