Setting people up for success

Winnipeg

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This article was published 20/12/2023 (822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One local organization that provides assistance to folks transitioning out of homelessness is receiving a helping hand from a national moving company.

Making It Home Your Way, a Winnipeg-based grassroots organization that helps set up homes for community members who were previously unhoused, is a beneficiary of Two Small Men With Big Hearts Moving’s 101 Moves campaign, which provides time and resources to local charities over the holiday season.

“As people transition out of homelessness, 50 per cent return to homelessness within a year,” explained Patricia Hedden, who co-founded Making It Home with Robin MacKenzie in January. “But if you can incorporate what they call home and provide a place of dignity as a starting point, that goes a long way. The end goal is to keep them housed. The stats aren’t very good. But if you can provide this kind of home, the research has shown that goes down to one per cent.”

Making It Home works with corporate sponsors Palliser, Dufresne, and IKEA to provide new furniture for clients in their new homes. But when outfitting a home with new furniture, that furniture has to move. That’s where Two Small Men come into the picture.

“They stepped up in a big way,” Hedden said. “They go pick up the furniture, and bring it to the home we’re creating. They have been fabulous partners.”

“We believe it’s the right thing for businesses to give back to local organizations,” said Katie Balkwill, vice-president of sales and marketing for Two Small Men with Big Hearts Moving, which donates 10 per cent of its profits each year back into the communities in which it operates.

“The holidays can always be a really joyous time, but they can also be a very difficult time. We see increased needs for our most vulnerable members of our community at this time, too. We felt moving is what we do best, so we felt we could donate our services, to come in and remove that stress.”

While helping those in need is the immediate goal, both organizations say that the benefits of their work is hard to quantify.

“To see the pride and joy in the individuals is wonderful,” Hedden said.

“We started this because we believe business should support and give back, but we have really found that it’s key to what we do,” Balkwill said. “Care is one of our core values. The meaningful impact, it’s something that is hard to measure.”

For more information on Making It Home Your Way, visit @makingithomeyourwayinc on Instagram.

Two Small Men’s 101 Moves campaign runs until Jan. 24, 2024. For more information, or to apply, visit twosmallmen.com/101moves