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Alliston Out of the Cold has a new name: Support and Hope for Individuals and Families Today (S.H.I.F.T)

June 24, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Alicia Kalozdi-MacMillan
Fundraising Director
S.H.I.F.T.

We have some exciting news to share!

We all know how quickly our community is growing; with that in mind, it only makes sense that we grow too!

Since 2017, Alliston Out of the Cold has provided emergency overnight shelter, during the winter months, to those experiencing homelessness throughout New Tecumseth and the surrounding areas.

Over the years we have worked to improve our existing programs as well as expand to offer more programming to better meet the growing needs of our community.

We now offer 3 permanent streams of programming that includes our Emergency Overnight Shelter, Community Dinner, and year-round Outreach programs and have adapted to offer necessary services as the need arises in our community.

As we have grown over the years, both in services offered and in the improvement of our programs, we have outgrown the name Alliston Out of the Cold.

We are now MUCH more than the traditional model of “out of the cold” that we started out as.

Throughout the last four years we have strengthened our services and advocacy to address the various challenges that many people face in our community, such as food insecurity, affordable housing and living in poverty; these hardships can contribute to homelessness, however, they are a reality that many who are housed face daily.

For these reasons and more, in early 2021 we set out to find a name for our organization that better reflected what we do. We gathered a group of passionate volunteers and got to work! After a lot of thought and consideration and with some input from the community and those we serve, we are very thrilled to announce that we will now proudly be known as Support and Hope for Individuals and Families Today (S.H.I.F.T)

Our mission is to partner with the individuals and families we serve to make a meaningful SHIFT in their circumstances.

Our goal is to support individuals and families in “making a shift” in their circumstances by way of providing consistent trusting relationships, honest communication and promoting participant choice and empowerment. We offer the same valuable programs and services to the community that you have come to expect from us, but now with a name that better reflects what we do! We are proud to serve our community and we want you to know that we are more than just a warm bed; we are moving forward together, making a SHIFT for good!

We are proud to have developed programs that put us at the forefront of changing lives, and we look forward to working together to make a SHIFT for good!

While our Emergency Overnight Shelter, Community Dinner and Drop-In Centre programs are closed for the warmer months, our Outreach program continues to operate. The goal of the Outreach Program is to connect individuals, couples, and families to urgently needed supplies, services, and supports as well as provide emergency assistance to those at-risk of or experiencing homelessness and/or food insecurity (housed or otherwise). The mobile Outreach Team makes scheduled stops in pre-determined locations and makes appointments to meet at designated places throughout South Simcoe (as needed).The Outreach Team can be reached at 705-890-8173.

Now more than ever, programs like ours need your support! For the entire month of June, every $1 donated to S.H.I.F.T. through our CanadaHelps page, S.H.I.F.T. receives 1 entry into a draw to win $20,000. The contest runs June 1st through 30th, with win randomly selected winner drawn on July 1st.

For more information or to find out how you can get involved in helping us make a difference in our community, check out our new website at www.shiftforgood.ca.

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