Things took a turn for the better at My Sisters’ Place on Friday after disaster struck for artisans in its Micro Enterprise program.
My Sisters’ Place offers drop-in and wrap-around services for women facing vulnerabilities like addictions, gender-based violence, trauma, chronic mental and physical challenges, homelessness or extreme poverty.
On Wednesday, the support centre took to social media to ask for help after the heating/air conditioning unit inside its Coach House building fell into a state of disrepair.
The Coach House is home to the Micro Enterprise program, which offers participants a source of inspiration and income by allowing them to create and sell art out of My Sisters’ Place.
The cost of replacing the crucial unit was pegged at $8,000.
It took just over 24-hours for a donor to step forward and on Friday morning, staff from Donaldson Home Services were on-site to deliver and install a brand new heating/air conditioning unit free of charge.
“As soon as we saw it, we just wanted to help out,” said Anna Donaldson, who co-owns the business with her husband Jamie.
“One of the coordinators reached out to my husband and we just decided we were going to make a donation.”
The donation is nothing new for Donaldson Home Services. The business runs what Donaldson calls a “Smile Program” where all employees are given the chance to seek out a charitable cause in the community, which is then followed up by company support.
Donaldson says the request from My Sisters’ Place hit close to home, given what she did in a past career.
“I was a chiropractor and when I was doing my residency in Toronto, I worked with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health there,” Donaldson said.
“This cause here at My Sisters’ Place really rang true to us as a very important service.”
Karna Trentman is the director of community programs at Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services, My Sisters’ Place’s mother company.
She says everyone involved with the Micro Enterprise program was in tears when they learned of the donation.
“It was really challenging to work in those really cold temperatures, but the cost of the unit was so high, that it really was something that we didn’t have cash for,” Trentman said.
“We live on donations and very tight budgets, so we were trying to figure out kind of an interim plan to keep people warm and able to come to the program, and at the same time save for what was a very costly unit.”
The Micro Enterprise program allows its artisans, who are participants from My Sisters’ Place, to take home 80 per cent of the profit from sales, with the rest going back to the program.
“That pays for supplies, heat, costs, that sort of thing,” Trentman added.
Ella Pecora is a long-time artisan with the Micro Enterprise program. She studied fine art and painting in Halifax and has always had a passion for creativity.
“I suffer from a little depression and ADHD and as most people know, making a living in fine art is very, very difficult, so this has been a great place for me to interact with people, to relax, focus on creativity and there’s always the dream of upping my income a bit,” Pecora said.
“It is very important — keeping active and meeting people. It’s been just really good for me.”
Now in its 14th year, the Micro Enterprise program has plans to expand even further and Trentman says Londoners should “keep an eye out for what’s coming soon.”
In the meantime, folks can support the program by shopping for art at the Coach House behind My Sisters’ Place at 566 Dundas St.
The program also accepts financial donations, as well as gently-worn or broken jewelry.
Shopping is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and donations can be dropped off on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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