Impact lives

Real stories, real change, real lives. Your donation is helping to ensure there are brighter days ahead – for everyone.

Cat is looking directly at the camera and smiling on the beach foggy day

Meet Cat

It’s hard to believe Cat — a bubbly and chatty 17-year-old who is always smiling and laughing — was very shy as a child. She found her voice at the aptly-named Youth Voices — a literacy and life skills program for adolescent youth in care. Youth meet weekly during the school year in a stable, comfortable space where they learn from and support one another through their shared experience. Together they work to publish an annual newsletter featuring their weekly writing assignments. Cat describes Youth Voices as a support group disguised as a writing program, and the experience has changed her life.

READ CAT’S FULL STORY

I never felt like I truly belonged anywhere until I joined Youth Voices.

Meet Wael & Rana

Wael, Rana, and their four children are all Deaf. They fled war-torn Syria, spent three years living in a refugee camp, and eventually found their way to Halifax in 2016. United Way Halifax-funded programs and staff at the Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians have been a vital lifeline for the family. They’ve helped Wael and Rana learn American Sign Language and written English, navigate through an abled world, and build independence.

READ WAEL & RANA’S FULL STORY

Meet Sam

Sam was renovicted three times in as many years. And as a single mother up against couples with double incomes, finding permanent housing felt hopeless. Luckily Sam found support from Darcy Gillis, a housing support worker who works with two United Way-funded organizations – Welcome Housing and the Public Good Society. Darcy helped get Sam on the priority access list with Metro Housing and now her and her daughters are proud residents of Uniacke Square.

READ SAM’S FULL STORY

“When we moved in, I felt like I could finally breathe again, like the world was lifted off my shoulders.

 

The Impact you Create

The impact you create with your donation has a ripple effect throughout the community. For each person whose life you change directly, your impact is felt by their children, their family, and their neighbourhood.

 

  • 13,979

    people directly supported

  • 1,311

    people transitioned to a stable housing situation or received housing support

  • 5,962

    people received mental health supports or new social connections

  • 5,478

    people received nutritious, culturally appropriate food

  • 3,291

    people increased their quality of life through employment or essential life skills

* Numbers are based on 30 out of 31 2021/22 funded program reports received at time of publication. We also acknowledge that individuals may access programs at multiple organizations so the total number of people supported may not represent unique individuals.