Hope Mission holds easter banquet at temporary emergency shelter

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“Especially during holidays like this, it’s a time where community members it can be a bit extra hard if you’re going through a really tough time. You think about your loved ones or the things you’re missing in your life, so to have a special dinner it’s something we wanted to put on for our community members.”

Feeding those who need it

Hope Mission holds easter banquet at temporary emergency shelter

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At the banquet they provided pizza for approximately 150 people as over the last few nights they’ve had 130 to 140 people staying at the shelter.

In addition, they provide three meals a day during the week and on the weekends, two meals a day.

Approximately two weeks ago, Hope Mission took over operations of the temporary shelter during a ceremonial handoff from Safe Harbour.

Driedger said the shelter has a capacity of approximately 200 people with the potential for surge capacity if needed. This way, they can add more sleeping space for more people if they need it.

“I was here on the first day when people were just first starting to arrive and chatting with some of the community members they seemed hopeful and optimistic about the shelter,” he said. “I know they shared with me that safety was a big concern for them so they felt hopeful about they understood Hope Mission was providing.”

They also offering services that are continuing from before including home care, recovery coaching, a rapid response team, and more.

They officially opened its doors on April 1 and so far, Driedger said there’s been some wrinkles along the way as expected when starting a new operation. They also want to help connect people to things like housing and are working on adding some healthcare staff to provide medical care.

However, he said they’ve felt support from the community.

“Even in the lead up time before the transition, Safe Harbour was a really good partner in helping with the move so we’re really grateful for their support,” he said.

“There’s always some speedbumps along the way but I think we’re getting there and we’re getting some help… Shelters meet the immediate need, but really they’re a service hub. It’s about getting people to take their next step toward healing.”