Souls Harbour Rescue Mission opens new campus in Bridgewater, N.S.

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission is expanding their food and affordable housing services to Bridgewater, N.S.

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission in Bridgewater, N.S., has purchased the house next door and turned it into a shared women’s house, which it says has tripled its existing capacity in the town.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place Tuesday, with Souls Harbour unveiling and offering tours of the new campus on Pleasant Street.

The expanded campus now features an affordable three-bedroom shared home for single women, a full-sized FreeMart for clothing, hygiene and household items, and a new commercialized kitchen, which is expected to serve up to 2,000 meals a month.

“One thing that small towns often lack is resources so we are able to just provide this upgraded kitchen so we can provide hardier meals and it’s not just a snack for 100 people in need,” says Michelle Porter, CEO of Souls Harbour Rescue Mission.

The upgraded kitchen includes $80,000 worth of new equipment and is named after Foster MacKenzie, the retired architect who helped design it all.

“Just to be a small part of that, I just put lines on paper, it takes a whole team of people, contractors and workers and volunteers that come here and make it happen,” says MacKenzie, who is also a former Souls Harbour board member. “So proud of the way it’s come together and Souls Harbour.”

Souls Harbour says it had been looking at the property for a long time.

“We had this house offered to us a couple years ago, so we bought it. It sometimes takes a little while to get things moving, since we knew we had a major kitchen renovation and we didn’t want to shut down feeding people, the house was put on pause,” says Marni Yuke, chief program officer of Souls Harbour Rescue Mission.

Yuke says they do what they can to help, but there is still a waitlist for beds.

“We have a list, kind of like a waiting list, but it’s always evolving and changing, so as people are finding housing or finding other locations, and we work with the Housing Association of Nova Scotia and whenever the need is the greatest, we fill the bed,” says Yuke.

“Three beds might not seem like a big deal but to someone that’s lying in that bed, that’s life-changing.”

Meanwhile, the new FreeMart offers donated essentials at no cost.

“If they need it to survive out there during the day, they can find it in here for free,” says Yuke.

“To just be able to allow someone that dignified experience of free shopping right here to outfit your whole family if you have a need,” says Porter. “Not only clothing but hygiene and household goods.”

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission helps people experiencing poverty and addiction by offering emergency help such as food, clothing, shelter and recovery programs. There are seven Souls Harbour drop-in centres across Nova Scotia, where it has been operating for 14 years.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Emma Convey

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