Carisma Church serves on the street in Hamilton twice a week. On Wednesdays at 7 PM the church helps at Barton and Birch with Hamilton International Missions Community, taking out food, clothing, hygiene supplies and time. On Tuesdays at 7 PM it serves with Love On Hamilton. You do not need to attend the church to come and help.
What happens on a Wednesday?
Carisma serves alongside Hamilton International Missions Community on their street outreach at Barton and Birch, Wednesdays at 7 PM.
HIMC's outreach takes out groceries and prepared meals, clothing, hygiene products, sleeping bags and tents, and Tim Hortons cards. Their own list puts one more thing beside all of it, and it is the one that matters: community and relationships.
And on a Tuesday?
Carisma is also part of Love On Hamilton, which goes out on Tuesdays at 7 PM. Same idea, different night, same city.
Can I come and help?
Yes, and you do not need to attend Carisma, belong to anything, or believe anything yet. Turning up on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening and being useful is the whole qualification.
Call 905-527-5448 first so somebody knows to look out for you and can tell you where to meet.
What is actually needed?
- People. Consistently, not heroically. The same faces week after week is what turns handing out food into knowing someone's name.
- Warm clothing in good condition, especially through the autumn and winter
- Hygiene products, which run out faster than anything else
- Donations toward the cost, which the giving page explains
I need help. Where do I go?
Barton and Birch on a Wednesday at 7 PM, or call the church on 905-527-5448. You do not need to explain yourself or believe anything to be given food, clothing or a coffee. If Carisma cannot help with your particular need, it will usually know who in Hamilton can.
Why does a church stand on a corner in the cold?
Because Carisma's tagline has been the same for years and the second half of it is not decoration: Loving God, Loving People. A church that only meets on a Sunday has done half the job.
Carisma is in a season of rebuilding. That rebuilding is not bricks, it is people and relationships, and this is where a lot of it happens: on a street corner on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, with whoever turns up.
More at Carisma
Still have a question?
Call 905-527-5448, email wellingtonmariano@gmail.com, message the WhatsApp community, or just come on a Sunday: prayer at 10:00 AM, service at 10:30. We are at 1239 Main St E, Hamilton.