According to the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia the number of persons identifying as being homeless continues to grow. Well Engineered, the company building the 8x8 building code complaint temporary shelters, wants to build more units and is looking for land opportunities to house them. The Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax and Yarmouth installed 20 emergency shelters on church grounds. Christ Church in Dartmouth, in collaboration with the Elizabeth Fry Society, has installed two such shelters beside its parish hall. According to Kevin Hopper, Manager of Partnerships
& Community Development at United Way Halifax, deploying these shelters “provides us with a way to invest housing dollars into an asset that can be repurposed over time, as opposed to hotel stays where the cost is high and the money is lost.” Kevin wants to talk with any organization with suitable land (e.g. parking lot, empty land, or yard adjacent to an existing building) and an interest in the possibility of siting a shelter. Contact Kevin at KHooper@unitedwayhalifax.ca to know more.
The Face of Poverty Consultation has developed a four part anti-racism study entitled Facing Uncomfortable Truths. The study draws inspiration from the work of The Reverend Dr. Bryan Massingale, the James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics at Fordham University, New York. A forum held at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York entitled The Assumptions of Whiteness and the Challenge of Discipleship and Dr. Massingale's written articles can be accessed at
To obtain a copy of the study send a request to Andy Sherin, Diocesan Basic Needs Ministry at nspeijustice@gmail.com
(Photo Caption "Two 8x8 code compliant shelters for women without housing at Christ Church in Dartmouth.")