Nellie’s had a storage problem. Brighter Together built a solution

In recent years, Nellie’s has seen a dramatic shift in demographics — more women are arriving with their children to live in the shelter than ever before. Today, almost half of our current residents are children ranging in age from newborn to 15 years.

There are many challenges with having an influx of children in the shelter. For one, children have very different needs from their mothers and require different programs and services to help them work through the trauma they’ve experienced and the emotions they may be feeling in an age-appropriate way.

Another is more of a logistical challenge. More young children, means the need for more strollers at Nellie’s. But not only do we need more strollers, we also need somewhere to store them. Inside the shelter isn’t an option, because they have to be left in the hallways, which is a fire and safety hazard. And outside isn’t an ideal option either, because they risk being stolen from the yard and are subject to all weather conditions.

Dunya Knezic (who has also supported Nellie’s as a part of the committee that organized Karaoke for a Cause for the last three years) and Blayne Kumar of Bright Immigration decided to find a solution to Nellie’s problem. They formed Brighter Together, a non-profit arm of Bright Immigration, specifically to give Canadian immigrants an opportunity to give back to Canadian charities. Nellie’s became Brighter Together’s first charity of choice.

“Our approach is solutions-based problem solving and when we heard about Nellie’s, we quickly realized that there was no point in giving them strollers if they’re not going to be secured in a space,” says Blayne, owner of Bright Immigration.

“We had to build an outdoor shed.”

Through Brighter Together, they raised over $3000 to build a storage shed that met Nellie’s Shelter’s needs. A cookie cutter shed didn’t offer enough space. So Blayne and Dunya had to think outside the box and custom design and build a taller than average shed that maximized storage area. Construction took place on November 14, 2018. The new shed holds six to nine strollers at a time.

“The spirit behind Brighter Together is not just about donating to a charity,” says Dunya. “Anyone can do that. We are creating an outlet for Canadian immigrants to give back in a meaningful way. And we are so happy that supporting Nellie’s was our first project.”

Thank you Blayne and Dunya! Your generosity and problem-solving skills made a huge difference in the daily lives of the women and their children living at Nellie’s.