Sue Carr: At The Intersection Of Chaplaincy, Health And Food
The story of a social enterprise restaurant traversing a global pandemic.
Today on HowNow we get to know Sue Carr. Sue is the current Executive Director of the social enterprise restaurant called 541 Eatery and Exchange. She is also a reluctant pastor at the Meeting Place: a messy church for non-churchy people. In addition to being a mother and grandma, she has a varied history in healthcare, with an undergrad in pharmacology and a masters in theology. Coming to Canada in 1984 from the UK, she has worked as a hospital Chaplain for Hamilton Health Sciences, Mission Services and Stonechurch Family Practice.
By the time of the Coronavirus pandemic, Sue was already well versed with adaptation, pandemics, and serving her community. Coming from a healthcare background, she adapted many times to changes in governmental policy as her career and family life were forced to pivot around obstacles put in her path by one funding decision after another.
She talks us through these pivots, the differences they made to her ultimate career choice and the solid foundation it gave her as the director of 541 to make a unilateral decision to close and stay closed when faced with the Covid-19 pandemic. Her experience during SARS in hospital settings had led her to an understanding of the ways 541 could continue to serve its community, while prioritizing the health of both staff and valued customers.
Listen to the episode now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or directly on our website!
As always, a reminder to please rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts and tell your friends.
A big thanks to Sue, Neil Woodley for graphic design, Tom Hammerton and Tyler Bersche for creating our theme, Amos the Kid for the music and all of you for listening!
You can follow us wherever you find your podcasts, next episode airs April 14th.
Until next time, keep adapting.