Back in December, we hosted holiday parties for the women and their children living at Nellie’s. The holidays can be a difficult time when you are in living in a shelter, and we do what we can to make it cheery and bright with delicious food and small gifts. I had the pleasure of helping to give out some of these gifts—care packages filled with essential items and little luxuries that we were able to put together because of the generous gifts-in-kind donated by all of you in our community.
As I handed a package to one woman, she was overcome with tears of joy. She told me that she and her 16-year-old son had come to Toronto from an abusive home in Northern Ontario. In their short time at Nellie’s, he was now thriving at school and she had started a job as an executive assistant. The two would be moving on in the early new year, as Nellie’s staff had helped them secure housing, and this generous care package would help them get settled, she said.
She thanked me through her tears. I looked at her and said that we are just the conduit making a delivery from the compassionate people in our community; it is them who are thinking of you and sending you their best wishes.
Months later, this woman’s story has stuck with me. As the pandemic rolls into its third year, the care and compassion from everyone in our community has been inspiring. Across the city, the province, the country, and even the world, we are all sick and tired of being sick and tired of COVID-19. The staff at Nellie’s feel no different. But you give us, and the women and their children living at Nellie’s, a much-needed lift, not just over the holidays, but all year round.
With every generous gift-in-kind dropped at our shelter, every creative fundraiser in honour of Nellie’s, every care package lovingly wrapped and every volunteer hour selflessly given, you are helping us change the trajectory of lives.
At the end of February after numerous pandemic-related construction delays, we finally moved out of our old shelter and into the beautiful new building we now call home. With its 40 beds over 22 bedrooms (each with their own bathroom) and ample program spaces and common areas, we will now be able to make an even bigger impact on the lives of the women and their children who need us. The complexity of needs amongst those who come to Nellie’s is evolving, and because of your generosity, we can continue to evolve our supports.
The move means that we are now all once again under one roof. Since Spring 2020, for pandemic health and safety reasons, half of our residents had been living in the shelter and the other half had been living in a nearby hotel with our staff working out of both locations. With all of our staff together again, we have stronger communication between us and a better understanding of everyone’s successes and challenges as we expand our programs and services.
One such new program is Rock and Water, an internationally-recognized program that decreases bullying and depressive feelings and increases self-esteem, self-regulation and social acceptance in children and teens. Several of our staff were certified last fall, and we are thrilled to soon be the first organization to bring it to Canada.
We are excited by the promise of new growth, new opportunities and new accomplishments in store for us at Nellie’s. Thank you for your ongoing and continuing support; it is what makes everything we do possible.
