Father Rodger

Rodger Hunter (right) with former resident Owen Malone, 2007.

I received some terrible news by e-mail this past Wednesday. The founder of the Boarding Homes Ministry, Reverend Rodger Hunter, passed away suddenly. He had been diagnosed with cancer late last year. But he said they had caught it early. With surgery and treatment he was optimistic he would be back on his feet in no time.

I first met Rodger in or around the year 2000. He had come to speak at our church about his ministry. Ours was just one of many that he visited in order to drum up interest of volunteer groups. After his sermon four of us - Richard, Debbie, Armin and I decided to form a team.

We were assigned a home, Carter Manor, at 103 Tyndall Avenue in the Dufferin and King area. The building was home to around three dozen residents (at the time) all with varying degrees of mental disabilities. We were to go in and interact with the residents, just talk with them and see how they were doing. Some didn't have many friends or family.

I don't know if any of us knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into. But Rodger guided us through the first number of visits before letting us go on our own.

At first we were going every Sunday afternoon after church. That got to be a bit much so we switched to Sunday afternoons and, the following week, Monday evenings. By this time I believe we were down to only two of us visiting, Richard and myself. Eventually we gave up Monday evenings, just going every other Sunday afternoon.

Over the years volunteers came and left. Peter and Karen Tjon came for awhile. So did Steve Chong and later Mary Ko Bong. Mary was an elderly lady. She actually passed away at the ripe old age of 92. The circumstances were a bit tragic. Peter and Karen left our church for another. Steve and Richard got busy with married life. After awhile it was just me. That's when Rodger came back into the fold to join me.

Most of the time it was just us two. Later on he would get seminary students. It was sort of like a hands on ministry experience for them. They would join us for part of their school year. Our first student was Jamie. Then it might have been Kate, followed by Abbey, Emily and, most recently, Cathy (whose final visit was supposed to be two Sundays ago). I'm not sure if I missed anyone or not. For one or two years the school didn't send us any students for some reason. So that program started quite a long time ago.

Fast forward to last November (2017). The boarding homes volunteers received this e-mail:

Boarding Homes Teams
Via EMAIL

November 22, 2016

To all Boarding Homes volunteers,

Thank you for all your faithful service and fellowship you have with your homes. Your smile, kind words, and laughter will bring smiles to many residents this coming holiday season. For many of our friends in the homes, this may be the only gift they receive. Thank you.

Rodger and I write to you to share some sad news. Rev. Rodger Hunter has been diagnosed with Stage 2 lymphoma. The lump is in his chest, and as the cancer has been caught very early, we are confident that Rodger will make a full recovery. He will undergo surgery at some point in early December and then will work with his doctors to determine the best treatment for him going forward.

We covet your prayers for Rodger and know that he is in God’s loving hands.

Rodger will be taking some time off to concentrate on his health, starting early December, and as such will not be making regular visits to homes. We know that many of the teams are self-sufficient and can and will continue to visit your homes regularly. For the two homes that Rodger currently visits either by himself or with one team member, we are looking for volunteers to help ensure our ministry continues in these places. The visits occur on Wednesdays at 1 pm and Fridays at noon, every other week. If you can add a visit to your schedule, please let Rodger or I know.

While Rodger is away, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. As a Board, we will answer questions we can and help address issues.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. We will update you regularly on Rodger’s health, as news becomes available.

In Christ,

Rodger's last visit to Carter Manor was at Christmastime. We held our annual Christmas dinner where he bought Swiss Chalet dinners for all the residents. We had three special dinners a year - one at Easter, one at Thanksgiving (which also coincided with the the anniversary of our first visit), and one at Christmastime. In later years we also held an annual end of summer barbecue hosted by his friend, Maureen.

I traded a few e-mails with Rodger while he was away. In one he mentioned his surgery would be on January 14th. In a following one it seems like they changed the date to Friday, January 13th, followed by six weeks of "letting things heal back up."

On Saturday, February 18th he wrote:

Friends in Christ,

I trust things are well with you.

Just an update.  I begin six weeks of radiation therapy on the 27th.  I may be able to return to work on a limited basis during this treatment but I’ll just have to see where my energy level is.

I have appreciated the prayerful support from the boarding home communities.
  
Grace abound, Rodger

Then, last week, on Wednesday, April 5th we received the devastating news.

