After several years of participation with Hockey for the Homeless in Toronto, at the start of 2009, Tim accepted an official position on the newly restructured National Executive.
Hockey for the Homeless is now active in four of Canada’s NHL cities, with the goal of being in all six within the next two years. What exactly is Hockey for the Homeless? Have a look at this video to find out what this exciting national initiative is all about!
On Tuesday, March 24th, 2009, Tim, along with John Mohan, Greg Paul, Julia Beazley and Don Hutchinson, was invited to meet with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on Parliament Hill. Mr. Ignatieff was unable to attend the opening night of the StreetLevel conference, so asked if he could meet with conference organizers the day before. The meeting, co-ordinated and attended by the Honourable John McKay, was a deeply encouraging time of constructive dialogue, shared desire for action and change, and exploration of further dialogue and collaboration. 
On October 19th, Tim was interviewed on CJOB Radio Winnipeg’s “God Talk” program, about issues of homelessness and his book Bent Hope. To listen to the program, click here.
September, 2008
On June 26th – technically the last day of school – I was walking through a downtown park at 1 am. Several people dotted the park in slumber, or passed out – but one unlike all the others. I came across a young man flat on his back; unconscious, bloodied, backpack of items dragged open around him. I called EMS, and waited by his side.
It was both sickening and fascinating to sit inches away from a total stranger who is completely vulnerable and unaware of your presence. Even after experiencing it as such hundreds of times. As I waited I decided to gather the remains of his belongings and put them back in his pack. Left behind were the un-sellable, un-useable items; a street-muggers rejects. Among them… a grade 12 report card from another province. Information-gathering is the justifying word for a street workers curiosity. I looked. Four failing grades.
Most people think kids run from home for fear of low-brow abuse and addictions. But it is remarkable how many run from well-to-do, high-achiever expectations. This was Andrew’s story. Bad grades=dad’s wrath=beatings.
After an entire summer surviving the streets, Andrew is returning home for another stab at grade 12. By phone, the arrangements had all kinds of conditions and expectations that ended with his dad’s words, “or else.”
Andrew’s dad is a scholar. Andrew’s dad is also a cold fool. Andrew has already lived out “or else,” like no one should even have to imagine. Pride has wounded many young souls on the street than drugs and weapons ever could. It’s enough. It’s more than enough.
As the school year starts – let’s love our young ones through bad marks, good marks, peer pressure, teen angst, whatever comes, whatever doesn’t. Just as God has in store for all of us, no matter how we succeed or fail… knowing that “I love you” is always the “or else”; regardless of all other consequences.
Winnipeg Sun Column, “Huff brings dignity to homeless”
John Mohan, Executive Director of Siloam Mission in Winnipeg, writes a weekly column for the Winnipeg Sun. His October 15 column, in John’s typically humorous fashion, describes Tim, his book Bent Hope, and the ‘Stories from the Street’ tour, in which Tim is partnering with Siloam Mission.
Here’s an excerpt: By looking at him, you’d never know he’s a gifted artist, accomplished author, friend of one of Canada’s richest women, and a veteran compassionate worker among street youth.
With an ensemble that makes one wonder if he missed out on fashion 101 and wit that could place him as a headlining act at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Tim Huff is not what he appears. He’s actually a national spokesperson and crafted story teller who brings dignity and humanness to the misunderstood subculture of Canada’s homeless youth…
Click here to read the full article.
“Stories from the Street” Tour, Fall 2008
Things are falling into place nicely for a mini “Stories from the Street” tour that will take the Bent Hope launch event on the road as part of a broader awareness-raising campaign, carried out in partnership with Castle Quay Books and local ministries. The event, generously sponsored by the Maranatha Foundation, will include Tim, of course, the three readers from the Bent Hope book launch, and our dear friend Steve Bell. We will be at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on October 22nd in partnership with Siloam Mission, and at the Boyce Theatre on the Stampede Grounds in Calgary on October 23rd, partnering with the Mustard Seed. These “by-invitation only” events will be geared towards gathering together key individuals from the literacy world, various levels of government, media, business leaders and key leaders and representatives from the fields of social justice and street ministry.
Rexdale Alliance Church
Tim will be speaking at Rexdale Alliance Church on Saturday, November 8th, at 6:30 pm, and Sunday, November 9th at both the 9 and 11 am services.
Brandon Youth for Christ
On Friday, November 14th, Tim will be the guest speaker at a Brandon, Manitoba Youth for Christ event.
“Be a Hero”
On Wednesday, November 19th, Tim will be the featured speaker at Halton Community and Social Services’ Be a Hero event, which encourages young people to become active in helping the less fortunate in their communities.
