WELCOME TO OUR NEW WEBSITE

Services we offer include:

• breakfast and supper, 7 days a week
• clothing for the needy
• laundry facilities
• showers and baths
• shelter
• spiritual direction
• counselling

Our services are free for all to access.

ELGIN STREET MISSION'S ANNUAL FUNDRAISER EVENT

Thank you everyone for supporting the Elgin Street Mission by attending and donating to our annual fundraiser event we had on Saturday evening Nov 12. You've  made it possible for us once again to keep our doors open overnight this winter and to continue serving those less fortunate here in greater city Sudbury and we will not forget your act of kindness and neither will the patrons.

Blessings from staff, volunteers and patrons of Elgin St Mission.

this website was donated by Image Video Services & Productions

The Mission of The Mission

We were founded in 1989 as a grass roots movement within Glad Tidings Tabernacle. Servants wished to bring hope and help to those in need in the downtown core of the City of Greater Sudbury. We have grown into our own self-governing corporation, but the mission remains the same: to provide food, shelter, counselling and comfort without judgment. 

We are passionate about this mission because we were commanded to it by Jesus Christ. We believe that we must feed the body, provide safety, and offer comfort. In doing this we can bring people to a place where they can re-enter society and in turn give back to those in need.

 My Testimony by Sharon Hanson

The last place I ever thought I'd end up is at a soup kitchen (Elgin Street Mission) for the homeless and the poor. For 22 years I worked as a journalist for CNN and BBC. While working I travelled to 12 countries, even Iraq during the gulf war. I met and married my husband in 1980, and together we had four children. One died of SIDS at nine months old. And in 1989 my husband committed suicide. Leaving me with two seven year olds and a six year old to raise alone. We also owned a 1,400 acre ranch in Alberta with 1,300 head of cattle and 22 horses. I was always an independent, hardworking single mom with a passion for oil painting and writing.

In 2004 I published my first novel, Distant Thunder, which was quickly followed by Rose Bank Cottage, and Widow's Walk. I thought I had it made. I was now a published author with a good readership, but in the beginning of 2007 the bomb dropped. I was diagnosed with cancer of the breast. The diagnosis took my breath away. Having faced many hardships in my life, I knew the only way to get through this new problem was to face it full on.

On January 16th, 2007 doctors removed both my breasts, and by June of that same year I was bald, thin, and cancer free. Feeling I had the rest of my life to enjoy, I focused on painting and put the horror of the past half year behind me. However, on May 27th, 2010, after suffering nearly two months of constant, crippling migraine headaches, I was diagnose with a cancerous brain tumor.

Once again, the air sucked out of my lungs and my heart hit the floor. Instead of being offered chemotherapy, the doctor said I had three to six months to live. I was stunned, they had just told me I was about to die. Further tests revealed tumors also in my liver, right lung, and right adrenal gland on my kidney, and the doctor said treatment might prolong my life by a month or few weeks, but due to the extensive nature of my disease, the chances of remission were nil.

Feeling hopeless and utterly lost, I contacted my daughter in British Columbia, and decide I was moving there to be with her and my grandson until I was too sick and hospice for my final days was the last choice. So, on June 26th I boarded the train, after abandoning all my worldly goods in Blind River, and headed for Abbotsford, B.C. My eldest daughter, who has never been good in crisis situations, was soon overwelmed by my cancer and prognosis, soon said she could't have me there with her, and that I'd have to get a place of my own as her and her family were moving to Chilliwack. I was again stunned. How could I have given up so much in Ontario only to have my daughter tell me she was moving and I'd be alone and dying with no family at my side?

I boarded the train again and came back to Ontario at the end of August. I'd never been more depressed in my life. Nor, had I ever felt so alone. I arrived in Sudbury on the 4th of September and moved into a tiny bachelor suit on tenth. My apartment has less than 200 square feet, is infested with mice, and when I moved in, my only worldly possessions comprised of two suitcases and my computer. And my only friend, my Medical Services dog, Cali, who has been steadily by my side for the past three years. Little did I know Cali would save my life. Having never lived in Sudbury, I had no Idea where anything was, nor did I know that  my apartment was located in the worst drug infested, prostitute ridden area of the city.

By mid September my headaches reached epic proportions and the chemo I am voluntarily taking has sapped my strenght to the point where simply getting up and getting dressed saps every ounce of my strenght. That was when I discovered the Elgin Street Mission. And thank God for that loving place of refuge. At the Mission I have found acceptance, comfort, prayer, fellowship, sustenance, and hope. Pastor Rene welcomed both me and my medical dog, and twice a day I go for hot meals and sometimes a quick prayer or chat with one of the pastors as I go through this fight for life that is my burden these days. At first I was a bit intimidated by the people who go to the Mission, but I've discovered that despite many forms of addictions or hopelessness, or homelessness or apathy, many of the clients using this place are just like me- looking for someplace to belong and be welcomed.

Pastor Rene often says we are his extended family.The first time I heard him say that, I thought, has he any idea what he's taking on? But I've since discovered he really meant it. He takes a personal interest in each one of us. Often spending a few minutes with each of us as often as he can, and the Sunday services at the Mission are filled with messages of hope and love. For those of us with no place to go, and no family that cares, the mission also provides fellowship and a place to go and have coffee and chat with those each of us come to care about. I've found many who come to the mission do so simply for human contact, because without the mission and the people who come there, they'd be like me utterly alone.

I now have people who care whether I live or die. Who encourage me to fight for life and not give up in despair. It has now been six months since my last diagnosis, and I feel strong and able to go on. I don't know what the future holds, but I know now that someone cares. What greater gift is there.

Here is an update of my testemony as of March 3rd, 2011, as you know I was given three to six months to live last May. A lot has happened since then, and one of the greatest of these is I've been offered a surgical procedure that  has an 80% success rate of killing the kind of brain tumors I have. The only thing is, until I move out of where I am,  I cannot have the surgery due to the fact this place is overrun by mice and mice carry many diseases. This treatment will knock out my immune system and I won't be able to fight many of the viruses and toxins their feces and urine carry, not to mention I was bit by one around Christmas time and that took two months of ulcerated infection to heal. I've found a place to move, and on faith God is going to provide, I'm going to take it so I can have this opportunity to live, because I don't believe God would want me to miss this chance to live over mice. Because hydro is not included, I am going to have to pray God's people are going to help me meet that need through donations toward that bill. Without that, it won't be long before I'll have to move again and I just don't have the strenght. So please, if God is speaking to you heart- would you help? To help please contact Pastor Rene at the Mission.

Thank you!

Sharon Georgie Hanson