Summer 2024 Appeal

Dec 4, 2024 | Media, Press Releases

Click Here to download the Newsletter in PDF format

#WhereHopesLives

As the days grow shorter and the air turns crisp, we’re reminded of how much warmth your support has brought to our community. The cold season is on its way, and for many in our community, that means a time of real hardship.

With your generosity, we’ve been able to provide essential resources to those who need it most, offering food, shelter, and meaningful support services to help our neighbours stay safe and warm.

Thanks to supporters like you, we’ve accomplished so much together, even receiving the Hamilton Spectator Readers’ Choice Award this year – a recognition that truly belongs to our entire community.

As we prepare for winter, we know the need will only grow. We invite you to continue standing with us, helping us to ensure everyone has warmth, security, and support they need to face the season ahead. Your partnership makes all the difference.

Thank you for being such an important part of our community. We’re so grateful for everything you make possible.

With heartfelt thanks,

Renée Wetselaar, Executive Director

Our Impact Cathedral Café

The Cathedral Café Drop-In Program continues to welcome all members of the public, with a primary focus on supporting at-risk residents, including individuals who are housed or unhoused. This program offers free breakfast and lunch daily. Guests have access to seating, warmth, friendly staff & volunteers, washrooms, and access to a variety of support programs and social services.

Since January 2024, Cathedral Café:

Over 44,000 guests visit
Served over 56,000 meals
Over 9,200 pieces of clothing/warm weather gear have been given out
Over 1,200 items have been given out (hygiene products, bus fare, food bags, etc.)

Special thanks to all of our generous Donors, Partners, and Funders:

Donate Today

Holiday Hope

We are still looking for sponsors and donations for our Holiday Hope program! There are 3 ways to help families and seniors thrive this holiday season:

Adopt a family or senior

Gift cards or monetary donations

New clothing and toys

Sponsor Today

Our Impact: Eviction Prevention

The HOPES (Housing Outreach Preventing Eviction for Seniors) program assists older adults 55+ who are at risk of eviction or need help navigating complex bureaucratic systems. One of the biggest challenges is assisting seniors who are living in hoarded homes, often facing eviction OR unable to have medical services visit them in home due to the clutter.

This program is part of our solution to work with clients and cleaning agencies to clean the units; thereby preventing evictions, allowing medical services to access the clients home, and generally improving the quality of healthy living for older adults in our community.

Every eviction that we prevent not only keeps a senior housed, but also maintains the unit as part of the affordable housing stock in the city.

By providing cleaning services that attends to the needs of these clients, we are able to keep them in their home and living with dignity, and most importantly, save lives. Thanks to the amazing support we receive from our supporters and donors, we are able to reach more clients needing this service.

Impact Story

A 73 year old client facing eviction due to hoarding was able to stay in their affordable housing with support from our program. The client’s cluttered unit had led to conflict with their landlord and a case with the Landlord and Tenant Board. Our team arranged cleaning, provided proof of a clutter-free space, and helped prevent eviction. This support not only secured the client’s housing but also improved their mental health, allowing them to reconnect with family who had previously been unable to visit.

Grateful for our Volunteers

Our programs provide supports and interventions for people living in the City of Hamilton, with a focus on food, housing and income insecurity.

Our volunteers are an essential resource for our organization, and their contributions make a significant difference! They offer their time and skills to help make great things happen and doing the work they are passionate about. Without our volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to provide the level of service that we offer.

Working together with Church Christ’s Cathedral and Cathedral Café Drop-In, there are now over 100 volunteers that support our staff team and work collaboratively to meet people where they are at, every day.

Thank you to our incredible volunteers for their commitment and impact—they make all the difference in our community. Opportunities are currently available for volunteer engagement in the drop-in program, providing warehouse supports, packing and delivering food, making care baskets and hosting food drives, and more! For more information, and to sign up as a volunteer, please visit us at www.stmatthewshouse.ca/help-us/volunteer.

Volunteer Today

412 Barton

Together with the Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA) and the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (HRIC), St. Matthew’s House is developing 15 permanent units of deeply affordably housing to support Indigenous and Black seniors 55+ who have been experiencing chronic or episodic homelessness.

People who identify Black or Indigenous face higher rates of housing, food, income and health insecurity than their white/settler counterparts. The 412 Barton Neighbours Together Program will be a connection for residents of the 412 to culturally relevant and spiritual services and programs with these partners.

We have seen a great deal of progress with this development since the summer…the walls are up and the roof is now on the 412 Barton. We will be celebrating the last stage of work later this month, with plans to officially open in March 2025!

Donate Today

#wherehopelives

Host A Food Drive!

If you are interested in hosting a food drive in support of our Senior Emergency Food Deliveries, please reach out to mbond@stmatthewshouse.ca for more information or click here to download a food drive kit. It has everything you would need to host a fun and successful FOOD DRIVE!