Dear Boarding Homes teams,

It is with great sadness and shock that I share the news that Rodger has lost his battle with cancer and passed away earlier this week.  In his and my last correspondence just last week, he was as upbeat as only he can be and we were discussing the dates for the annual meeting.

I'm attaching the note from Rev. Will Ingram and will share details of any funeral arrangements as they come available.

Please remember his daughter in your prayers.

Please share this news with your fellow team members as I feel I may not have captured everyone's emails here.

In Christ,
Kim Oliver

... with this attachment:

Dear friends:

It is with profound sadness that we share the news that the Rev. Rodger Hunter passed away yesterday morning at Sunnybrook Hospital. Rodger had been suffering with cancer for the past few months, but his death comes as a shock to all of us.

Rodger was a dedicated and committed servant of Jesus Christ and performed an amazing ministry with some of Toronto’s most marginalized people. For many years he was the Chaplain of Boarding Homes Ministry and conducted his ministry with tremendous compassion and prophetic vision.

Arrangements will be shared when they are available.

We know that this news will come as a surprise and shock to many of the members of our community. In your prayers today please give thanks for Rodger’s example, his witness and his life; and keep his daughter Christie and the many people whose lives he touched in your thoughts and prayers.
We live in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life.

In Christ,

Will Ingram

The news is hard to fathom - Disbelief, utter sadness and shock. So many emotions. 17 years, then gone in an instant. A gaping hole.

His compassion and devotion to the neglected was deep. He affected positive change to countless disaffected spirits. Those people, and many more, will miss him greatly. I will be one among them.

Cathy has graciously agreed to join me this Sunday to visit Carter Manor (even though the previous visit was supposed to be her last). I posted a message about Rodger's passing on Facebook, so word got out to the home. I'm not sure what we're going to do. Hopefully we'll be able to console one another and, perhaps, send prayers his way. I feel sort of lost.

Dinner with a Friend

One of my friends from Carter Manor hasn't been feeling well lately. Over our past few visits to the boarding home he hasn't been there. It was a bit concerning for me because I considered him one of the more well adjusted guys there. Now he's receiving treatment at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health on Queen Street.

When he was staying at the boarding home I would sometimes communicate with him by e-mail. But I heard he wrecked his computer and I didn't know if he had access to one where he was staying. Still I dropped him a line saying to call me if he received my message and hoped for the best. A week or two later I got a reply.

He mentioned that he's been hearing voices in his head for many years and that they've made his life a constant struggle. He's hurting and is scared and is worried it will never end. This concerned me, so I thought I'd see if he wanted to meet up for dinner.

We arranged to meet up on Saturday. He picked a small burger joint across the street from the hospital. When I met him at 5:00 he mentioned the staff told him he only had half an hour. He told me that when he asked them before, they said he could have an hour. We took an hour.

It was good seeing him again. Our topic of conversation varied from what was bothering him and what he had been up to to what I'd been up to recently. To tell you the truth even having an hour to eat felt rushed. We couldn't really relax and chill out very easily. It was a struggle to stuff my burger and poutine down before he had to go back.

Anyway, next time I'd like to try and spend a little more time out. I know he enjoyed the time we spent together. So that was good to see.

Boarding Home Visits

I've been visiting the Boarding Home on Tyndall Avenue for at least 12 years now. I started going soon after the founder of Boarding Home Ministries, Rodger Hunter, came to our church to speak. Four of us, Debbie, Richard, Armin and I decided we'd like to join him in his visits.

Over the years the faces at the home have changed, both for the residents and the volunteers. Currently I'm the only person from our church that goes. I believe there are only around 4-5 residents out of the original 30-something who are still there from when I first started as well.

I've had a chance to meet a lot of cool individuals. They like chatting with us and munching on the snacks we bring on our bi-weekly visits. On special occasions like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving/our yearly anniversary Rodger will order in a meal for dinner. We've had everything from KFC and Swiss Chalet to Chinese and Greek food.

We're making a small difference in people lives, just like they're making a difference in ours.

Boarding Homes Ministry

I've been visiting Mrs. Carter's boarding home (Carter Manor) since 2000 with Boarding Homes Ministry. It was started by Rodger Hunter (pictured on right, with Owen) back in 1996. The residents in these homes have varying degrees of mental illness, some mild; some severe. Rodger, bless his heart, set out to fill a need he saw in these places. Some residents, for one reason or another, didn't have many friends or family that would come visit. At the best of times life in these homes can be more than trying. Living in close quarters with others who have mental illness is no easy feat. Rodger sought to bring some grace and compassion back into these peoples' lives by visiting them on a regular basis and giving them someone to sound off to. At the beginning he used to visit these homes on his own. When the need became too great he decided to recruit some help. I became involved after Rodger came to our church and gave a sermon on his ministry. It touched my heart.

