News

Valentine's cupcakes were part of graduation celebration. (Photo by Peggy English)

Valentine’s Day (actually February 10, 2011) was the perfect occasion to have a party and to say good-bye to one of our residents who has been residing in Mitchell House for just under a year.  Having worked hard to complete his school diploma, our resident found a good job and felt ready to live independently.  Congratulations and best wishes!

Flanked by Rebekah Humphrey, House Mentor for Holly House, and Graham Kelly, House Mentor for Mitchell House, our resident holds a quilt that each resident receives upon leaving. Each quilt is a work of beauty, hand stitched with love, and a reminder that care and compassion comes from many directions to help each of us along the away. The quilt is also a symbol of sanctuary, that we each need a warm house, apartment, room, or cosy corner to call our own, where we can feel safe, regenerate our energies and dream our dreams for the future. Read more…

Valentine's cupcakes were part of graduation celebration. (Photo by Peggy English)

Valentine’s Day (actually February 10, 2011) was the perfect occasion to have a party and to say good-bye to one of our residents who has been residing in Mitchell House for just under a year.  Having worked hard to complete his school diploma, our resident found a good job and felt ready to live independently.  Congratulations and best wishes!

Flanked by Rebekah Humphrey, House Mentor for Holly House, and Graham Kelly, House Mentor for Mitchell House, our resident holds a quilt that each resident receives upon leaving. Each quilt is a work of beauty, hand stitched with love, and a reminder that care and compassion comes from many directions to help each of us along the away. The quilt is also a symbol of sanctuary, that we each need a warm house, apartment, room, or cosy corner to call our own, where we can feel safe, regenerate our energies and dream our dreams for the future. Read more…

Maria Lyons of 10,000 Villages presented House Mentor, Graham Kelly, with food and a cash donation after reading an article he wrote for the local neighbourhood newsletter. On her own initiative, Maria sponsored a food drive in her store and offered a portion of her sales to help struggling youth at Mitchell House. Please see our current newsletter (winter 2011) for more information.

Three Saints Tri-Ministry donates Food and Gifts for

Christmas Dinner for Threshold Youth

(Left to right) – Pete and Bev Rygg from St.Michael’s and All Angels, Rev. Scott McLeod, Mr. Tony Wicks of Three Saints Tri-Ministry delivered a fabulous meal and gifts to Mitchell House.

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Mr. Wall (right) presents one of the many art items to Mark Muldoon, Executive Director of Threshold Housing Society

Through the auspices of the Victoria Foundation, Mr. Jan Wall donated numerous piece of art to adorn the walls and mantles in both Holly House and Mitchell House. Mr. Wall is an active business consultant and world traveller.  During his many travels, he had collected a number of beautiful items including ceramic fruit pieces, figurines, and wall art. He felt that beauty and its presence is a great curative therapy for those who have been deprived of beautiful surroundings. Thank you Jan for your generosity and your thoughtfulness.

Peggy English of Unstuck Coaching

On September 23^rd, at Saint John the Divine, Peggy English of Unstuck Coaching, gave a three hour workshop on self-care and self-compassion in non-profit workplaces. Using the NVC model of needs and values, she explored empathy as an alternative to judging and blaming when our needs are not met. She also discussed modeling this for youth. Peggy emphasized how personal responsibility moves us out of powerlessness and moves us forward to greater satisfaction and fulfillment. Her central focus was how to detect and ward off the dangers of burn-out. Non-profits have a notorious record for staff burn-out, and the aim of the workshop was to make staff aware of the signs and indications of burnout in order to take evasive action.  The workshop was attended by the entire staff team of Threshold, the first time the team ever met together under one roof. The camaraderie was marvellous and the presentation was superb, filled with nuggets of wisdom to ponder and to help re-activate our weary souls.

Peggy can be reached at http://peggyenglish.com/ or, peglish@hotmail.com

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“WAY TO GO TEAM!”

Administrative Assistant Kyra Henry cheers on runners.

Threshold Housing “Running Home for Youth” Team participated in our first Charity Pledge Program in the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon held on October 10, 2010. Threshold Housing Society participates in partnership with the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon to raise awareness and raise the dollars need through the collection of pledges. The energy at the start and finish lines was absolutely amazing.  Words and songs from the sideline gave participants the courage to continue on and reach their goal.

What a day it was for the “Running Home for Youth” team on Thanksgiving Weekend the team.    Threshold Housing team and supporters raised over $2,200.00. Our runner, Dorrian Porter, from California, ran the ½ marathon in support and honour of Threshold Housing Society and raised pledges totalling over $1,300.00.  Thank you, Dorrian.

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In August, 2011, Threshold Housing was pleased to welcome Ms.  Sandra Richardson, CEO, Muriel Neale, Community Advisor, Marg Rose, Director of Community Initiatives and Grants from the Victoria Foundation.   Together with board and staff members, Ms. Neale and Ms. Richardson toured both Mitchell House and Holly House.  We are pleased to announce our “Youth Gap-Funding Proposal” was generously provided by an “Anonymous Donor” through The Victoria Foundation.

Often when a youth arrives at Threshold, they are waiting to secure funding from either a third-party or assistance from the ministry.  Youth-Gap Funding helps the youth for 2- 3 months in providing monies for rent and food until their funding sources comes through.  Since December 2010 three of our residents have used this funding. Thank You!

On August 18, 2010, the Threshold family bade farewell to Marion Little, Threshold’s Executive Director since 2007. Marion was instrumental in setting a more professional agenda for the Society, hiring competent supervisors and staff, negotiating funding from the ministry, and building a profile of Threshold in the community.  Marion remains an Associate Canon with the Anglican Diocese and provides numerous Non-Violent Communication workshops throughout the year to various agencies.  She is presently the interim Executive Director with the Oaklands Community Centre in Victoria.  Marion continues to keep in contact with Threshold, advocating for at-risk youth.  Many, many thanks Marion!

Marion Little accepts a hand-stitched quilt from Board Director, Richard Couch. The quilts are provided to each resident upon leaving a Threshold house. They symbolize the wish that each youth finds a safe sanctuary to call home, filled with warmth and hope. Marion excelled in making this ritual a memorable one for many departing youths.

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