NEW GLASGOW, N.S.
A permanent homeless shelter is aiming to open its doors on Oct. 1.
Karen MacPhee, chairwoman of Viola’s Place Society, said two volunteer training sessions are being planned for September that will hopefully attract enough people to open the centre for the fall.
The volunteer sessions are planned for Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. and Sept. 11 at 7 pm. at Viola’s Place. People who have expressed interested in volunteering in the past will be contacted or they can show up at the centre on these days.
“We can’t open the shelter until we get the volunteers in place,” said MacPhee. “A lot of people showed interest when we were buying the building.”
The former church and shelter on Marsh Street, New Glasgow, was purchased by the society for $60,000 by the volunteer group Viola’s Place Society following an intense fundraising campaign that saw contributions from business, residents and municipalities.
Since its purchase, the society has expanded its board of directors and has been working on upgrading the building. New, low-flush toilets and shower heads were donated, freezers are in place and office equipment donated by Michelin has been put into the building.
“We have some money left in the bank which we are grateful for,” MacPhee said. “We have an accountant working on charity status for us and we are hoping that will allow us to access funding from different bodies and provide tax receipts.”
The society will look into accessing grant money and is currently searching for a volunteer videographer who is willing to work with the society to develop a video for a possible funding opportunity for the shelter.
In terms of volunteer positions, MacPhee said there is a lot of flexibility and variety for people who want to be involved in helping others. Volunteer positions range from food preparation for meals to monitoring activity at the shelter. There are also positions available for people interested in building maintenance.
“We need some people with building experience to help us out,” she said. “Anyone with building maintenance skills is welcome. We know what needs to be done, but it would be nice to have someone come in and say, ‘this is what you should be concentrating on first.’”
The society will also be accepting clothing and food donations on Sept. 8 and 11 during its training sessions. It is also in need of a small dining room table as well as a fridge in good working order. She said metal bed frames or bunk bed sets are also being accepted.
MacPhee said the shelter will continue to be a work in progress, but the focus is on volunteers because the need for shelter is present now and will be stronger in the future as colder temperatures blanket the county.
“It’s not perfect, but if we had enough volunteers we can wing it. We could put people in (the building) with enough volunteers in place. We will fix what needs to be fixed, but we are definitely steps ahead of where we were.”
Anyone wanting more information about Viola’s Place can contact the society at [email protected].
