Choir for Kindness concert highlights support for Saskatoon’s homeless

By Ian MacKay

Homeless people in Saskatoon “are humans; they are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, grandparents, veterans,” Jennifer Nunes said before a concert at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church on Dec. 5.

“Some were born here, others are immigrants and refugees. They are my newfound friends—a gift from God,” said Nunes, now the mission and outreach co-ordinator with St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Saskatoon, before the Choir for Kindness Christmas concert.

Father Kevin McGee performs one of his compositions during the Choir for Kindness Christmas concert at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church on Dec. 5. McGee is the priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Saskatoon’s west side, where homeless people can warm up and get something to eat. He served St. Theresa’s about 28 years ago. Photo by Ian MacKay

Jennifer Nunes

Nunes got involved with helping homeless people during the winter of 2023. Church leaders and members were asked to open the church hall in the 200 block of Avenue O South to become a warm-up location “for our brothers and sisters without shelter,” she said.

A ‘Yes’ meant risk, responsibility, and “being vulnerable, and a ‘No’ did not sound like the voice of God to me,” she said. Many church members had concerns, and she struggled with the idea before asking her children.

“Without a single moment of hesitation, all three of them,” aged eight to 16 and spoken to individually, “immediately said ‘Yes,’ ” she said. “It’s what Jesus would do, and we have to save lives.”

Soon after, Father Kevin McGee, who served St. Theresa’s as a young priest almost 30 years ago, “announced that St. Mary’s would indeed open its doors in partnership with the Salvation Army,” Nunes said. She credited McGee’s decision for reshaping “our mission toward deeper compassion and service.”

She also decided to hand out bags of food and treats with her children that Christmas Eve and eventually did so, outside the hall instead of along 20th Street, “because Mom was too scared to stop,” she said. “In return came hugs and kisses, gratitude, Merry Christmas, and blessings.”

They continued “bringing food, kindness, dignity, and presents to those waiting outside the hall” that winter except when illness prevented it, she said.

“An overwhelming amount of donations arrived on our doorstep from schools, restaurants, families, strangers, and businesses” after she asked for help on Facebook.

“What truly changed us wasn’t the service we provided, it was the love we received and the relationships we formed,” she said. “Yes, there was a lot of sadness and brokenness that we saw and experienced, but we also saw love, friendship, and joy.”

“I’ve sat with men who worked their whole lives, but one injury, one illness, one loss, and everything fell apart for them,” she said. “I’ve met refugees from Ukraine and immigrants from Africa whose sponsorships fell short and left them alone.

“I’ve held the hand of a woman who hadn’t felt a human touch in months. I’ve laughed with joy and literally danced on the streets with our friends.”

To her, homelessness “looks like grief, untreated trauma, addiction born from pain, mental illness left unsupported; it looks lonely. And sometimes, it looks just like you and me, just one crisis away,” she said.

“You may never meet the person your donation helps, but they will feel you, your generosity, your compassion, and your love. And sometimes, that feeling that someone, somewhere cared, is exactly the thing that will save someone’s life.”

“Lives will be changed because of you,” Nunes told the evening’s organizers while expressing appreciation to performers, bakers, and those who attended, contributed, or worked behind the scenes.

“It says so much about this parish that your heart has expanded to the needs of those who have encountered profound pain and suffering in Saskatoon,” Father McGee said before performing Steve Earle’s “Nothing But a Child” and two of his own compositions. “The numbers are just getting higher and higher,” he said of people without homes in Saskatoon and elsewhere.

Devan Mescall, a professor and taxation expert with the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan, said that people still had time to apply for a share of the settlement from the national bread-fixing scandal as one of several ways to contribute to the cause. The deadline was Friday the 12th.

When the “spark” for the event “got near Judy (Ledding), it became sort of a bright torch flame” and led to tables in the basement covered with baking, plus a silent auction and raffle prizes, he said.

Mescall is a son of Bill Mescall, the longtime former school trustee, and father of Charlotte Mescall, the MC for the evening and who, with three siblings and friends, sang with the Choir for Kindness.