There have been quite a lot of changes over the many years I've been volunteering here. For one, Mrs. Carter no longer runs the home. She turned it over to Kelly who was her assistant before I believe. Also, many faces have come and gone. Some moved to places that were able to provide more care; some to places that gave less care. It all depended upon the particular individual. There were a few that, sadly, passed away as well. I suppose it mirrors real life in a way. We've all had friends that have come and gone. Out of the thirty-odd residents that lived here when I first started, I believe there are only four left. That would be Robert Cormier, Duchen, Tonica and Ray. There might be one more... I'm not sure. There's another Robert who almost never leaves his room. I think I see him on average less than once a year. Out of the four (or so) residents that I've mentioned only Robert C. functions at a reasonably normal level.

To see Rodger's webpage click here.

My Friend Roland

This is my friend, Roland. I've known him for at least three of four years I believe. We first met when he was a resident at Carter Manor, a boarding home at King and Dufferin. I'm part of a volunteer group that goes there every other Sunday afternoon to visit.

Roland has been in and out of many places over the years. I visited him, once or twice, when he was at another boarding home in the area (after he left 103 Tyndall). I've seen him various times at Queen Street (CAMH) too. He'd go there for treatment now and then. Sometimes he would call me and I'd go over and we'd chat a bit and he'd ask me for money. I even visited him a few times at Toronto Grace Hospital at the end of 2006. He was there receiving treatment for his injured knee after getting hit by a car. Sometimes we'd go to the common area and I'd buy him a Pepsi and we'd have a little talk. At other times he'd want to go outside. When he was still recovering and couldn't walk I would push him around the neighhourhood in his wheel chair. We'd go down Church Street, cut across Carlton, weave our way through the crowds up Yonge and go across Bloor back to the hospital. One time, after he was able to walk better, he called me to visit him. When I got there he wanted to go to the Bay department store across the street to watch a DVD movie they had playing in the electronics department. I didn't think that was such a good idea, but he insisted. Luckily we didn't stay for the duration of the whole movie. I don't think the staff would have liked it much if we sat on the sofa watching TV for two hours.

After his last move I lost touch with him. By chance I bumped into him last March (2008) walking on Yonge. He told me he was staying nearby at a group home on Sherbourne. We stopped for about half an hour at a local pizza joint to catch up on the latest news then said our good-byes. After that I didn't hear from him again. That was until a couple of weeks ago; just over a year and a half later.

I have to say the circumstances leading up to our most recent meeting were quite interesting. The stars definitely lined up in our favor that day. I had met with my career counsellor in the early afternoon. My plan, after that, was to head over to the Ricoh Coliseum at the C.N.E. that to see the 10th World Wushu Championships (which I previously blogged about). On my way downtown I planned to stop for lunch in Chinatown at my usual haunt, Rol Jui. I go there on a regular basis because I like the food and it's a good deal. Anyway, after I finished eating I was ready to go when the waitress told me to wait because she wanted to give me some red bean soup for dessert on the house. That was very kind of her. So I took a few extra minutes to eat it before heading out. I was going to take the TTC down to the C.N.E. from there, but changed my mind last minute and decided to walk. That's when I bumped into Roland after crossing the street at Dundas and Spadina. You have to admit that a lot of things had to happen to make our meeting possible. Me eating lunch in Chinatown, getting the extra dessert and deciding not to take the TTC. If one of those things didn't happen we would have missed each other by just that much. Makes me wonder if, somehow, a higher power was involved. I dunno. We walked to a nearby restaurant patio and sat down to chat. While we were there a stranger came by and was listening to us (I think he worked at the restaurant). After Roland parted he told me he was a advocate for the mentally ill and had gone through the battles of fighting addiction as well. It was so unusual, I thought, how all these circumstances came together from seemingly random events to form something so cohesive. So, through Roland, I have a new Facebook friend in, Rob, too.

Anyway, Roland, and I traded contact information again. It's definitely hard for me to keep track of him since he's always changing his place of residence. He called me today and we're going to meet tomorrow afternoon. I have to say he's looking good. He lost a lot of weight. I honestly almost didn't recognize him standing there at the street corner. But, I also must say, I'm so glad I did.