Back in 2006, when I took on the position of Executive Director of Nellie’s, I had two dreams for our future—to move the shelter into a new space and to enrich the management structure in order to build our capacity and supportive services. Today, as I prepare to retire from work in 2020, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and grandchildren knowing that both of those dreams have become a reality for the women and their children living at Nellie’s, and for our dedicated staff and volunteers who create a caring and supportive environment every day.
For almost half a century, Nellie’s has sheltered women and children in a beautiful, historic residential building. But for many years now, we have wished to improve the living conditions and offer greater accessibility for those in our shelter. Our space, after all, was designed for 16 beds, not 40, meaning the women and their children living here have little privacy. They share nine bedrooms and three bathrooms and the building has no elevators, making the ground floor bedroom the only one that is accessible.
Finding the right building to transform into Nellie’s new home took many years. It needed to be accessible to everyone, have the space to offer privacy to our residents and still retain the charm, comforts and homey feeling of our current building.
It was a difficult wish list to fulfil but one that I never gave up on. And, in late 2020, we will move into a newly renovated fully accessible Victorian home close to the same neighbourhood as our existing shelter. It will have 22 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms, multiple common living areas, space dedicated for children’s programming, bedrooms for women who bring their pets and the private spaces our staff need to have confidential and sensitive conversations with our residents.
As we make the physical move to a new space, we’re also continuing to make a transformative move with respect to our management structure. In the last decade, we have initiated several management structure reviews to determine the most effective ways to build our capacity and supportive services. While we’ve maintained our administrative support, we’ve increased our capacity to fundraise in order to better provide programs and services to the women and their children who come to Nellie’s. Government funding ensures a roof over our heads, beds to sleep in and other essentials—and is what is helping to make our new home’s renovations possible—but the essential programs and services we deliver every day to meet the changing and complex needs of our community are possible because of generous grants and bequest, fundraising events and individual donations.
Our board, under the leadership of co-chairs Sherece Taffee and Donna Kellway, continues to rise to the challenge and is committed to implementing the direction outlined in the most recent strategic review. For Nellie’s to continue to grow and thrive, they will continue to build a strong foundation to propel us to the next level.
I truly believe that only great things are ahead for Nellie’s.
