For 40 years, St. John’s Kitchen has served as a gathering place and hub of support in downtown Kitchener for people experiencing homelessness or living in vulnerable circumstances. Since 2018, there has been dramatic changes in the reality of homelessness which has significantly changed St. John’s Kitchen.

The new home for St. John’s Kitchen at 97 Victoria has created an opportunity that is unlike anything in the 40+ year history of St. John’s Kitchen. This past winter, when the cold settled over Kitchener-Waterloo, the community came together to make sure that our doors stayed open at St. John’s Kitchen in this purpose-built space. Over 150 people were able to come inside each night to find warmth, safety, companionship, and a place to rest.

As A Better Tent City, now renamed to Cabins on Ardelt, joins the shelter network and is hosted by The Working Centre, our community needed an alternate 24/7 space. We are now able to extend St. John’s Kitchen as a drop-in warming and cooling centre throughout the days, evenings, overnights and weekends. Former guests/visitors from ABTC will be welcome at St. John’s Kitchen as an alternate place of connection and resources.

As of July 27, St. John’s Kitchen is open seven days a week and as an overnight drop-in space for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

This means that St. John’s Kitchen will be a reliable place available in the heat and the cold as a place of welcome and belonging. Supports include meals, showers, bathrooms, laundry, and connections to community resources. Drop-in hours are from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. From 9:00 pm onwards, we will be welcoming those without shelter for rest and stability overnight. We will close from 7:30 am to 9:00 am for a thorough cleaning and to set up for the day.

The Region of Waterloo is supporting the overnight staffing at St. John’s Kitchen; Health Canada has contributed to extend the drop-in hours. Community donations and the work of many volunteers continue to be pillars of support at St. John’s Kitchen. Over 150 volunteers currently support the work of preparing and serving food and doing dishes and clean-up, along with providing welcome, helping to respond to the many needs of the 400+ people visiting St. John’s Kitchen every day. As this work expands, so do the opportunities to build bridges between community members.

All volunteers welcome, including weekends and evenings!

As we prepare to serve more meals through the day, weekends, and evening, we are extending a special invitation to groups (churches, clubs, reading groups, neighbours) to sponsor one day a month to provide 8-10 evening volunteers to serve dinner (provided by TWC), do clean up, and/or to share a dessert for about 200+ people eating the evening meal (desserts must be store bought or made in a commercial kitchen).

Volunteers are welcome! Day, evening and weekend shifts are now available. To volunteer, please connect with us at volunteer@theworkingcentre.org.