Community & Alumni Blog
John Neufeld: Helping others belong
John Neufeld is one of four people who will receive CMU's 2014 Blazer Distinguished Alumni Award at Fall Festival this weekend. The awards celebrate alumni who, through their lives, embody CMU's values and mission of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.
John Neufeld knows what it's like to be an outsider.
John Neufeld today.
In 1981, Neufeld's family immigrated to Canada from Russia. The transition was difficult for Neufeld, who was seven at the time.
"The playground at school was not a gentle place for me," he recalls.
Church was a safe place to express himself and explore his interests. He decided to study at Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC), one of CMU's predecessor institutions, because he wanted to receive biblical training for one year before moving on to become a math teacher.
"I thought it could be my way of giving back to the church—go for one year and do training so that I could serve the church in a lay perspective."
Neufeld ended up staying at CMBC for three years and graduated with a Bachelor of Theology in 1995.
He valued his time at CMBC because it allowed him to not only study theology, but other subject areas as well. He appreciated receiving practical opportunities at the college, like pastoral internships and a volunteer position with a Mennonite Central Committee program that works with prisoners. These opportunities allowed Neufeld to incorporate the theory he was learning in the classroom into everyday life.
At the same time, Neufeld was inspired by the faculty and staff at the college.
"The passion they had for what they were teaching and for the church made a significant impression on me," he says. "It wasn't just what they taught, but how they taught and who they were, that really inspired me."
During his time at CMBC, Neufeld realized a career as a math teacher wouldn't be a good fit. In the meantime, he had developed interests in psychology and helping people.
These interests eventually led him to earn a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto, after which he spent 11 years working in foster care.
Later, Neufeld went back to school at Wilfrid Laurier University and earned a Master of Business Administration. He knew he could do great work on the frontlines as a social worker, but he also wondered how he might be able to effect change on a systemic level. Earning his MBA was a step toward that.
"I wanted to be in a position of influence to make change," he says.
Today, Neufeld is the executive director of House of Friendship, a charitable social service agency in Waterloo, Ontario that annually serves more than 42,000 women, men, youth, and children living on low income. He is married to Andrea Shantz Neufeld, and they have two children: Micah, 11, and Mikayla, 9. The family is a part of Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener.
At House of Friendship, Neufeld oversees 150 team members and 1,000 volunteers that help the organization carry out its mission to strengthen "people and communities by being there when needed, speaking up, and working together."
House of Friendship has 18 programs that focus on supporting healthy lives through addiction services; feeding and assisting those in need through community services; building strong families and strong communities through family services; and providing shelter and supportive housing through residential services.
Neufeld says that for him, the work is personal.
"I don't think it's accidental that I worked with foster kids for 11 years, or that I do the work that I'm doing now," he says, adding that House of Friendship's vision is for "a healthy community where all can belong and thrive."
"When (my family) immigrated, I knew what it was like not to belong—that was made very clear to me. I think it's critical to our common humanity that we all feel we belong, so I want to be engaged in work that makes people feel they belong."
House of Friendship's core values are inspired by the Christian faith, and Neufeld enjoys his work because it combines the three things he's studied: theology, social work, and business.
"I could be preaching on a Sunday, in business meetings the following morning, and having a clinical social work discussion with one of our social workers in the afternoon. I feel very blessed to serve at an organization where I'm able to live out my different passions."
When CMU President Cheryl Pauls contacted Neufeld to tell him he was up for the Blazer Distinguished Alumni Award, he was surprised.
He sees accepting it not as an acknowledgment of his own accomplishments, but rather as a way to honour the CMBC professors who impacted his life as well as the good work that CMU continues to do.
"Do I feel I'm distinguished? I'm not convinced about that."
He may not be, but we are.
The other three recipients of the 2014 Blazer Distinguished Alumni Awards are Kathy Bergen (CMBC '72), Lorlie Barkman (MBBC '90), and Odette Mukole (CMU '07). Read about Mukole here, and look for articles about Bergen and Barkman coming in the next few days.
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