Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Are children permitted at the facilities?

Can I bring my child(ren) if I am seeking a bed at one of your emergency shelters? Unfortunately, children are not permitted at our facilities or our emergency shelters (Barry House and Metro Turning Point).
Can I bring my child(ren) when dropping off a donation? No, children are not permitted at our facilities.
Why? Children are not permitted at our facilities for several reasons including safety, privacy and security. People who access the services offered by Shelter Nova Scotia have varied needs in different areas of their lives. To best support our residents and guests, we request that no children visit the facilities.
If you would like to educate your child(ren) about homelessness, housing, outreach and/or community corrections, we would be happy to arrange a time for you to speak with a team member at our central office located at 205-3770 Kempt Road in Halifax. Give us a call at 902-406-3631.

2. Is it ok to take pictures or videos at our facilities?

No. Pictures of service users at any of our facilities is not permitted. Why? We believe in respecting their privacy. Service users come from a variety of backgrounds, many have jobs and friends and family, that they do not want to know their situation. Some are leaving dangerous situations due to domestic violence or other circumstances where it is important to keep their location private.
Can I take pictures when dropping off donations or volunteering? We would be happy to take a picture of you/your group, or of you/your group and one of our staff (with their permission) as long as our service users are not included.

3. What do I do if there are no beds available?

We encourage you to contact The Hub, located on the corner of Gottingen St. and Cunard St. Their number is 902-406-3631. It's open to people who are housed, currently unhoused or living outside. The Hub provides free showers, laundry facilities, meals, access to basic supplies and a connection to the community resources people need - including help finding a warm, safe place to stay.
The Hub address: 101 – 5506 Cunard St., Halifax NS
Hours of operation: Monday - Friday between 9am - 5pm
If you need to reach support outside of The Hub's hours, we encourage you to call 211

4. Can I donate used clothing or linens?

Shelter Nova Scotia is able to accept donations of new, unopened items unfortunately, we cannot accept previously used clothing or linen. This is due to protecting the confidentiality of the users of our services, health, safety and dignity issues, limited space constraints and lack of storage. Please contact our community partner www.valuevillage.ca to donate.

5. What does Shelter Nova Scotia do?

Shelter Nova Scotia supports people in times of crisis and transition through residential, trustee and outreach programs. To this end, we operate seven facilities in HRM - six over-night plus our Hub Community Centre - providing beds for up to 106 people and providing support to hundreds more, 365 days a year.

We offer far more than shelter; utilizing client and housing support workers in tandem with our colleagues working in mental health and addiction services, we support 1,500 people annually.

Our Facilities

two emergency shelters for individuals experiencing homelessness (Barry House & Metro Turning Point)
an affordable, supportive apartment complex for individuals who have experienced homelessness (The Rebuilding)
an affordable, supportive living environment dedicated to individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness and who have a long history of Alcohol Use Disorder (Herring Cove Apartments)
two community residential facilities for individuals making the change from correctional facilities to community living (Nehiley House & Sir Sandford Fleming House)
a Community Support Program, which offers housing support, diversion and community resources, access to basic services (The Hub)
a Community Trustee Program, which offers eviction prevention support that serves vulnerable members of society who need help stabilizing their housing and budgeting their funds.

6. Who are the people that use your services?

People from all walks of life and situations use our services. This includes people who are:

employed
newly homeless
chronically homeless
those who have history of being in various types of child protective care during their childhood and youth
those with families
those living pay cheque to pay cheque
those with addictions
those experiencing mental illness
anyone – neighbours, friends and community members who are facing challenging times

7. How can I help?

Shelter Nova Scotia strives to ensure that the people who use our services receive and experience dignity. We can do this with your financial support. In order to achieve our mission of providing a safe place to stay for those in need and creating an effective continuum of services to assist them as they transition from crisis back to community, we have to fundraise almost $1M annually. With your financial support we can;

protect the privacy of shelter and service users
purchase new, needed items
give the gift of choice
forecast our needs
reduce the impact to the environment
focus on our guests, tenants, residents and clients well-being
contribute to our fundraising objective

It should be noted that Shelter Nova Scotia receives partial funding from the Province of Nova Scotia and the Federal Government.

How to donate:

Monetary gifts online www.shelternovascotia.com/contribute

Cash and cheques can be mailed to: Shelter Nova Scotia Central Office at 205-3770 Kempt Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 4X8

Email: fundraising@shelternovascotia.com for more information or with questions

Donate online to our Care & Comfort Needs List

It's a quick and efficient way to help provide necessary items to those in our community.