The Mustard Seed - Red Deer, Alberta

John M.

The work they do is great, but it's destroying the community around them in the process. The only positive reviews are from those who work there or the volunteers. Soup kitchens should not be in residential neighborhoods period. The park is constantly littered with the homeless leaving piles of garbage, starting fires, doing drugs, and fighting. The city and the seed should really be ashamed to let this happen to any residential neighborhood. I will be adding photos and also taking to social media with my disgust and what the neighborhood has to deal with on a daily basis.

N M.

Management is completely biased, not in it for those in need, just on a power trip. No idea why these types of people get into the human services field when they only care about themselves.

Nick S.

The food is OK. You can get all of the fruit and vegies you want if you ask the volunteers. There is an endless supply of Starbucks desserts and coffee.
Notice all of the five star reviews are from volunteers? Living there is quite another matter! The only requirement is that you are sober when you get there so there are a lot of thieves and murderers there! that cannot be helped; it is just worth noting. The upstairs is always very clean but the downstairs never is! The floors are invariably not ever swept and the bathrooms could always use a good cleaning. The staff never go into the downstairs washrooms so people do meth there! They have no respect for the guests and the guests have no respect for them! Everyone says it is exactly like jail only the food is better and you can go outside. Where are the Christian values or the honour everyone expects from staff and guests? The clientele is in their 40s but so many of the staff is in their 20s with no idea what they are doing. So many of the night staff act like immature little kids because they are too young to know any better! People are turned away for no reason. If the staff say you are drunk, you get kicked out with no breathalyzer and no recourse. The punishments are arbitrary at best. fit. One guy did a lewd sexual act in the huge room where the guys sleep. He got kicked out for three days. The day staff once said they were all sick and needed to go home (so they could watch the westerner days parade.] A blind guy called them out on their many lies and he was sent to safe Harbour for a week! The person who so gleefully sent him there mu there were other more effective punishments, knew full well he would be the most vulnerable person at safe Harbor! A couple of people at Safeharbor did take advantage of his vulnerability and even the staff said it was no place for a blind person. When he was allowed back into the seed, the predator who sent him to safe Harbour took great pride in telling him if he did not shape up, he could get kicked out for two weeks, A month, or indefinitely. Keep in mind there are some superb day staff and night staff, but most of the staff there create opportunities for themselves to be petty and disrespectful. It breeds an atmosphere were the guests are just as petty and disrespectful. It is just a job to most of the stuff. Like any chain restaurant, the mustard seed Chain needs to be broken! The staff are only accountable to people in another city who know nothing of these situations. If a guest writes a complaint, the staff read it before anyone else does! There is no accountability; being a chain, how can there be! And yet the staff are very quick to write reports about the guests, usually where the staff say they are being victimized by the guests. Then they act on their reports and again, the guests have no recourse! there are far too many wolves in sheep‘s clothing!

Like me, there are a lot of guests Who are truly grateful for all of the good and healthy food, Who are humble and grateful about having a roof over their heads, Who could not be more grateful that everything is free and they have nothing to worry about. All too soon they realize how naïve they are. I was there for four months so I will always give credit where credit is due! I’m sure they would rather not have put up with me for four months. Many day staff are the best examples of Christians I have ever seen! Many of the night staff genuinely do care about the welfare of their guests. I will always be grateful I had a place like this to go to. It is needed and more so every day. They do a great service for the homeless community and a lot of the homeless people are ungrateful. Still, I am writing a review about my experience. Well? At least we have a homeless shelter even if it is not run by people who live in this city. The worst thing the mustard seed could’ve done was to become a chain! It seems like the number of homeless people is rising dramatically each year. That needs to be rectified.

laura R.

I absolutely love volunteering here.

Rozalyn V.

Always a joy to work with this group. Between supplying hundreds of lunches to the schools I work in, to providing Christmas support during Covid and more - the staff and this organization really ‘get it’ where it needs to go and right when it needs to get there. Every single time.
Recently I was struggling with a unique problem for vulnerable person and after a few calls to another agency, the Mustard Seed stepped up without question. They were flexible, compassionate and helped get the job done. Period.
Cannot thank them enough.

Tish T.

The musterdseed soup kitchen is ok. Although I believe that the staff are a bit too judgemental towards certain individuals. They tend to center individuals out and deny them access into the building. I don't think that this is a good way to deal with some of the issues. As this action is insulting and hurtful towards these individuals that are people too. Only because they are having hard times and maybe have some issues with addiction. These people need to be treated as they are worth something. Because the addiction is most probably caused from an issue that being isolated and treated as they are not loved or worth being loved. These people are crying out for the respect they urn for. They will only react to what treatment is given to them.. As reaction is only a "normal human" action. So, .I say, .".TREAT OTHERS THE WAY 'YOU' WOULD WANT OTHERS TO TREAT YOU."

Tim H.

Wonderful staff and great food. Volunteers recording me on their phones to their social media is the only thing that made me uncomfortable. And don't expect private space for prayer in this "chapel".

Sammy H.

it is nothing like the previous previews what so ever . if your homeless and you come there to stay head this warning , DO NOT LET ANYBODY KNOW IF YOU HAVE CASH ON HAND , A CEL PHONE OR ANYTHING OF VALUE. before you come there to stay i advise you to put anything of value into a storage locker far away from this place. the food there? there is none . your luckey if they fill the water jug from the tap., there is buns with cheese and sometimes you mite have a thin slab of balogna . this inviroment is very hostile and agressive so take your chances when coming