Help your neighbours thrive by giving to our annual appeal.
By giving to West Neighbourhood House this year, you will support neighbours to pursue dreams and contend with today’s economic reality. You will also make it possible for the House to continue addressing social issues like housing affordability, social exclusion, and mental health.
Together, we can help people thrive and deal with hard times!
Show your support by using this form or visiting westnh.org/donate.
Another (totally free!) way to help is by sharing this post on social media and making sure you and everyone you know is signed up to receive our newsletter at westnh.org/newsletter.
Please take a moment to read these words from our Board president, Emily Paradis.
Dear Friend,
I hope you will join me in providing financial support for the community work of West Neighbourhood House. Your generosity will make a world of difference to so many individuals in our community.
Here’s who benefits from your support
The 12,000 plus people participating in programs and community development activities of West NH represent the fantastic diversity of Toronto, including:
- very young people to the very old
- Canadian-born people to people born far away
- many Indigenous nations
- many different racialized communities
- people with differing abilities
- varied sexual identities and gender expressions
- different religious beliefs
Despite this diversity, most people we work with share a common problem of low income. For example, some program members are trying to survive on the single welfare annual rate of $8,796, while others struggle at minimum wage. Poverty always has been a terrible local and global problem but now rents and food prices are escalating quickly, creating a new level of hardship.
What West Neighbourhood House does
West NH cannot put money into people’s pockets but we can and do provide additional supports such as:
- helping with tax filing so people can maximize their income. Last year we helped 2,565 people get over $5.9 million owed to them through tax credits, benefits, subsidies, and income supplements.
- reducing people’s personal costs by providing access to hot water showers and laundry and computers and internet (in our Meeting Place for homeless people) as well as affordable food (via our garden markets and our Meals on Wheels home deliveries).
For many people, just as important is how West NH activities help them feel less isolated and lonely. The prolonged COVID pandemic kept people further apart physically than ever before, but our staff team and diverse community members stayed connected via group activities:
- by phone (seniors);
- online (all ages);
- outdoors in parks (pre-schoolers, seniors); and
- in our in-person programs that continued to operate indoors (Meeting Place drop-in for homeless people, After-school Program for kids, Adult Day Program for frail seniors).
In addition, our case management staff and Personal Support Workers supported 1,674 individuals with one-to-one attention and care. The home care provided by our Personal Support Workers and program assistants has helped people with medical conditions or frailty avoid premature institutionalization – which benefits them and their families as well as our hospital and long-term care systems. I can vouch for the value of this support, based on my own family’s experience.
While our programs are very important, the ultimate goal of West Neighbourhood House is to change the conditions that drive the need for such services. We want to see an end to poverty, discrimination, social exclusion, and polarization. We work hard to get at the root causes of these harmful conditions with our public policy work and advocacy. If you are interested in learning more or joining in our advocacy work, please contact our Community Relations Coordinator, Rui Martins, at ruima@westnh.org.
Thank you for your past support. I hope we can count on your continued generosity. Together, we can rebuild a community that is strong, resilient, and better able to lift up the most vulnerable. You can give online at westnh.org/donate.
Sincerely,
Emily Paradis
Volunteer President, West Neighbourhood House Board of Directors
P.S. Please consider becoming a monthly donor. It’s convenient, quick and environmentally friendly.