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From Hope to Home

Last fall, Milton Transitional Housing, an agency dedicated to a goal of eliminating homelessness in Halton Region, was the grateful recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Gay Lea Foundation.

“Our program is unique in that it not only provides shelter to those in need, but it also offers weekly one on one case management support,” explains Executive Director Donna Danielli.

Milton Transitional Housing accepted its first client, renting its first one-bedroom unit, in 2012. Since then, the agency has grown to nine units – ranging from one-bedroom apartments to three bedrooms townhouses. In addition to case management support, the agency offers financial literacy courses as well as access to a monthly fresh food box to all clients.

“Our range of clients is quite diverse,’ says Danielli. “We have had single mothers and their families, two parent families with up to four children, single men and women, newcomer families and senior citizens. All have a history of housing precariousness in common.”

“I truly believe it is the case management support which makes the difference. Having a dedicated case manager who works one on one with you weekly, helping to set and achieve both long and short-term goals and address the issues which caused the initial homelessness gives our clients the tools they need to move forward.”

Milton Transitional Housing has graduated 12 families from the program – all of whom have gone on to long-term stable affordable housing of their own.

“We have had a single mother who used her time with us to go back to school and get the degree she needed to be able to find a job to support her son. We helped a young man graduate high school and assisted him with all his college and tuition grant applications. We provided stable housing for a gentleman experiencing agoraphobia after a traumatic experience and who has since resumed his career as a warehouse manager.

“Sometimes people just need that hand up rather than a hand out. Without grants such as the one we received from Gay Lea Foundation, we wouldn’t be able to do as much as we do. One of our families, who received the support they needed thanks to this grant, will be graduating from our program next March. Working with them and with their church’s help, they will actually be purchasing their first home at that time. The Gay Lea Foundation has been crucial in making that happen for them and for many of our other client’s success.”

 

 

About the Gay Lea Foundation

The Gay Lea Foundation is the official registered charity and collaborative forum for Gay Lea Foods and its members, directors and employees to support families and communities in need. Since receiving charitable status in 2014, the Foundation has provided more than $685,000 in funding support for education, poverty relief and community well-being projects in Canada and around the world. The primary source of funding for the Foundation is an annual $150,000 contribution from Gay Lea Foods, which is supplemented by personal contributions from across the Gay Lea Foods family. Funding applications are assessed twice a year by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, which is comprised of Gay Lea Foods Directors, delegates, dairy producer members and employees.


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