UMEI alumna and students team up to help homeless

REGIONAL — On March 26, 2020, Kingsville native Maylin Tiessen learned that her brother, Nathan Lyman, had died by suicide. In the days that followed, she and her family also discovered that he had been living homeless in Windsor, near the Detroit River.

“It was a really sad part of his death to learn how he had been living,” explained Tiessen.

Lyman, who had worked as a medical laboratory technologist in Northern Ontario, returned home to Essex County in 2014 due to his struggle with mental illness and addiction. After being hospitalized, he became estranged from his family.

“I never could have imagined this would happen to my family,” said Tiessen. “How can a sister and a brother not be in each other’s lives? It is mind-blowing. People who are living homeless may have loving families that, due to a variety of circumstances, just can’t help them.”

The Lyman family, from left, are Tom, Nathan and Linda Lyman and Maylin Tiessen. Tiessen lost her brother last year and the family has started collecting food, clothing and cash donations for Windsor Street Help.

Photos courtesy of UMEI

It was this sentiment that led Maylin and her family to give back.

“A way that my family and I found some peace — some relief to our pain — was focusing our energy on helping other people’s brothers, sisters, children who they can’t help,” explained Tiessen.

Over the past year, her parents have been receiving donations of goods for donation to the Downtown Mission on a regular basis.

However, Maylin wanted to do something special to honour the one-year anniversary of Nathan’s passing. She posted an Instagram story asking for donations of individually packaged snack items for Street Help Windsor, an organization she knew her brother had accessed. She also said she would accept cash or e-transfers.

Chani Wiens, a friend as well as a teacher at Maylin’s former high school, UMEI Christian High School in Leamington, saw this post and asked if her students could help. Maylin recorded a video explaining her story, which was shown to UMEI students.

Grade 10 students from UMEI with some donations. From left are Maylin Tiessen, Mrs. Chani Wiens, Shea Bailey, Cody Konrad, Mason Fittler, Isabel Neufeld and Olivia Coppola.

“I saw this as a perfect opportunity to give back – both to support an alumna, but also the homeless population close to home,” said Wiens, who leads the school’s Faith in Action Club. “Even more so, it was a great way to educate the students about the issues surrounding homelessness, and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.”

Students were immediately touched and responded generously.

“Since the pandemic started, I have noticed an increase in mental health struggles and death by suicide,” said Grade 12 student Simon Enns, “but it has been difficult to know how to help. This opportunity allowed us to feel like we could help those close to home.”

UMEI’s 40 students collected enough items to fill Maylin’s trunk and back seat, as well as over $800 cash. Tiessen also received many items from family and friends and over $700 in e-transfers.

“I can’t believe the power that one Instagram post had!” remarked Tiessen. “It really fills with me with so many emotions to know how many people showed such a passion for paying it forward.”