Create Solutions

One of the ways we bridge gaps in community is by creating solutions that alleviate poverty.

United in Poverty Action Report Learn more
United Way Halifax Board Chair Kenny Hilaire posing for a photo with their former Communications Director, Laura Whitman at the United in Poverty Action Launch.

We are leaders, but we don’t achieve anything alone.

We are trusted to bring donors, volunteers, community organizations, businesses, and government together to create lasting change. Everyone has a role to play creating an inclusive, bright future for our community.  

Here are a few examples of projects and solutions our staff team is collaboratively working on:  

  • [Image description: collage of eight images from United Way Halifax. Red background with white letter in the center that read United Poverty Action Report with a logo of United Way Halifax below the text.]

    United in Poverty Action

    Our new United in Poverty Action highlights successes since our last poverty report, what has changed and who is still impacted most by poverty.

  • A street with lots of trees in the middle and houses on the other side

    Halifax Affordable Housing Community Land Trust

    A community land trust is a non-market solution to Halifax's affordable housing crunch.

  • Meet Mayu

    A hub is a place that residents of a neighbourhood can go to access a wide range of services and supports. Mayu's life was changed when she accessed a neighbourhood hub in Fairview.

  • two volunteers in a church kitchen one is serving soup with a ladel

    Beechville Baptist Church upgrades through Neighbourhood Kitchen Fund

    Beechville Baptist Church had been serving their community for decades using the same heavy, mismatched cookware and plates. That is, until they got a kitchen upgrade through the Neighbourhood Kitchen Fund.

  • A view of the parliament of Canada at night

    East Coast Public Policy Training Institute

    The Public Policy Training Institute brings together students from local nonprofits to build strategies to co-create policy and bridge the gap between the sector and policy makers.

  • A portable tiny home (like the ones approved in Halifax) with wood siding in the back yard of a larger property. Forest Grove, Oregon, USA.

    Tiny homes, big possibilities

    Providing funding and/or convening the right partners to pilot tiny homes could be a solution to increasing our city’s affordable housing stock.

Initiating a network of neighbourhood hubs

A hub is a place that residents of a neighbourhood can go to access a wide range of services and supports. For some, it’s a place to find friendship or belonging. For others, it’s a place to access information and get connected to social services. It can be a place to share meals, access childcare, or learn new skills, too.  

To the folks who rely on them, hubs mean so much. But from their staff’s perspective, they could do so much more.  

That’s where United Way Halifax comes in. By acting as a convener and partner of neighbourhood hubs, we’re helping 12 neighbourhood hubs in HRM get stronger, together. They’re exchanging resources, knowledge, ideas, and best practices. And it’s leading to new connections, solutions, and a plan for growth. 

As a funder, United Way Halifax is seeking targeted investments from donors and champions who want to join us in helping hubs reach their full potential.  

Inspiring public policy changes

Changing public policy is one of the most effective ways to remove barriers and create opportunities for people to belong, be safe, and live a life of their choosing. But it’s not easy.   

That’s why we’ve partnered with NSCC and the Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute to create the first public policy training institute of its kind in Atlantic Canada. On track to launch by winter 2023, it is a leadership training program designed to help non-profit leaders and their organizations increase their knowledge of the public policy process and their capacity to influence it.  

Participants will come into the program with a social problem they want to address and with support from faculty and peers, will learn strategies to help them succeed, and achieve the community outcomes they’re hoping for.   

We’re also a funder of the project. We secured seed funding from the Max Bell Foundation in 2021, and our goal is to raise an additional $125,000 a year for three years. This will ensure the institute gets off the ground in a sustainable way and can continue beyond the incubation phase. 

Become a funder Get an application

Innovating housing solutions

In the last few years, homelessness has become increasingly visible throughout the municipality. We saw the creation of crisis shelters, an increase in tents in municipal parks, and more people being temporarily housed in hotels.  

Addressing homelessness is just one piece of the housing solution puzzle.  

A range of housing types need to be available in a thriving, inclusive community. From emergency shelters to independent homeownership, and an assortment of housing options and types in between. That’s why our team is working on attracting the funding, partnerships, and land needed to pilot tiny homes and a Community Land Trust model. 

Our goals are to:  

How We Help: