Image: Helping Hands of Mission / Facebook / The current frontline group of volunteers at Helping Hands. The group also has additional members working behind the scenes to keep up a successful weekly presence.

By Alyssa Conti

HELPING HANDS

‘They are good souls’: Mission volunteers for low-barrier individuals seeing increased need

Nov 23, 2025 | 12:56 PM

MISSION — With cooling weather and temporary shelters shutting down around the area, a small but steadfast group of Mission volunteers is hoping to offer some relief to those unhoused or facing financial struggles.

Mission resident Debbie Orr came up with the idea for Helping Hands of Mission one day in spring last year, while having coffee with a friend, Shelley Diewold.

Now, the retired long-time nurse’s Facebook group has grown to over 340 members, with a core volunteer group serving hundreds of meals, snacks and drinks to anyone who needs them.

A former group of volunteers. Source: Helping Hands of Mission / Facebook

“I’ve lived in Mission all my life,” Orr told Fraser Valley Today. “I was a nurse 40 years, so I’m interested in helping people, and the need is there.”

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Orr said the need for goods has been steadily increasing over the past six months, and on November 13, the group saw its longest lineup yet.

Member Dawn Tonge said in a post that members of the community have been noticing more ‘new faces’, with individuals coming from Vancouver – all the way up from Ashcroft.

Orr added that the temporary Lonzo Road shelter in Abbotsford, which shut down in late October, also contributed to the growth.

“The number of shelter beds and supportive housing beds is decreasing in both Mission and Abbotsford, putting more people on the streets, living in tents and make-shift shelters,” Tonge wrote. “Our heart breaks seeing people struggling to keep warm and dry.”

The group typically serves 40 to 60 meals during its single-day weekly outreach. That day, they served over 80.

Helping with compassion

The last point-in-time count in Mission showed roughly 175 individuals experiencing homelessness in 2023. In Abbotsford this year, that number spikes to 654, with only 210 active shelter beds.

“We’re frontline volunteers, we’re down in the trenches with these people,” Orr said. “We set up outside of the shelter. There’s tents that are all across the street just down the road, so we are with them, and we don’t turn anybody away.”

The group also helps low-barrier folks, including pensioners and those with low income or who live in subsidized housing.

“We had a fellow come […] that we couldn’t give him nothing. We had ran out of food, we’ve run out of tarps. It’s very hard to leave and go to a nice warm house when someone is standing there soaking wet.”

Helping Hands is unaffiliated with local organizations supporting the marginalized community in Mission. The group supports itself by collecting empties to buy and make warm meals, and by accepting non-food donations from friends and family, as well as from some businesses and nonprofits. Volunteers also offer pet food for those with cats and dogs.

Peanut, the group’s mascot. Her owner was previously unhoused and now brings Peanut down for weekly outreach. / Source: Helping Hands of Mission

“Once you start being with them and talking to them, you get to know them, and they are good souls down at the bottom of all of their addiction and their mental illness,” she continued. “Kindness goes a long way.”

Anyone looking to or needing help can visit them outside the rear of Haven In The Hollow in Logan Avenue on Wednesdays, between 4 and 6 p.m.