Who We Are

In 1987, in response to the suffering of people she encountered on the street, Sr. Susan Moran, of our Lady of Missionaries, along with Fr. John Murphy opened a Saturday lunch and food distribution program, calling it Out of the Cold.  Soon churches followed suit and began offering overnight shelters in their social halls.

In 1992 Rosemary Snelgrove, with the encouragement of parish leadership, started a Thursday night-Friday morning program at St. Peter’s Church.  Along with dedicated members of that community, they kept it running for the next five winters.

In 1996, when the need for fresh energy and reinforcements was great, Congregation Darchei Noam, a Reconstructionist synagogue with a strong commitment to social justice, came forward to offer new volunteers and financial help. With this amalgamation, First Interfaith Out of the Cold program was inaugurated.

In 1985, the program moved to St. Matthew’s United Church and we were joined by enthusiastic members of the First Narayever Congregation and many committed community volunteers.

The program continues to be volunteer-run and administered by a Steering Committee of members of the above groups. We operate from November to May.

Prior to COVID, FIOOTC welcomed local low-income community members and itinerant unhoused people at St. Matthew’s once per week.   We provided warm hospitality, hearty home-cooked dinners, foot care, nursing care, clothing, socialization activities, safe overnight shelter and a hot breakfast.

Since COVID

All government funding was withdrawn from city-wide Out of the Cold programs in July 2020 and FIOOTC is currently solely funded by generous grants and individual, group, corporate and congregational donations.

During the height of the pandemic when COVID posed significant safety challenges for congregating indoors, we turned our focus to addressing food insecurity through partnerships with grass-roots organizations, such Ve’ahavta,  Church of the Redeemer’s Common Table lunch program and Seeds of Hope, that offered outreach services and mobile distribution.

In January 2021 we returned to our traditional site at St. Matthew’s United Church to offer outdoor takeaway meals.

In November 2022, in addition to our on-going community partnerships with Church of the Redeemer and Seeds of Hope, we returned to offering indoor hospitality.

In the spring of 2023, we piloted a successful 5-week overnight shelter program.

In 2023/24,  from Nov. 7 to April 30th, FIOOTC will offer a dine-in or outdoor takeaway dinner at St. Matthew’s on Tuesdays, along with foot care and socialization activities. We will also provide lunches to Church of the Redeemer’s Common Table program and to Seeds of Hope. Plans for overnight shelter are under consideration.

Our Guests

Since COVID, our guests are low-income, precariously housed local community members. We serve up to 140 guests each evening, 70% men and 30% women.

Prior to COVID, 50% of our guests were unhoused.