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Whispers of Hope, Habitat for Humanity Boundary and BETHS plan to operate together in old Riverside Drive vet building

Three groups and the City of Grand Forks are working on a plan that could see a shelter, two stores and soup kitchen under one roof.
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From left: Ray Hanson (Habitat for Humanity Boundary)

Whispers of Hope, Habitat for Humanity Boundary and the Boundary Emergency and Transition Housing Society (BETHS) have entered into an agreement and together the trio will be moving into old veterinary building and neighbouring lot at 7212 Riverside Drive.

By amalgamating these three registered non-profit societies together, the City of Grand Forks will have a permanent cold-weather shelter, a soup kitchen and thrift store, three transition-housing units and a retail store all in one location.

“The existing facility, (7212 Riverside Drive), will house BETHS and Whispers of Hope, and Habitat for Humanity Boundary will construct a (store) on the adjacent lot,” said Rick Friesen, executive director of the Habitat for Humanity Boundary Society. “We believe this collaborative affiliation of not-for-profit charities is relatively unique in our province and as such, will be of significant interest to our communities.”

Habitat for Humanity Boundary is planning to construct the retail store, or ReStore, which would generate revenue for its home building program here in the Boundary, said Friesen.

“The ReStore is a retail outlet that is going to sell lightly used and new building product, so people that have kitchen cabinets for example, who are changing can donate the old ones that are still in good condition to the ReStore,” he said. “Most of the product that we sell is going to be 30 per cent of retail price.”

Another benefit to the ReStore is that it takes a significant amount of material that would be destined for the dump.

“Across Canada last year, 25,000 metric tons of waste was diverted from the landfill by 76 ReStores,” added Friesen.

Jim Harrison, chair of the board of BETHS, said the major benefit would be the centralization of services.

“For us, the move was a logical one to make. It also keeps it fairly central in town, which is walking distance for most of our clients, who tend to gravitate towards the town centre,” he said.

Another benefit of creating a permanent space for BETHS is it will be able to install showers, washer and dryer facilities, which were not available when BETHS was operating out of the Christian Centre behind Overwaitea Foods, said Harrison.

“It also gives us opportunity to renovate a custom facility that is designed especially for the purpose, including proper bedding and every thing else,” he added.

Mike Robb, project co-ordinator of Whispers of Hope, thinks the new facility will help the thrift store sales.

“If you come to the thrift store you have to walk right through the front door where people eat and some people are intimidated by what they think is our clientele,” said Robb. “We feel that with another entrance (because this place would supply us with a separate entrance to a thrift store) we could improve our sales in the thrift store and in that way, we would be able to help more people,” he said.

Harrison said the partnership would be a way to cut costs for each organization.

The three non-profits proposed that the city charge a minimum base rent of $1 per year and in addition five per cent of net profits generated from the social enterprise components.

“It would allows us to take the money that we save on accommodation and put it towards direct service to our clients,” said Harrison.

Friesen said the city accepted the proposal as presented; however, city CAO Doug Allin suggested that if the ReStore is making significant profit, then they could look at modifying that percentage rate.

“The terms of arrangement have to be worked out by city staff,” said Allin.

He added that the agreement may be a good model for the non-profits and the city.

“We have three different societies working towards the same common goal but at the end of the day they are paying considerably high rent and considerably high costs for their operations. This (arrangement) will allow them to utilize a proven system with Habitat for Humanity, which is big all the way across North America, so it’s a good business model for helping those in need,” he said.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $230,000 amongst the three groups.

“We are delighted on behalf of Habit for Humanity, BETHS and Whispers of Hope that the city has made this decision. We are now waiting for the lease to be signed, and the approval of the road closure,” said Friesen.

Allin said that council approved entering into the lease agreement and closing a portion 72nd Avenue from Riverside Drive to the river, but there are still logistical details to be worked out before the agreement is finalized.