Romania
From Friday, November 21 to Saturday, November 29, Tim has the great privilege of traveling with International Teams to Romania to visit a number of orphanages.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: ONE PURE MOMENT
Loving Father,
to you who created all things and who loves all creatures,
we ask that you might fill our hearts with gratitude for lollipops and little children and beaming smiles and playfulness and hope and healing and every good blessing you bestow upon us;
Humble Son,
to you who said, “unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,”
we ask for the innocence and naivete of a child to see the world as you see it, and the poor and the hungry as you see them;
Powerful Spirit,
to you who strengthens our resolve,
we ask for greater courage to defy convention, to share our blessings, to smile at strangers, and to bring joy and flavour and colour and grace into the lives of others and to allow them to do the same to us.
Amen.
Michael Frost is the author of several best-selling books, and one of Australia’s most widely recognized contemporary theological speakers in his own country and around the world, having spoken at some of the largest conventions and events throughout Australia, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Michael is the Founding Director of the Centre for Evangelism & Global Mission at Morling Theological College in Sydney, and is strongly committed to leadership development, serving on the board of the Australian Arrow Leadership Development Program and as co-director in the establishment of “Forge” – a missional training network for young leaders based in Melbourne. Michael has also planted a missional church on Sydney’s northern beaches called “Small Boat, Big Sea.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: FIVE DAYS OF BOTTLED CLAWS
We build shells. All of us. Tough exoskeletons designed to shield and protect. Some loud, flashy exteriors, filled with bravado, false confidence and foolish pride. Defences designed to distract and confuse… draw attention away from the great woundedness inside.
Some shells are dull, plain… camouflage almost. Designed to keep us hidden, imperceptible, to draw as little attention as possible in the hopes that no one will notice us. No one will hurt us.
Some are like armour. Hard, thorny – “keep out” signs. Angry and intentional about keeping others at arms length, or further. Don’t hurt me… I will hurt you first, because I’ve already been hurt more deeply than you would guess or could imagine.
And some of our shells are spit-shined and polished to look perfect, holy, spiritual – so very… together. Designed to hide our failings, our doubts, our questions, our frailties… our humanity.
The tidy and untidy, showy, subtle or off-putting ways we package up our hurt,
bottle our pain to keep it from being visible or exposed.
You see past all of these, God, don’t you?
You who created us, who calls each of us precious, child.
You see what it is we try so hard to conceal within our shells.
The soft, fleshy, tender parts kept hidden deep within that we guard so carefully, so diligently.
Hearts that have been broken, battered, disappointed, betrayed, torn apart, and beaten beyond recognition.
Hearts that question, doubt, fear, and struggle.
And you are not distracted. Not fooled. Not put off by our clever disguises, or repelled by our armour.
You see us.
The hidden, innermost parts of us.
Who we really are, where we really are, what we really feel.
Gentle Jesus… Prince of Peace, Good Shepherd, Healer.
Healer? Can there be healing?
Can you make right what feels wrong? Mend what is broken? Restore what’s been ruined? Redeem what seems lost?
Can you reach through our shells and make us whole?
Can we trust you? Hope in you?
Are you who you say you are?
Yes, Jesus, I believe it. It is the only thing that makes sense.
Unseen God – restore the parts of us that are unseen.
Let it be so.
Julia Beazley has been actively engaged in social justice issues around domestic poverty and homelessness for over a decade, in her hometown of Ottawa, Ontario and across the country – at every level, from direct street work to governmental advocacy. Julia is the full time Coordinator for StreetLevel: The National Roundtable on Poverty and Homelessness, and the point person for the work of its advocacy committee and the tri-annual national StreetLevel conferences. She has also served as Tim Huff’s part time assistant since 2005. Most of all, Julia is the proud mother of a wonderful little boy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: NO ONE TO TOUCH
Abba
I need to feel your arms around me.
I am surrounded by people
but feel so often alone
I long for intimacy
but carefully perch
where I can scrutinize every approach
The older I get
the more I feel I am a child
aching for the warm security
of your embrace
The stuff I had thought would fill me up
has sucked the life out of me
people I hoped would save me
have failed
and though I have tried
I have saved no one
Strange, this:
the weaker I become
the more child-like
the more clearly I hear you
calling me
to become also a parent
You have fixed nothing in my life
but you have held me
and I am learning
that this is all I need
Help me then
Abba
to place my arms
(as I rest in yours)
around another orphaned soul
and trust
that it is enough.
Greg Paul is the founder and Executive Director of Sanctuary, a Christian ministry dedicated to establishing holistic, inclusive and healthy community that welcomes individuals who are homeless, involved in the sex trade, or suffering with addictions or AIDS, among many other issues. Greg is Chair of the Advocacy Committee of StreetLevel: The National Roundtable on Poverty and Homelessness, and has authored two books, “God in the Alley” (Shaw Books), which was released in December 2004, and “The Twenty Piece Shuffle: Why the Rich and the Poor Need Each Other,” to be released in August, 2008.
