A large donation will allow Christian resource centres in Winnipeg and Calgary to hire more staff and continue to build meaningful relationships with the people in the community they serve. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation gifted $3 million to The Salvation Army of Canada at the end of March. The grant will support the Salvation Army Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centres in Calgary and Winnipeg. The resource centres provide services and programs to people affected by low education levels, social isolation, family violence, inadequate employment skills and low coping skills.
Resource centre staff in Winnipeg moved into a brand new building on March 1. The money from the grant allocated for Winnipeg will cover a portion of the new facility's construction costs; provide more youth programming; allow the centre to operate during evenings and weekends; and introduce a new outreach program aimed at seniors.
Wendi Park, director of the resource centre in Winnipeg, says creating new staff positions is key.
"People don't come [to the resource centre] to get fancy things—they want relationships and to be heard and connected to," Park says.
Hundreds of people come through the centre each week to take advantage of a variety of programs including the Life and Employability Program, which offers employment training to war-affected youth between the ages of 15 and 30; Family Foundations, which provides assistance and support to expecting parents and those with infants; English Café, a weekly program where individuals can improve their English and get homework help; a food bank; and a youth drop-in program.
Park says the senior outreach program will be a much-needed addition to the centre, as the neighbourhood has one of the highest populations of seniors in Winnipeg.
"We meet with seniors and we have them come through here, but we don't really have something [right now] targeted to really address the concerns and needs that they have," she says.
Ultimately, Park adds, the goal of the centre and its staff is to journey alongside people so that they can overcome whatever barriers are in front of them.
"We want to be a welcome home to people who are unsettled," she says. "If we can be one stable environment for them, that's what we want to be. We want to give them hope."
Lois Flemming, the Toronto-based director of major gifts and planned giving at The Salvation Army, notes that the W. Garfield Weston Foundation's donation came as the Salvation Army celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Dignity Project, an initiative designed to educate and inform the public about the challenges facing society's most vulnerable people.
"Everyone deserves to be treated with respect," Flemming says. "We feel the programs being operated out of [the] two centres really promote that."
She adds that The Salvation Army is grateful for the donation.
"Canada is very lucky to have a family like [the Westons]," Flemming says. "I think they truly represent the essence of Christian values, not only toward The Salvation Army but obviously toward a lot of other worthy initiatives across the country."
The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is a private Canadian family foundation, established in the 1950s by Willard Garfield Weston and his wife Reta. As a result of the donation, the resource centres have been renamed in honour of the late Barbara Mitchell, the daughter of Garfield Weston.
"Through the work of our family foundation, we are honoured to be continuing our mother's legacy of supporting organizations that care for people in need in communities across Canada," Eliza Mitchell, director of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation, said in a news release.
An official opening event to celebrate the brand new Winnipeg centre is scheduled for July.
Resource centre staff in Winnipeg moved into a brand new building on March 1. The money from the grant allocated for Winnipeg will cover a portion of the new facility's construction costs; provide more youth programming; allow the centre to operate during evenings and weekends; and introduce a new outreach program aimed at seniors.
Wendi Park, director of the resource centre in Winnipeg, says creating new staff positions is key.
"People don't come [to the resource centre] to get fancy things—they want relationships and to be heard and connected to," Park says.
Hundreds of people come through the centre each week to take advantage of a variety of programs including the Life and Employability Program, which offers employment training to war-affected youth between the ages of 15 and 30; Family Foundations, which provides assistance and support to expecting parents and those with infants; English Café, a weekly program where individuals can improve their English and get homework help; a food bank; and a youth drop-in program.
Park says the senior outreach program will be a much-needed addition to the centre, as the neighbourhood has one of the highest populations of seniors in Winnipeg.
"We meet with seniors and we have them come through here, but we don't really have something [right now] targeted to really address the concerns and needs that they have," she says.
Ultimately, Park adds, the goal of the centre and its staff is to journey alongside people so that they can overcome whatever barriers are in front of them.
"We want to be a welcome home to people who are unsettled," she says. "If we can be one stable environment for them, that's what we want to be. We want to give them hope."
Lois Flemming, the Toronto-based director of major gifts and planned giving at The Salvation Army, notes that the W. Garfield Weston Foundation's donation came as the Salvation Army celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Dignity Project, an initiative designed to educate and inform the public about the challenges facing society's most vulnerable people.
"Everyone deserves to be treated with respect," Flemming says. "We feel the programs being operated out of [the] two centres really promote that."
She adds that The Salvation Army is grateful for the donation.
"Canada is very lucky to have a family like [the Westons]," Flemming says. "I think they truly represent the essence of Christian values, not only toward The Salvation Army but obviously toward a lot of other worthy initiatives across the country."
The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is a private Canadian family foundation, established in the 1950s by Willard Garfield Weston and his wife Reta. As a result of the donation, the resource centres have been renamed in honour of the late Barbara Mitchell, the daughter of Garfield Weston.
"Through the work of our family foundation, we are honoured to be continuing our mother's legacy of supporting organizations that care for people in need in communities across Canada," Eliza Mitchell, director of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation, said in a news release.
An official opening event to celebrate the brand new Winnipeg centre is scheduled for July.
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