Andy Ives has a tried and true way to get on the good side of the youth at Operation Come Home – he bribes them. Specifically, he bribes them with bacon. Every Monday for years, Andy has been coming in to cook breakfast for our drop-in, and every Monday he brings bacon for that very purpose.
Most of the time, our breakfasts are cooked with the ingredients we have available. Those come from the Food Bank, or from donations, and there is almost always a ready supply of eggs and bread in the kitchen. There is rarely bacon. This truly is a special treat, and the youth in the OCH drop-in know that Monday is a day worth anticipating.
Mondays are pretty great for the OCH staff too. Walking into work on Monday is a bit of drudgery for anyone, no matter how much they love their job. Everyone that is, except Andy. He has a wide smile and a quick laugh and a genuine cheerful demeanour that is no put on. He really is the kind of person whose happiness is contagious, and walking into work on a Monday morning and being greeted with contagious happiness is a pretty great way to start the week!
One of the reasons Andy is so happy (we think) is that he’s the kind of guy who, every minute of every day, is doing the exact thing he wants to be doing.in that moment. He left a high-tech job at Microsoft to follow his passion – helping youth learn music. Andy co-owns the School Of Rock in Orleans, a place where young people from all over the city go to learn singing, piano, and yes – rock and roll. Guitar, bass, drums, and that thing Ronnie James Dio used to do with his fingers.
You’ll see the School of Rock kids playing around Ottawa quite often, if you know to look out for them. Like if, for example, you happen to be at the Orleans Wrestling Alliance show May 5th at the MIFO cultural centre (hey – it COULD happen!) you’ll see some kids playing some old fashioned rock and roll. These are those kids. And Andy had a hand in making them as cool as they are.
Andy’s impact on the youth at Operation Come Home is less viscerally obvious, but it’s just as large. Andy has been a great fundraiser (he’s the participant at the 24 Hours of Homelessness event who has the most fun, at least when he’s not wandering off down Bank street for a brisk constitutional in the wee hours). He has been a wonderful volunteer and participant at events like the Breakfast on the Rideau and Ottawa Music Trivia Night. And he created an entrepreneurship program that has secured government grants for three of our youth. All these things help fund the programs that make OCH what it is.
But more than any of those things, Andy’s impact is that he provides the stability and comfort of knowing what will be for breakfast on Monday morning. Being able to count on something, even something as seemingly minor as Monday’s breakfast, is of the utmost importance to the youth who come to OCH. When we offer our programs, whether they’re geared toward education, employment, housing, mental health and addiction, or something else – the goal is always the same. Moving toward stability of some kind in the lives of youth who currently have no such thing. A sense of comfort, safety and stability is essential to creating the outcomes we all want. And our drive to do so begins every single week with breakfast on Monday morning, and with Andy.