Received $5,400 in June 2020.
THANK YOU STATEMENT FROM GREEN WOOD COALITION
Green Wood Coalition greatly appreciates the timely and generous donation of $5,400.00 by 100+ Women with Heart. This kind of support from the community where we do our work is essential to our operations, and we recognize that the donation represents many caring individuals.
As Nicole Whitmore, our Community Outreach Lead, explained at the recent 100+ Women with Heart meeting, Green Wood is a street-level, charitable organization that walks alongside people struggling with homelessness, mental health and substance dependency. By offering a place of belonging and a listening ear, we seek to build intentional relationships and a culture of trust that leads to stability and healing for individuals and the wider community.
The funding provided by 100+ Women with Heart will support our emerging Peer Support Worker program with training and staff hours. Peer Support provides emotional and practical support between people who share common, livid experience. Its transformative impact comes from its power to inspire hope as those being supported see in the people supporting them that recovery is possible.
“It’s about bringing your life experience to walk alongside people, being respectful, listening and seeing the whole person without labels like ‘homeless’ or ‘mental illness,’” says David Sheffield, Green Wood’s Executive Director. “When our Peer Support Workers see someone who is homeless, we’re concerned about finding a room over their head but also about health, about food, about all of their needs as a human being.”
Green Wood Coalition’s current focus is aimed at recovering and rebuilding informal community supports for low-income individuals who have experienced isolation, loneliness and disconnection through the COVID-19 disruption. Many have seen their mental health and substance dependency worsen and these will continue to be major concerns through the pandemic period and beyond as recovery from these setbacks is expected to be slow.
This gift by 100+ Women with Heart allows Green Wood to equip, employ and empower Peer Support Workers to make a life-changing difference in people’s lives at the street level in Cobourg and Port Hope.
100 Women Who Care Northumberland 