Our Programs
Office Hours: 9 AM - 2 PM Monday through Friday
Breakfast: 7 AM - 9 AM Monday through Saturday
Clothing Bank: 9 AM - 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM - 2 PM Monday and Wednesday
Food Bank: 10 AM - Noon, Thursday (call 423-4605 to pre-register on Wednesday)
Benevolent Support: 9 AM - 2 PM, Tuesday and Thursday
Tax Returns: By appointment
Breakfast Program
The Brunswick Street Mission is located in an area of the Halifax Regional Municipality where most services and supports can be found, including 4 of the 6 emergency shelters in the region. Over time, the many organizations providing services have formed a continuum of support for persons who are homeless or vulnerable to homelessness. Brunswick Street Mission’s role is to ensure a hot breakfast is served 6 days a week.
While some are just “passing through”, many of our guests will need support for a more extended
period, and become well known to us. Many suffer from multiple health issues, with mental illnesses
and addictions being common. Learning disabilities, physical disabilities, histories of family violence and
criminal records are also common.
The Mission goes beyond a hot meal. Thanks to the caring volunteers, a multi-denominational Pastoral Support Team, and visiting healthcare professionals, supportive relationships are developed. Through these relationships and by accessing other programs, both within and beyond the Mission, individuals can be supported through their personal journeys toward wellness.
In 2008, we served 20,200 breakfasts or an average of almost 1700 a month and more than 60 a day.
We can count the number of meals we serve. Some day we hope to count the number of persons who have found hope, who have, with support, found the strength to escape an addiction, enter the workforce, or learned to cope with a mental illness.
Food Bank
The Brunswick Street Mission hosts a food bank. Most of the food is donated through Feed Nova Scotia, but private donations help us to “top-up” and meet special dietary requirements.
A food bank cannot not supply all of a person’s needs but rather aims to insure that in an emergency a person will not go hungry. As indicated earlier, Income Assistance and minimum wage rates are not
adequate resulting in a chronic need for food banks.
As many of our guests are seniors or disabled and had trouble with stairs, the food bank was relocated to the main floor in 2008. This has resulted in greater integration between our different services and has opened more opportunities for visitors to become involved. Our guests make coffee and tea for each other, set up the waiting area, and help unload the delivery truck. Food bank day is now as much a social event as it is a critical support.
In 2008, the Food Bank Provided groceries to 60 to 65 households each month.
Why are Nova Scotians using food banks?
Nova Scotians may experience financial hardship and food insecurity for reasons such as job loss, medical crises, or family breakup. However, HungerCount 2008, a comprehensive report on hunger and food bank use in Canada, reports that insufficient income is the single most important variable influencing hunger in Canada. Increasingly, working Nova Scotians find themselves turning to food banks to make ends meet.
Clothing Bank
The Brunswick Street Mission has operated a clothing bank for at least 40 years. It is one of the last
organizations in the area that does not sell donated items, giving each item as freely as it was given to us.
Generous amounts of clothing and small household items are donated, sometimes by the truckload! Numerous groups and individuals also help to collect specific items, such as a local radio station that runs a Coats-for-Kids program. The clothing centre is open 2 days a week and occupies a space that was once a gym. The gym is now over-filled with boxes are stacked as high as the ladders will reach. Since donated items often come to us out-of-season, the volunteer team that manages it has extraordinary logistics skills! In-season items are laid out in bins or hung on racks, and visitors are welcomed to browse.
The Christmas hamper and gift programs are also run through the clothing bank.
The clothing bank is open 2 days each week, and welcomes an average of 40 visitors each day.
Tax Returns
Through the contributions of a qualified volunteer, we are able to offer an Income Tax Return service to our community. Most of our participants have such a low income that they qualify for little beyond the GST rebate. However, failure to file can have serious repercussions, including disqualifying an individual from Income Assistance.
While volunteer tax clinics are held elsewhere (libraries, seniors residences, etc.), our clients often have difficulty collecting the information they need for one of these clinics. Extra support and an accepting non-threatening environment are critical to the population we serve.
In 2008, 54 persons received assistance with Income Tax Returns, almost triple the number from 2007.
Benevolent Program
Crisis and Special Needs Financial Support.
Sometimes a relatively small amount of assistance can help to avert a crisis. For instance, for the price of a prescription or medical device, we can prevent a health crisis. Equally important, we also help with special needs that can contribute to positive change.
In 2008, almost $15,000 was distributed through the benevolence program.
This number does not reflect the true amount of support provided to families and individuals. A complex set of relationships and supports lies hidden in this figure. Through coordination with other agencies and churches, we can assist an individual with significant need to access several funds without having to go through the same process in each place. By building relationships with service providers such as dentists, we can access pro-bono support for some clients.
One of the most important aspects of this work is in assessing and assisting the client beyond the immediate crisis. For example, when a person cannot pay their electric bill, we do not just pay it for them, we assess for them whether it’s going to be an ongoing problem. The Benevolent Coordinator may teach clients to budget, encourage them to enter a Trustee Program, access other services, negotiate with the power company and otherwise strengthen the client’s ability to self-manage.
Occasionally, we have an opportunity to invest in a person who is ready to move forward in life. A bus ticket or airfare can improve a person’s employability when their skills are not in demand here, or it can give a family safe refuge and a new life away from an abuser. A pair of steeltoe work-boots, assistance with a resume, tuition, and even union dues can sometimes be the difference between unemployment and leading a productive life.
We also help solve countless small problems including replacing ID or assistance with local transportation.
Over 600 bus tickets were provided in 2008.
Trusteeship Program
The Trustee program provides financial stewardship for individuals who have a history of challenges
managing their limited income. Many of these individuals have experienced mental disorders including
addiction, learning disabilities, and chronic psychosis. Many have experienced homelessness and many
more would be at risk of homelessness if this service were not available.
Besides assisting with money management, the Mission helps find housing and provides individualized support with life skills. Depending on need, clients may receive coaching in areas such as budgeting, resume writing and interview skills. Clients are also assisted with problem solving and setting goals, and we can often help to connect with other services and supports that will help them achieve their
goals.
In 2008, we served an average of 140 clients each month and a total of 216 throughout the year.
Christmas Programs
The Brunswick Street Mission makes an extra effort to share goodwill throughout the holiday season.
Beginning early in December, we organize and provide “turkey and all the trimmings” packages to almost 100 families and individuals, including delivery to several shut-ins.
The clothing centre collects suitable items all year round and sets up a “Christmas Shop” in December. In 2008, gifts were provided to 139 people, including 78 children.
Our final holiday celebration occurs on Christmas Eve. After a long day in the Kitchen, we open our doors to the community for a full traditional Christmas Dinner. In 2008, dinner was served to almost 200 guests, primarily persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.