 Our Lady of Victory Parish Hall One of Calgary’s smaller parish communities is leveraging its connections with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP) to send much-needed supplies to Our Lady of Victory Parish in Inuvik, NWT, says Lance Berrington, a Vincentian with the SSVP conference at St. Pius X parish in northwest Calgary. Like other SSVP conferences in Calgary, the one at St. Pius X focuses most of its resources on supplying food hampers to people who live inside the parish boundaries. Support for that initiative comes from the parish community, which also embraced the Inuvik outreach organized through North of 60, says Berrington. North of 60 is the brainchild of Sister Fay Trombley of Tuktoyaktuk (a Sister of Charity of the Immaculate Conception) and Eileen Orysiuk of Calgary. For more than a decade under the leadership of Peter Ouelette, a Vincentian based in Edmonton, Arctic communities have been matched with a southern SSVP neighbour, explains Western Region Council (WRC) president Heather Schilling, a Calgarian with deep roots in this city’s Vincentian community. The WRC includes SSVP members from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and NWT and provides project management for North of 60 in these provinces and territory as part of the national SSVP project to support our northern neighbours. (See https://ssvp.ca/special-projects/north-of-60/) In addition to the project at St. Pius, North of 60 operates from eight parishes in the Edmonton Diocese, says Schilling. Each parish supports a different Arctic community, and all have made long-term commitments to their northern partners. SSVP at St. Pius got involved after Berrington heard Peter Ouellette speak about North of 60 project at SSVP meetings. In 2021, he volunteered to coordinate the St. Pius/ Our Lady of Victory match. With pandemic restrictions complicating north-south trade, they waited until 2023 to ship their first full sea can. It included food, household supplies, and winter clothing. The project received financial support from SSVP Calgary Central Council, South Particular Council and North Particular Council. Most of the goods were donated by St. Pius parishioners. “St Mark’s and other conferences from the North Particular Council in northeast Calgary also donated some of the goods we sent,” notes Berrington. While plans for North of 60 got underway, Berrington helped Calgary South Particular Council members deliver about 80 mattresses to families living on three First Nation reserves in Southern Alberta. Berrington admits this project provided his first look at living conditions on Canadian reserves—and the experience was humbling. It also reinforced his understanding of North of 60’s commitment to giving people “what they ask for instead of assuming what they need.” That project also gave Berrington a taste of what it means to approach service work with a listening heart. Channeling that approach into the OLV project, Berrington and fellow St. Pius Vincentian Jim McLaughlin visited Inuvik, located northwest of Yellowknife on the Mackenzie River Delta. There, they met and got to know the people who will benefit from the North of 60 partnership. The relationships they built include one with the Muslim taxi driver who runs a non-denominational food bank in the community of about 3,000 people. They also met a number of new friends with SSVP OLV, as well as people who plan to open a soup kitchen at Our Lady of Victory. Some of the supplies sent in 2023 will help launch that kitchen in 2025. Berrington says the next shipment to Inuvik might include a winterized storage trailer for Our Lady of Victory, plus money to cover ongoing utility costs. His group is exploring ways to involve St. Pius youth in North of 60.  Sea Can painted by St Pius X's Youth Group
In the summer of 2024, the Our Lady of Victory parish priest, Fr. Fredrick Ifeanyichukwu Omegoha, spent several weeks at the Berrington home in Calgary. “I now consider him a friend,” says Berrington, who organized a parish evening pizza gathering where people could meet Fr. Fred and ask him questions. NWT Bishop Jon Hansen, the former pastor at Inuvik’s OLV parish, is also a fan of this partnership, says Berrington. Transportation is the most difficult—and expensive--part of the North of 60 program. Rising costs and climate change are forcing participants to look for new ways to transport goods. Schilling says she’s excited about the relationship St. Pius SSVP is building with Our Lady of Victory. Opportunities for more SSVP and parish relationships with parishes and communities in the NWT are available.
Berrington knows that North of 60, like most SSVP projects, won’t solve poverty. But he insists that doesn’t detract from their value. “Whether we’re taking food to a Calgary family whose income doesn’t cover rent and food, or sending goods to the Canadian north, it’s not so much about what we’re doing as the impact of what we’re doing. This kind of work shows people you are not by yourself. You are not alone. There are people that care about you and know about you.”
 Inuvik OLV church council Written by Joy Gregory. Joy Gregory is a writer, cradle Catholic, and long-time parishioner of St. Peter’s, Calgary, where she’s been active in preschool catechism programs, RCIA, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Photos courtesy of Lance Barrington.
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Catholic Pastoral Centre Staff and Guest Writers Archives
December 2024
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