OUR DREAM

The Trust is made up of people from the North Hastings community who are passionate about everybody being warm, having food and homes, feeling connected and having a sense of purpose. We strive to be all about learning, creativity, inclusion, and building strong community connections and supports for each other. 

We give help and we get help. Some of us are paid employees and some of us are members who come in and out depending on what’s happening in our lives. Some of us are here all the time and some of us only show up when we’re needed (for something big or small) or when we need something (big or small). 

We are constantly learning about the hard, and often harsh conditions in our community for people we care about – people who are without a home, people who use substances, people who are struggling to meet basic needs, people who are isolated, afraid, and alone.

We all need to feel like we belong, to be cared for, and to be part of a larger dream—a dream that is about hope and joy and this is what guides us every day.

From a Community Member and Worker…

“I am a drug addict, the result of years of trauma, abuse and mental health issues. However, I am also a single, loving, supportive and devoted mother, a loyal daughter and sister, a genuine friend, a professional in the community, a social advocate and first and foremost a fellow human being, equal to those above and below me on the social status grading system. 

“Society makes the fatal assumption that addiction is a choice and the result of a moral deficit rather than the actual truth that addiction is an attempt at fixing what is already broken. 

“And so as a society we continue to blame and marginalize the addict instead ofproviding support and social opportunities for the addict to thrive. We disconnect them from society when what they desperately need to recover is connection.

“Our harm reduction philosophy and approach is based on inclusion, acceptance and kindness, with the recognition that we are all worthy, and we all need to belong.

“This fundamental understanding is at the heart of all of our programs and work.” 

“NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US”

In all we do, the Trust is guided by these words. We strive to be low-barrier, inclusive, reflective and participatory in all that we do. We believe that no policy, program or action should be adopted without the full and direct participation of members of the group or groups affected by that policy.

In particular, we are mindful of the numerous barriers people face who experience systemic oppression, and how members of racialized communities are further targeted, often excluded, and are impacted by 500 years of colonization.

The Trust’s leadership is mostly white and we want to say clearly that Black and Indigenous Lives Matter. We are committed to having conversations about racism, and colonization – even when these conversations are hard. We want to better understand how we are participating and/or benefiting from these systems and structures. We want to work for a world where every one of us has a life of dignity and safety.