Upper Room Mission celebrates 40 years in Vernon

The Upper Room Mission is celebrating 40 years in the community.

Every morning at 9 a.m., the gates barring entrance to the Upper Room Mission lift.

Chaplain Dave Bootsma starts the morning with a reading and a prayer. And by 9:30 a.m., the community is lined up at the kitchen window for breakfast.

For nearly 40 years, the Upper Room Mission has opened its doors to feed people in all the ways that they are hungry. The location has changed, staff and volunteers have come and gone, but the core principles that Sheriff Ron Morgan laid out in 1980 remain.

“At its base, the Upper Room Mission is a soup kitchen, but it’s also so much more than that,” said General Manager Naomi Rouck. “We aim to feed people not only meals but feed them hope.”

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A sense of community is central to the beliefs of the Mission, but it’s also what keeps the faith-based charity’s doors open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

According to census information collected during the culmination of the Blessings in a Backpack campaign Dec. 23, 2019, in which 255 surveys were conducted, the average age of guests not including children at the Upper Room Mission is 46-years-old. The eldest person surveyed was 87-years-old while the youngest was six-months-old. The data shows that 56.6 per cent of those surveyed were men compared to 43 per cent women. At the time of the report, 56.4 per cent of guests are housed while 18.4 per cent are sheltered and 25 per cent are on the street. Seven children with an average age of five-years-old were also recorded.

“The statistics prove what we have been seeing for some time. There are countless seniors and low-income families that access services at the Upper Room Mission,” said Rouck. “We’ve said it before and the data holds up: the Mission truly is a place for everyone.”

Four decades ago, Morgan rented a room above what was then the Simpson Sears building. It was a small space that once belonged to the old radio station in town and cost Morgan a staggering $800 per month. The room wasn’t cheap, but Morgan saw a need and, through his faith, a way to help.

Armed with nothing more than a hot plate and a bag of porridge, one of Vernon’s oldest charities was born.

Much has changed since Morgan first opened the Mission’s doors in 1980. The Boutique Thrift Store, located directly adjacent to the Upper Room Mission, came as a source of income for the charity and the steadfast few volunteers have grown to an unwavering army, but the core values and “people helping people” philosophy thrives.

On Dec. 1, 2014, a pipe broke and the Mission flooded. Only a few weeks before Christmas – one of the busiest and coldest times of the year – the kitchen was forced to close.

However, in the midst of disaster, something miraculous happened. Over the following months, businesses donated food and construction supplies, people volunteered their time to serve food, and guests helped clean up the Mission.

Those acts of kindness showed the heart of the community and illustrated the purpose behind the Upper Room Mission.

In commemoration of its 40 years in service, several events and fundraisers – from a formal gala to a Boutique-run arts project – are in the works, with details to follow as event dates approach.

“We rely on the support of our community and its generosity to survive. Without the community, without you, there is no us. Thank you to everyone who has helped the Mission feed the hungry for the past four decades,” said Rouck.

“We can’t wait to tell you what we have in store for 2020.”