ST. PAUL – Music, songs, and testaments of life filtered through the air as a free gospel concert was held at the Lions Park in the Town of St. Paul on Aug. 6. The event was organized by a group of people hailing from different Christian denominations, and was affiliated with no single, specific organization or church.
“Because everything else the devil takes and separates, right? I believe this,” said Mike Parenteau, a local businessman and one of the organizers of the gospel concert. “But when it's about Jesus Christ, it's the same thing… same story. It doesn't matter.”
“There's no denomination, right? So, we all get together. We're crying out to God for change in our community and with what's going on in the world, in Canada and our politicians… they need prayer, they need wisdom,” he said.
A group of about 20 people, who regularly meet on Wednesday nights to pray for the community, came up with the idea of holding a free gospel concert for the community. The idea was brought to reality, on Aug. 6.
Prayers were put out to people facing a wide range of challenges.
“Alcohol, addiction, lots of drug problems… lots of marriages and relationships not doing well,” said Parenteau. “Healing, for cancer and those kinds of things. So, healing in the community… suicide, depressions. It's all over.”
Bob Palinka was also among the organizers. As a local musician, he invited other local musicians, including those from other churches to come and sing.
Parenteau said most of the organizers have grown up in the region and the community.
“People don't hear this music too often unless you go to church, so we thought, ‘Hey, let's do it on the main street’.”
Soup and chili were served to all those who attended, according to Parenteau, and the event was fully funded by the organizers.
Outreach and support
The Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre is a local non-profit that offers a number of programs and services, including an outreach program for the vulnerable sector, aiding with treatment plans, and a youth program, for example. The organization also connects people needing assistance to other organizations.
Pamela Robertson, Restorative Development Research of the Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre, told Lakeland This Week the non-profit organization also aims to help with issues in the community, like a lack of housing.
“The biggest one right now that I'm noticing is cost of living,” said Robertson. “It is has fluctuated so badly that I've been seeing people use the food bank that normally don't because of the cost of groceries.”
And while it may be a tough topic to discuss, another issue Robertson has noticed is an increase in drug use, specifically methamphetamine.
Robertson believes the reason lies in the cheap price of the drug and its accessibility, “and the reason why these people use it - and why most people use drugs and alcohol - is to numb themselves from the trauma.”
In addition to housing, Robertson said addiction and trauma are vicious cycles, which requires treatment and therapy programs to deal with. She said without funding, these services are difficult to access, especially to people suffering from homelessness.
The Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre is also working on creating transitional housing, said Robertson, so after treatment, people can have a safe place for their healing journey, where they can work toward other goals, such as obtaining their high school diploma, for example.
The Friendship Centre is also teaming up with University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills to help with further education.
A community effort
One challenge that has been identified by local governments is the difficulty in getting people who need help from one place to another.
Town of St. Paul Maureen Miller says work is being done to address transportation issues that exist in the region.
“The Town of St. Paul is the identified mental health hospital for the region,” explained the mayor. “Our hospital has a mental health component, and so quite often there are people from our region that may be transferred into our hospital for services... then, they would be released back now into the community.”
Miller said that many people who are released suffer homelessness due to a lack of services to get them back home and reconnected them with their families.
“So, that is an identified issue that we are working with the government, to work with our facility to make sure that we get people back where their supports can support them.”
She added the Town also remains connected with regional partners like the RCMP and Family & Community Support Services, among others, to protect all members of the local community, including those without a roof over their head.
Miller said she is committed to supporting local initiatives, non-profits, and charities that want to proceed with applying for grants. She said many of the groups come up with “brilliant opportunities.”
“We as a municipality support every one of the applications that they put through for us, because it isn't just a municipality,” she said. “We need to look at our community as we're here together. So, there isn't one better than the other, and we need to all contribute to a solution.”
*This story was updated on Aug. 28, 2022, to reflect that no donations were accepted during the gospel concert, held Aug. 6.
