Lower Sackville, N.S. church dishes out free meals to help ease wildfire impacts

A Halifax-area church has been dishing out a warm welcome and hot meals to residents forced out of their homes by wildfire.

It says the community has come together to help in the midst of so much loss. Although the last meal was served on Tuesday, volunteers say the love and support will live on.

“It’s the support of each other that we are depending on,” says Lucasville resident Debra Lucas.

She was one of the more than 16,00o people forced to evacuate their homes due to the Tantallon wildfire, which broke out on May 28. She returned home five days later.

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Lucas has been getting meals from the pop-up comfort center at Rock Church in Lower Sackville.

It launched last week to help meet the needs of Black communities within the evacuation zone.

On Tuesday, the final meal was served as the mandatory fire evacuations have been lifted for most, except for those in the “area of significant impact.”

“We understand the needs within the African Nova Scotia community are very different than the needs of the broader, wider community,” says Cynthia Jordan.

But she says all have been welcome to stop by the centre for support. She’s the IWK’s African Nova Scotian Service project manager and has been offering mental health support to children and their families at Rock Church.

Free meals, clothing, toys and other health services have also been available on-site.

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“We have the gym here,” Jordan adds. “Kids are able to take their mind off what’s going on in their community, the loss, being out of their homes for an extended period of time. The uncertainty around if their homes were still standing.”

She estimates about 200 people have been showing up each day.

Jordan says now the focus is shifting to delivering support within the impacted communities.

“We’re thinking there’s going to be a need for grocery cards and for people to replenish and restock their refrigerators,” she explains.

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Jordan says some may have to purchase new appliances due to the mess caused by the extended power outage.

“We’re hoping to have a foot care clinic up in the community centre — when they do go back — to provide foot care, a meal, and just good conversation,” adds Elizabeth Obeng Nkrumah. She’s the wellness navigator with Nova Scotia Sisterhood, a program helping Black women access health care in the community.

As for Lucas, she says she’s grateful her home is still standing, and for all the support received during the many moments of uncertainty.

“It’s an eerie feeling sometimes going back, you don’t know what to expect,” she says. “But we were good, we were all good.”