Committed to improving social conditions for immigrants, these churches accompanied their relief efforts with a strong cultural message. Mission programs emphasized Anglo-Saxon values and Protestant Christian beliefs. Activities ranged from providing charitable donations, like food hampers, to offering Sunday school lessons, advice on sanitation, and “Fresh Air” summer camps for the children of the poor. Health care for immigrant women and children was, perhaps, the most important contribution of the missions. JS Woodsworth, who in 1933 was elected the first leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, directed the work of the Stella Avenue Mission from an adjoining house between 1907 and 1913. At the beginning of the First World War, he left Winnipeg and did not return until the General Strike was in progress.

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