KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – A small non-profit group that provides a vital service for people living in poverty, homeless people, women in violent relationships, and many others, is struggling to survive.
Whether you are looking for a job, an apartment, or any kind of support, a phone number where you can be reached is essential. But many people can’t afford a phone.
Now there is a solution.
The Red Bear Healing Home Society offers free voice mail to people living in poverty in Nova Scotia. Participants receive a telephone number with an extension to a voice mail box so people can leave messages for jobs, housing, health care, or simply to keep in touch with family and friends. […]
But maintaining the service is expensive, and the Red Bear Healing Home Society is struggling to make ends meet.
There’s about $8000 in the bank, yet a realistic annual budget is more like $35,000, says Conrod, who has not received any remuneration for over a year.
A request for help from the provincial Department of Community Services last year went nowhere.
“I hear their stories, people tell me what they are going through, and I believe them that they are having a hard time. So I don’t want to cut them off, take away the only way that they can be contacted,” Conrod says. “I don’t understand that the (potential) funders don’t see this.”
You can make a donation by calling 902 448-4744 or emailinfo@redbearhealinghome.ca. To help with costs involved in the provision of free voice mail the service is also available to those who can pay.
Free voice mail provider struggling to survive
Published
Kimchi and Justice 