Ruth Suarez - 50 Stories for 50 Years (Story # 9)
When Ruth Suárez arrived in Vancouver from Mexico twenty-five years ago, she wanted to find community and gain some Canadian experience. A friend suggested she volunteer at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House. What she discovered here was a sense of home she'd been missing.
Shirley worked at the front desk, a warm presence who shared her lunch when Ruth was struggling and leaned on Ruth just as easily when she needed a hand herself.
“She was so welcoming,” Ruth remembers. “'Ruthie, Ruthie!,' she’d call.”
“I'm so grateful for Shirley.”
If Shirley showed Ruth how warm a neighbourhood house could be, Morie showed her how far one person will go.
Morie Ford, MPNH's Family Literacy Outreach Coordinator, has an incredible drive to make things happen for the people who need it most. Ruth has watched her secure opportunities and funding. She'll get money for food hampers, ask Ruth for the names of moms who need food now, and turn out fifty, delivering them by hand if she has to. And she'll ask Ruth to recommend women from the Spanish-speaking Nobody's Perfect Parenting group for English classes.
“They had zero English,” Ruth says, “and now they're speaking in English.”
Then Morie did something Ruth says she can never repay. When school wasn’t working for Ruth's youngest son and no one seemed to be listening, Morie sat down with her and built a plan: a dedicated tutor every week, a place in the Saturday Homework Club at Youth Programs, a whole team standing behind him.
“She turned it around,” Ruth says. “A hundred percent.” A class he had been failing, he passed. “Now he has hope. He has dreams. He sees what I see in him.”
“She's an amazing, amazing lady,” Ruth says of Morie. “A giant ray of sunshine.”
Today, Ruth is MPNH's Seniors Food Programmer and Family Support Worker. The newcomer who found family now works incredibly hard to offer that same welcome to others.
“I wanted to make the way easier for newcomers,” she says. “Because I went through it.”
Ruth’s history at MPNH has taught her that she is one of many deeply motivated to helping others.
“We're not here for the money,” she says. “We care. We want to make a difference in other people's lives.”
Ruth’s hope for the next 50 years is that MPNH continues to be:
“Full of love, support, acceptance. A welcoming place. A Neighbourhood House filled with people who care.”
Story written by Signy Marcyniuk through an interview with the participant during her practicum placement at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.
50 Stories for 50 Years at MPNH is a collection of meaningful stories that celebrate the lasting impact our Neighbourhood House has had over the years. These stories come from long-time participants, families, youth, volunteers, community members, and regular visitors whose lives have been touched, supported, or transformed through our programs, services, and connections at the House.
