Souls Harbour Rescue Mission was just awarded the $100,000 top prize from the Aviva Community Fund, a group that gives out $1 million a year to charitable community initiatives across Canada.
More than 12,000 people voted for Souls Harbour to receive the funding. Co-founder Michelle Porter is calling it “the best Christmas gift ever.”
“The affordable housing is a crisis for sure in Halifax because the waiting lists are extremely long," Porter says. “Now we'll be able to add a sleeping loft to our second floor."
Porter and her husband Ken founded Souls Harbour in Regina 17 years ago before bringing the charity to Halifax in 2010. The mission provides up to 190 hot meals six days a week, and also runs a smaller drop-in centre in Bridgewater.
It also offers clothing, Internet access, haircuts, bible studies and other services.
"We have a place that cares for people. Nothing’s perfect, but at least it’s here. If it wasn't here, people would starve," says Judy Deal, a client of Souls Harbour.
The latest prize will go towards the construction of a men's shelter, including washrooms, showers and sleeping lofts for 12 to 24 men who need assistance because of homelessness or other issues.
"We're calling it a recovery shelter and that's a unique program in that we're just going to work with men in the margins who are homeless, not just because they don't have a house but because they have other problems, whether it be mental illness, addiction, or just life and social skills," says Porter.
Souls Harbour has won this award twice before. In 2014 they renovated their kitchen, and in 2015 they added a dining room.
“The exposure it's given us in the community has been fantastic. We've got a commercial kitchen, we've made this space not only beautiful, but 100 per cent accessible,” Porter says.
And they're not wasting any time getting started. Plans for the extension are already being drawn up, and they hope to begin construction in early January.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Allan April.
