Community bingo night offers belonging to struggling Windsor, Ont., residents

Sitting around the table for bingo night at the Streetlight Community Centre in Windsor, Ont., you get the feeling you're sitting with a big, boisterous family. 

Bingo night is free to play and open to the community in a nondescript building on Wyandotte Street East. It's been running for about the last two months, says coordinator Ashley Shepley.

The goal? To give people a welcoming and comfortable space for their community in the evenings. 

"We were getting a lot of feedback about how people are bored and they don't have anything to do out here and then they end up engaging in other things that aren't necessarily healthy practices in life, right?," Shepley said. 

"I think it's really important to offer these free, healthy opportunities for folks to enjoy things they like."

Throughout the evening, Shepley ferries bowls of soup and snacks from the small kitchen, welcoming each new person while keeping a watchful eye on the crowd. 

Meanwhile, a competitive game of bingo is ongoing.

Adrienne Brown, a volunteer, is at the front of the room working an app on her phone that calls the numbers, while she keeps track of numbers and winners. There are some sought-after prizes, including a plush throw blanket. 

Shepley says Streetlight is open to, and attracts, people from all walks of life. Some are homeless, either temporarily or chronically. Others are in community or low-income housing or treatment homes, in need of community and a positive space to be.

It's less of a community and more like a family.- Bryce Rocha, Windsor resident

"I started coming because I was lonely and I just wanted to get involved in things," said Bryce Rocha, who lives in one of the downtown Glengarry buildings. 

"Everyone kind of has each other's back, where it's a pretty safe area, which is good, in contrast to the building that I live in where it's not very good ... it's less of a community and more like a family. We all just kind of watch out for each other."

The community centre opened its doors in the Wyandotte Street East space in July, and doesn't involve the city's housing and homelessness hub or the Downtown Mission, according to Shepley — both of which she calls important services. 

"We had absolutely no idea ... we went in blind just knowing that there was a gap that needed to be filled and we're going to figure it out along the way," she said. "So far it has been a place of belonging, connection ... we're offering less of a facility drop-in and more of a family place where you can feel belonging and loved. 

"We can sit together and heal together. And now we get to play together too, right?"

The prizes are all donated by the community, and sometimes by fellow players. 

Adrienne Brown helped corral bingo players on Monday night. 

"I like the people. I like the environment," she said of why she volunteers. "It feels good. It's homey and a lot of these people I know, they're from my community, from the Glengarry area.

"This is the time that we get to hang out together. There's not really much to do around here. So I appreciate this place for being open and just being family, you know?"

Don St. Onge says he graduated from the Downtown Mission into housing a few years ago. At bingo he was hoping to win a prize for his niece's birthday — and was successful, taking home a necklace and earring set. 

Throughout the week the Streetlight Community Centre is open for coffee and ministry. They also have group sessions like trauma education and domestic skill-building like cooking.

Shepley said in the future she hopes they can offer more opportunities, like game nights and karaoke. 

"Those things would be really beneficial for our community, I think, especially because they're free, they're sober, and they're accepting," she said.

"That's really what the main focus here is: acceptance. Not necessarily [agreement], but acceptance."