Nelson Cares reaches Room to Live fundraising goal
By Contributor
It is official!
After a three year campaign, Nelson CARES has reached the Room to Live fundraising goal of $690,000 to refurbish and maintain Ward Street Place, an affordable housing block in downtown Nelson.
“We could not have done this without the full support of the Nelson community. The community and the broader region have been with us every step of the way," said Ron Little, Chair of the Board.
“At Nelson CARES, we reach out to support the most vulnerable people in our community. Inviting the community to join us in refurbishing Ward Street Place clearly resonated with many people; it allowed them to get involved in a tangible way. We value this and want to say thank you to all who donated.”
In an effort to help Nelson CARES complete the campaign, the City of Nelson committed to a matching donation. Until December 31, 2017, every dollar donated to the Room to Live campaign would be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $15,000. Going into the November 3rd fundraising gala, Nelson CARES had raised $8,700 of that $15,000.
The focus of the gala this year was to thank the community of Nelson for wholeheartedly supporting Nelson CARES Society reach the fundraising goal. “The purpose of this concert is to bring the community together, to increase awareness about homelessness in our community, to raise funds, to help sustain affordable
housing in Nelson and to have fun.” said Lisa McGeady, Campaign Coordinator.
The Kootenay DIVAs, along with Clinton Swanson and his band, did not disappoint performing to a sold out audience at the Capitol Theatre. The event was hosted by Lisel Forst, and the performers received a much-deserved standing ovation for another great performance. Nelson CARES Society would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the performers, sponsors and volunteers involved with the November 2017 Room to Live benefit event.
“The net proceeds from the raffle and concert plus donations received just after the gala pushed us over $15,000, generating the full match from the city.” said Jenny Robinson, Executive Director. “And as we enter 2018, we are encouraged by all the support and we will continue to work with the community to build more affordable housing. It’s difficult to express how grateful we are to the community for the support we received. Although ‘Room to Live, Affordable living one room at a time’ has come to a very successful end, Nelson CARES has another affordable housing project in the works. Stay tuned”
“While we have been talking about raising money to renovate a building, really what we should be talking about is how this project is changing lives for people in our community.” said Jenny Robinson. “Affordable housing in Nelson is a major problem and from this project 11 new units have been created and 35 units brought up to a clean, safe and dignified standard.”
The next opportunity for people to join Nelson CARES’ efforts to support the vulnerable in the community is happening on February 24, 2018 for the Coldest Night of the Year walk for Homelessness.
A final sincere farewell and thank you to all of the individuals and businesses who joined us in this endeavour to confirm that Nelson is a community that cares for and provides for its own.
