Our Club Invests $100,000 in Safe Haven to Give Young Girls Their Future Back
Tom Loucks & Randy Topolnitsky
Our dollars will help build The Community Hub in Havens Harbor, a building being renovated by the Safe Haven Foundation www.safehavenfoundation.ca. The Community Hub will bring together Alumni, Haven’s Harbour and Haven’s Way youth under one roof for opportunities of celebrations, financial literacy lessons, community cooking nights, and learnings from guest speakers. Older Alumni will organically mentor Haven’s Harbour residents who, in turn, can mentor the girls in the Haven’s Way home.
Since 2000 Safe Haven Foundation has been keeping homeless girls off the streets and in school, in a building and program called Havens Way. Havens Harbor, their newest program, is a renovated building providing suites, largely completed, and a lighter touch program of assistance when needed for graduates of Havens Way and others. The girls pay a subsidized rent, have access to bursaries for their post secondary education, and receive other assistance as necessary. Referrals often come from the Boys and Girls club, now called Trellis, which was founded by our club many years ago. The Community Hub we are supporting will contain a community room for educational, celebratory and other gatherings, a kitchen, some study rooms with computer equipment, 2 offices, a gym, and an outdoor deck and garden area.
RCCD's donation is only part of the $317,000 total project cost and should help attract additional donations to complete the project. We have reached out to other Rotary Clubs who have expressed an interest in helping fund this project. An additional outreach to prospective community funding partners will also be conducted.
“Safe Haven provided me with endless love and helped me with learning the basic skills of life like finances, how to apply to university and cooking. Safe Haven gives girls a fighting chance to have a good life, equipping them with the tools they need to strive. It's small so you’re not lost in a crowd. The people really care about you.” J., Haven’s Harbour Resident
Rotary Club of Calgary Members visited the facility recently.