CHAPTER TWENTY: THE BOY I HATED
Grace. God, grant us grace;
enough that we can see the beauty and value in individuals, even when their outward appearance obscures it completely;
enough to see their honour, however deeply hidden
and to grant respect, even when we think it is undeserved.
Help me to recognize the wounds and understand the shame that lies behind each act of rejection and moment of repulsive behaviour.
Grant me grace to believe that most of us are doing the best we can in the midst of our personal brokenness.
God, grant us grace.
Grace.
God grant grace to a dad who cannot love;
to a man crushed by the weight of his own neglected childhood and facing a son who spends his wealth and spits his name.
Grace to a parent who gives up, and who drugs the pain by choosing vacation over children.
Grace when the weight of failing, and of being failed, overwhelms.
Grace to dads and grace to moms who, having no grace left to give, receive little in return.
Grace.
God grant grace to the orphans whose parents, preoccupied in busyness, abandoned their children in castles of plenty.
Grace to the prodigal who will not be loved, who rejects every overture and spews abuse at all who draw near,
and to the child whose mind-numbing pain breaks out in a whirlwind of violence.
Grace to the child who turns their hostility inward, poisoning their soul with self-loathing.
Grace, to the children who, never knowing grace, have none to give.
Grace.
God grant grace to the caregivers who over-spend every loving emotion, and who, finding themselves empty and void, act out love through sheer strength of will and commitment to justice.
Grace to all, who having poured their lives into others, discover that love is not all you need, and who live to see those in their care self destruct.
Grace to those who so freely give themselves to others yet sometimes forget to grace their selves.
Grace.
God grant grace to me, when there is no place in my heart for a wounded child;
when my life is so consumed with me and mine that I have little love to give.
Grace to me when I pretend not to see, or turn away in fear from the ugly, untidy, or strange.
Grace to me when I am so absorbed in my own life that I forget to be grace to others.
God, grant us grace.
Enough for all we have experienced, and all that we have become, and enough to be all that you desire.
Rick Tobias was born in Saint John, New Brunswick and began his ministry as a church planter in Coldbrook, Nova Scotia. He later launched and coordinated Baptist Inner City Ministries, a church agency serving impoverished people in Saint John. In 1983, Rick moved to Toronto, Ontario, to become coordinator of Yonge Street Mission’s Evergreen location, which he refocused to meet the needs of Toronto’s street-involved youth. He was appointed Executive Director of Yonge Street Mission in 1989. Rick is a member of StreetLevel: The National Roundtable on Poverty and Homelessness.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: NEVER AGAIN
God, we need your help to make sense of this world – to find hope when everything around us is unreliable and corrupt – to feel love and acceptance when we have been hurt and rejected.
Please help us. Heal us. Forgive us. Restore us.
Lord, we confess that when we witness suffering and injustice, it is hard to believe you exist. Help us to see that we as humans keep messing up, but that you are a constant source of love and truth. So often we look to other people to save us and then they harm and betray us. Help us to realize that you are the only one who will never let us down and that you will never abandon us, or trick us.
God, please heal the broken pieces of our lives. We place our pain, our shame, our anger and our heartache at your feet and ask that you transform it and change us. Help us to believe your promises and experience the love you feel for us. Help us to know that regardless of what life has done to us, we are beloved, accepted, and valuable to you.
Lord, forgive us for judging people and ignoring their suffering. Forgive us for seeing the needs of our neighbours and walking by. Give us the courage to respond in practical and respectful ways. Thank you for those who have reached out and offered hope at great cost to themselves. Help us to see that even small gestures of eye contact, a smile, or a gentle touch offer dignity and show people that they matter.
Oh God, please restore each one of us to the person you created us to be. We long to thrive, but our dreams have been shattered. We so want to belong, but never feel safe. We desire friendships, but are afraid to trust. We crave peace, but our hearts are restless and filled with self-hatred. Help us to reach out to you and begin to know you.
Thank you that when we can’t find the words or are too afraid to talk to you, you understand our tears and know the deepest desires of our hearts. Thank you that although we feel misunderstood and isolated you are always there beside us assuring us that our lives have meaning, and that we belong. Thank you that by drawing close to you we will never again be alone. Father, please fill us with the healing joy that comes when we have a relationship with you.
Please come God. Come and help us, heal us, forgive us, and restore us.
Amen.
Adrienne Grant is passionate about young people, a passion deepened by her role as mom to her own four young children. As a public speaker, administrator, fundraiser, or on the front lines, Adrienne has worked with youth most of her life, especially those who are struggling to find self worth and a place to belong. Adrienne holds a Masters degree in Social Work and has had the privilege of working for World Vision, Sketch and Meet the Street.