“Faith is believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change” (Jim Wallis, paraphrasing a verse from the book of Hebrews)

The Salvation Army is a fairly well known Christian organization which functions as a charity/social service provider and a Protestant denomination (church). We are therefore a patently faith-based organization. I would make the case, however, that all charities/organizations who seek to be “dealers of hope”, in the words of Teilhard du Chardin, are also faith-based. To look at a drunk and see a king, to glance at a prostitute, but see a princess – these are acts of faith whether or not God is consciously invoked. The proverbial ‘cup of cold water’ is always given in someone’s, or something’s, name.

614 Regent Park is a local unit of the international Salvation Army, which operates in over 100 countries. We subscribe to the founding vision and principles of the larger organization, while also particularizing certain parameters to enable us to operate as effectively and relevantly as possible in our specific context. Our context is Regent Park, Toronto. Regent Park is Canada’s oldest and largest housing project, a historic slum area emerging out of the influx of Anglo-Irish immigration of the latter half of the 19th century. It is home to upwards of 15,000 people who collectively speak almost 100 languages. It is the poorest neighbourhood in Toronto, according to the United Way’s 2004 report, “Poverty by Postal Code”. The Salvation Army has been active in the neighbourhood for over 100 years, since 1904. 614 commenced in 2001.

In keeping with our stated vision and mission, we operate with the fundamental conviction that God wishes to rebuild, restore and renew this part of the city. We believe that as an organization, it is our charge to come up with plans, provide hope and create futures for the residents of our community. We do this by planning constructively for the future, not always easy for people who have been conditioned to live as survivors and prisoners of the present - haunted by the past and distrustful and disbelieving in any offered future. We do this by working to create viable, sustainable and positive futures for people to whom the future has only ever been a foreign land they’ll never get to visit.

Our operating principles contain further aspects of what we call our essentials, but which can be understood as comprising our core values. Paramount amongst these is an incarnational approach to community that requires our team members to live in the neighbourhood. The primary basis of any “service” we provide to the people of Regent Park and surrounding environs are relationships - not programs. The many and varied programs that we do run are useful for our purposes in so far as they allow us to come into relationship with people. They function primarily as a context through which relationships can be established and nurtured and it is in turn through such relationships that transformation on a deep and fundamental level occurs. Living incarnationally as we have here defined it, can involve sacrifice at a number of levels ranging from personal safety, lowered access to quality goods, 24/7 availability to people, sub-standard housing at vastly inflated rents, etc. There is an inbuilt accountability by virtue of the fact that “our people” know that we live close by and so can, and do, drop by at all hours. We live our lives, professionally and personally, in community with those whom we serve and so our mission is fulfilled as much by who we are on a daily basis, as it is by what we do during “working hours.” Most of the 614 team receives financial remuneration for their efforts that would not be considered competitive by most charities or by any business.

Captain Sandra Ryan

Our point of reference in order to evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts, is the community we serve in and not the organization we serve out of. The questions we ask are not: is the church growing, how many people know what we’re doing, how many hours has such-and-such put in this week, etc? Rather, we ask questions related to the health of, and change within, the Regent Park community: are there fewer shootings then previously, have any crack houses closed down, are there more conversations about God with people, does fear seem not as prevalent on the streets, are there more children out playing, what is the level of racial tension and indicators of reconciliation? And can any of this, in any way, be related to our efforts and presence in the neighbourhood?

Significant investor satisfaction will not become obvious from Christmas to Christmas. Such is the nature of faith-based activity. However, we invite everyone to get to know us and ask about our lives and work for they are the same thing. Come and spend a day, a week, a year at 614 and in the Regent Park community. Weigh the evidence of our effectiveness and add to your faith.