COCHRANE— Offering financial support to community non-profits, the Cochrane Foundation began its rollout of 2021 grants with a cheque presentation to Big Hill Haven.
The Cochrane Foundation presented a $5,000 grant to Big Hill Haven on Friday (Feb. 26) at Cochrane Toyota.
Each year the Cochrane Foundation chooses more than a dozen non-profit societies in the region to receive a grant from the funds it collects over the year.
The funds were particularly helpful for non-profits who were impacted by the economic fallout of COVID-19 in 2020, said Big Hill Haven board member Jeff Brunner.
“We’re in the middle of a pandemic, the economy wasn’t good before, and Cochrane has been really great about stepping up and they have been great about supporting Big Hill Haven and supporting the mission we’re trying to accomplish,” said Brunner.
The need for emergency housing has only increased during the pandemic, and the Cochrane Foundation’s grant will ensure that anyone who needs shelter can find it at Big Hill Haven, said Fund Development Officer Tara McFadden.
Big Hill Haven has undergone a number of different expansions in the past year, including adding full-time staff and community support workers and opening the doors on its first emergency housing facility.
Since opening the doors to the new housing facility, the Haven, the residence has been at capacity nearly constantly.
“The problem is not going away. As Big Hill Haven gets bigger and grows we are discovering that the need is coming, like a ‘if you build it, they will come’ sort of thing,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that’s the way it is, but that’s what we see is happening. The more services we’re able to provide, the more clients are coming our direction,” said Big Hill Haven board member Debbie Leah.
“As soon as we opened up the Haven, it went to capacity right away. The Haven itself, if there’s been any vacancies it’s been for a very, very short time,” McFadden said. “Any time we expand our capacity, it gets filled right away.”
In October, November and December, Big Hill Haven provided 150 nights of shelter to its clientele.
The need for shelter options became so dire, the staff of Big Hill Haven had to come up with alternative options for housing.
“The intent was that we would be able to house more than one client at a time in that space, but with COVID, we can’t cohabitate anymore,” McFadden said. “We’ve had to pivot and adapt, and if we have more than one client in need of emergency housing, we’ve had to put them into alternative housing, which right now is a hotel at $75 a night. This grant is particular is supporting that alternative housing need.”
Chair of the Cochrane Foundation, Tim Harvie, said that he was pleased to be able to present the grant to Big Hill Haven, as they serve an important, but unfortunate need in the community.
“It’s a very unfortunate need, but it’s a reality in our society. I can’t imagine the stress that they’re under— The need, it increased substantially with everybody being locked down,” he said. “They figured out an alternative to be able to put up the clients in hotels to give them a safe spot, and we thought that’s a pretty good answer to the problem for now.”
