Is it better to be the helper or the helped?

I’ve certainly been on both sides of that one. I was always taught to help those who couldn’t help themselves. From my very early years, and to the present, that first meant helping animals – though not always with success (but I’ve improved). Not like the time when I was five or six years old and I picked up an injured squirrel. I tried to nurse him back to health but he didn’t make it. I was heartbroken and for some reason I put him is a plastic bag in my closet. I don’t know how long it was before he told everyone in the house of his whereabouts.

Since then, I’ve improved my animal helper skills. I started feeding stray and feral cats in my twenties, and since moving into this house and attracting a feral female who had kittens in my garage, it’s been my way of life. One cold November night she meowed at my back door and I let her and her three eight-month-old kittens into my basement. I had a mouse problem that could not be resolved with live traps, sonar repellent, and even poison. Well, let’s just say about a week later all the mice were gone.

I got help from an organization called Little Cats Lost to capture and spay/neuter the cats who still live here in a feral colony. Please, people neuter your pets, especially cats. The are many organizations that will help cover the costs. That would be one very “helpful” thing everyone in the neighbourhood could do.

After my experiences with animals, it took me a little longer to want to help people. Sure I handed out money when walking around my old neighbourhood of Oliver, but I suspect guilt was probably my primary motivation. But since moving to Boyle Street, I’ve experienced a new way of participating in a mutually beneficial relationship, even though this time I think I am on the receiving end.

The first year I was here, I met a woman who was picking bottles and I asked her if she knew someone who could do a little work scraping my house. For the last five years she and her husband have done all sorts of work on the house that I can’t do by myself, but can’t really afford full price rates from tradespeople. I’m so grateful for all the help they’ve given me. I wish there was a way to match up our under-housed and homeless population with people who need odd jobs done in the neighbourhood. If anyone has any ideas you should contact the Boyle Street Community League and ask to speak to the Abundant Community Initiative. The communion that occurs when people help each other is so good for the spirit.

Manon is a resident of Boyle Street and an active volunteer in the community. This column contains her own opinions, and is not affiliated with the Boyle Street Community League.