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About Us
Mission Statement
"Recognizing the dignity and worth of every person; we pledge
compassionate and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and
injustice. We will work to build a caring community where all people,
without regard to national origin or religious persuasion, may live in
freedom, harmony and trust."
Purpose
The Community Care Network Society is a not-for-profit organization that
provides food, furniture, professional skill development, mentoring and
support services to residents of Halifax Regional Municipality.
Goals
- To improve the quality of life for families who come to us with
proven needs. We provide the basic essentials necessary for reasonable
living conditions - items such as food, furniture and other household
items.
- We help those in need to be able to provide themselves with the
tools to become self-sufficient.
- To assist clients in a pleasant, supportive environment where all
people are treated equally without any prejudice towards race,
ethnicity, language or religion.
- To help people overcome obstacles preventing them from achieving
their full potential, through educational training and provision of the
basic necessities of life, health and well-being.
- To help with resources to relieve the financial burden, which will,
in turn, strengthen family life.
- To support efforts to improve our environment by decreasing the
amount of salvageable furniture entering landfills sites.
History
The Parker Street Food Bank was established in 1983 in Halifax, Nova
Scotia as a non-profit charitable organization designed to help provide
food to low-income families. It has grown substantially from its humble
beginnings as a food bank operating out of a single-car garage. It now
services an average of 250 families per week with supplemental and
emergency groceries.
In 1995, The Parker Street Food Bank expanded to also include a
furniture bank when it was recognized that there was a great need for
such a program. The two operations were carried on in different
locations in the city until in 1999 a two-story warehouse in the city
core was purchased and the operations were merged for greater efficiency
and effectiveness. Extensive renovations were required over a 1½-year
period. In January of 2001, a fire destroyed the contents of the upper
floor and the entire building suffered smoke and water damage. The
restoration was completed and the Grand Opening took place in October
2001.
In 2001 we implemented a computer-training course in partnership
with the Nova Scotia Community College. Courses cover specific programs in basic
Microsoft applications. We also began our computer-recycling program,
reconstructing donated computers to working order for classroom and
student use at home, and those in need as available.
In 2003, we were able to purchase another building so that we could
further expand our organization. This building provided room to expand
warehousing, and food and furniture bank operations. Since 2003, the
space is the home of our Skills Development Training Centre, where our
Flooring Installation and Inventory Control programs take place.
Affiliations
The Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank is pleased to cooperate and be
affiliated with many social service agencies in the Halifax Regional
Municipality. Please take the time to visit our
Partners
page - without them we could not do what we do.
Our Board of Directors
Mel Boutilier (Chair), Dennis Graves, Humphrey Longard, Wayne Loxdale,
Paul Uffindell, Lydia White.
Our Advisory Board
| Advisory Board list is
being updated. |
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Our Staff
Mel Boutilier (Executive Director), Sharon Brown (Assistant to Executive
Director), Ralph McClair (Skills Development), Nora MacNee
(Administration), Eric Smyth (Fundraising),
Sarah Nelson (Marketing/PR).
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