The year may be ending, but new solutions to homelessness are just beginning!
We’ve been hanging out at our facebook page lately and so long overdue with an update of what’s new at RainCity.
While our ‘Streetmelt’ campaign didn’t make it to the finals, it did generate a lot of interest and support in this social enterprise idea. It’s now in a redevelopment stage and we would love any creative, logistical or financial input that would take it closer to becoming a reality. Call or email us!
On November 21, we had a Folding Party for our annual appeal. The gorgeous package was conceived and designed by Flipside Creative – all for free! And many of their staff, along with several other volunteers, made up the Folding Party group that assembled 6000 packages. Thank you, Flipside, and our volunteers that made this happen. Maybe one of your neighbours got one in the mail. Or maybe you did. Tell us what you think!
Our Donor Recognition Event on Nov 28 was warm, well attended and wonderful. We decorated Heritage Hall on Main Street with art hanging from clotheslines, made grill cheese sandwiches fresh right in the hall, had a park bench and street buskers – we brought the outside inside. Let us know what you thought if you attended, and thank you once again to all of our donors.
You might have heard in the news that all three of our temporary shelters are now up and running and each one filled up within days of opening. That’s 120 people that are now inside and no longer living on the street or in other unsafe situations. One is a reopened location, 1442 Howe Street, and opened on Dec 5. The other two are new; the Marble Arch opened on Dec 15 and is a renovated Hotel at 518 Richards with the shelter set up in what was once the pub, and the other is at 2950 Prince Edward, near Mount St Joseph’s Hospital, and opened on Dec 21.
Earlier this month we found out we were chosen to design and run a supported housing development in Coquitlam. It will be two programs – a 30 bed emergency shelter, and a transitional housing program with 30 studio suites for folks that are homeless. But it will be crucial to build healthy relationships with our partners, our neighbours and the larger community and we look forward to doing just that.
So thank you to all that made all of the above possible this past year. It takes more than a building, or a nonprofit, or even a city to end homelessness. It takes all of us.
What will you do to end homeless in 2012?
