On June 25, 2025, Circle of Friends celebrated 25 years of relationships and community-building with a gathering of old and new friends and volunteers.
COF started in 2000 to address the profound loneliness of folks transitioning from homelessness into secure housing. A small group of volunteers and a staff member meet weekly with the program participant over coffee or card games with monthly activities with other circles. It's a time of community-building, relationship-growing and just plain fun.
Back in the year 2000, Margaret Nally was a board member of both MCC Ontario and Mary’s Place, a women’s shelter of the YWCA in downtown Kitchener. She recalls the testimony of a woman who used to live at Mary's Place. "She said, 'I never had a door to close to protect myself at the shelter or on the street... but once I got an apartment and that door closed, I broke down in tears,'" Margaret remembers. Circle of Friends was created to fill that void of loneliness.
Studies have since confirmed what Margaret had observed, and people struggling to maintain stable housing had lived through– that social isolation makes a tough situation much more challenging. Carol, who joined Circle of Friends in 2010, recalled in a 2012 interview that when she lost her home, she also lost her friends. “You feel very lost and unwanted,” she said. “I wasn’t in need of someone to show me how to budget or how to go grocery shopping – what I wanted was friends.” Carol found those friends through volunteers, staff and fellow Circle of Friends participants. She also served with the People’s Action Group, an advocacy group supported by MCC that consults with regional and municipal governments in Waterloo Region on poverty reduction policies.
While Circle of Friends started specifically to support women and their children transitioning into stable housing, in 2015, Circle of Friends expanded its program to welcome men as well. The very first man to join was Wayne. “I compared myself to Spock,” Wayne says with a chuckle. “I was going where no man had gone before!” Wayne found new ways of expressing himself creatively through talent shows and recently as part of the ensemble cast of “Living Below The Line”, an original play written by folks with lived experience of homelessness and produced with Watercourse Theatre. “I’ve found new parts of myself that I didn’t know where there before,” reflects Wayne.
MCC Ontario’s executive director Michelle Brenneman was there at the anniversary party, partly to give gratitude on behalf of the senior leadership team, and partly to reminisce as she flipped through old photo albums where she appeared a few times when she was a staff member with Circle of Friends in the mid-2000s. She reflected on how Circle of Friends aligns with the biblical teaching to support one another and quoted from Ecclesiastes 4:9–10:
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.”
“That’s what Circle of Friends has done for 25 years,” reflected Michelle to the gathering. “It has brought people together to lift one another up, to walk alongside each other in times of particular transition and challenge, and to remind us all that we are never alone.”
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"Circle of Friends helped me to not only make friends, but to grow as a person, too." - Tex
COF staff leader Claire McGill-Smith was the MC for the gathering, which featured trivia, food and drinks and more reflections from volunteers and participants. “This program is not just about supporting those who have been marginalized, but in breaking down the invisible walls between people,” reflected Claire. “Many people will never get the chance to sit down for a coffee with a person who is living differently, or who has had different challenges. Circle of Friends is an opportunity for both participants and volunteers to overcome these barriers.”
Another long-time COF participant and People’s Action Group member, Rebekah, stood up and shared emotionally about the impact of the kindness of the volunteers and staff who took the time to offer their time, presence and friendship. “I appreciate people who cared, even when they didn't have to, or didn't know me," she said.
Near the end of the celebration, Tex, a recent Circle of Friends participant, shared these words: "Circle of Friends helped me to not only make friends, but to grow as a person, too."
Circle of Friends is actively recruiting volunteers. If you want to help make our community more safe, welcoming and just, for just one hour a week, click here for more information.