On a recent trip to Montreal, Bishop Gérald Caussé, Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, met with community organizations and spoke to local Church members. His visit emphasized the Church’s work to support services for vulnerable populations worldwide and encourage members to volunteer locally to help those in need.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endeavour to follow the Saviour’s admonition to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked and visit the sick and those in prison (see Matthew 25:35–36). Millions of people globally have benefited from temporal and spiritual assistance through the Church’s humanitarian and welfare donations.
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Making a Difference
During his visit to Montreal on Saturday, November 2, 2024, Bishop Caussé visited the Old Brewery Mission (OBM) and the Welcome Hall Mission (WHM). Both organizations recently received Church donations for local humanitarian projects.
WHM, established in 1892 to help Montrealers in need, provides programs and resources to support people experiencing homelessness, families living in precarity, young and single mothers, at-risk youth and the elderly. Samuel Watts, CEO and executive director at WHM, said of his work at the Mission: “It’s challenging to work with people who are struggling, but people who are struggling matter. It’s a privilege to help.”
Steve Harvey, Eastern Canada welfare and self-reliance manager, described the purpose of the Church’s donation to WHM: “The funds will assist with the construction of a new kitchen, which will provide up to 5,000 meals a day for those in need, up from 1,200 meals a day currently. This will allow Welcome Hall Mission to meet the needs of its clientele as well as assist other organizations whose kitchens are already at capacity. The kitchen will also be used for culinary training to assist those needing to obtain employment.”
Bishop Caussé’s visit to OBM, Canada’s oldest and largest homeless shelter, included a tour of the Webster Pavilion, a dorm-based shelter that was recently transformed using a donation from the Church. Nine open-plan dormitories were converted into semi-private rooms, or chambrettes. This provides residents with safer, healthier surroundings and increased privacy and dignity.
James Hughes, OBM president and CEO, said about the project: “This is about dignity. People deserve a chance. We are here to make lives better.”
During a press conference to inaugurate the chambrettes on November 1, 2024, Hughes noted that the project is “good news for the residents of the Webster Pavilion and the homeless community in general. We are paving the way for more modern homelessness services suited to current realities.”
Community Engagement
Bishop Caussé said of his visits to the OBM and WHM: “Those visits were a wonderful opportunity for me to be on the ground to see and experience the impact and results of our donations to these organizations. We are impressed with the quality of the people who are running these organizations and the vision they have to help people who have no place to live or are in need of comfort or food. For us, that is a way to implement our vision of being disciples of Jesus Christ, in following His admonition to help people in need.”
Bishop Caussé stressed the importance of Latter-day Saints being engaged in their communities: “In both cases, I was impressed to see that those projects were initiated by [local] members of the Church who were volunteering with these organizations. They were going there because they wanted to help others. They developed relationships and identified needs, then talked to Church leaders about it.”
Bishop Caussé emphasized that it is good when projects combine funds donated by Church members worldwide with gifts of time and help from local members.
Discipleship
On Sunday, November 3, 2024, Montreal Latter-day Saints gathered to hear Bishop Caussé speak at a multi-stake meeting in Longueuil, Quebec. The meeting was broadcast to several other locations across Quebec.
Bishop Caussé spoke about the importance of being a disciple of Jesus Christ and suggested several ways to increase discipleship. He also described how the Church follows Christ’s example in how it uses funds to bless people’s lives locally and around the world. “We are happy to report so members can know what their donations are used for,” he said.
Elder Dominic R. Sénéchal, Quebec Area Seventy, spoke of local Church projects that are blessing lives. “It is a privilege to associate with humanitarian organizations that have the same desire that we do, to help those in need,” he said. “We can serve in the community together, no matter our culture, religion or beliefs.”
Elder Sénéchal emphasized the value of collaborating with community organizations to provide support to the most vulnerable among us: “When we combine our efforts, we can create a society where everyone has safe, healthy and caring places to live and work.”