LONDON, ONT. -- After a lifetime of helping those dealing with homeless, mental health and addictions Gordon Russell is retiring as director of shelters for Mission Services of London.
Over the years he has shown thousands of men and women in need a strong sense of compassion and kindness at places like Rothholme and Men’s Mission.
“The people that I’ve worked with they’re beautiful, they’re frustrating and sometimes and sometimes infuriating but I also say I stand in solidarity with them because I’m that way as well," says Russell.
“But at the end of the day I get to go home and they don’t.”
Russell says he is retiring at the end of June and even though he has a strong sense of accomplishment he also has some regret. “I want to treat them better than this so they can have a place of their own where they belong”, says Russell.
“So when I reflect over thirty years, if there is a point of sadness it’s that we are still here.”
Even though he has spent a lifetime dealing with homelessness issues Russell has seen his share of success stories and they come in different forms.
“I can remember a guy out front with bandages all over his arm and the story was he had intervened with a dog hurting a child and I looked at him and said that’s incredibly courageous and that’s the kind of things that you see in people and their humanity.”
As he departs Russell is hoping that Londoners show more heart for people struggling with homelessness saying, “The people that we serve are your neighbours and they may end up living next to you and that’s their sense of belonging in the community and that’s one of the ways they won’t end up back in a shelter.”
