HOPE’s Kitchen will be temporarily closed after an incident caused a smashed window and other damage to the Cassells Street building.
Katie Valiquette, a co-founder of Hope’s, says the person responsible for the damage was charged by the police and will not be allowed to return.
Valiquette says the facility will reopen again once the window is repaired.
“In our line of work, it happens sometimes,” she commented. “We’re not going to hold one person in a bad moment responsible for everybody that comes in.”
Since Valiquette and her husband, Chris Brown opened Hopes’ new location on Cassells Street, the outreach program has undergone a makeover of sorts.
Originally standing for “Helping Other People Eat”, HOPE’s has rebranded to “Helping Other People Everywhere.”
The name change, Valiquette says, represents the wider array of what her outreach team is doing.
“We’ve expanded our focus beyond just food,” she said, adding she is planning on assembling support groups run by people with lived experiences with addiction and homelessness.
In December, Hope’s received over $30,000 in donations after gaining national recognition. Valiquette says the money is still largely untouched, as she is still figuring out how to spend it.
What she does know, is that Hope’s will be able to spend at the least the next four years in their building on Cassells Street, as their lease was extended when the building changed ownership.
“It’s nice to not have to worry about starting up all over again,” Valiquette said. “Now that we know everything’s there and everything’s working well and we feel more comfortable.”
This comes as Hope’s was deemed an essential service by the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, permitting them to operate as usual (still with COVID-19 protocols) during the provincial stay-at-home order.
As for the number of people using Hope’s, Valiquette says the building is at capacity nearly all the time but adds the addition of daytime shelter service on Chippewa Street has alleviated some pressure.
Valiquette is hoping big things are on the horizon for Hope’s, as she is in the process of assembling a board of directors from all different walks of life to help determine the future of the program. She adds she is still in the process of turning Hope’s into a registered non-profit organization.
And the work of Valiquette has made a difference for some. She says through Hopes’ outreach efforts, seven people have been able to get off the streets into housing.
“It’s nice to know we’re making some sort of difference,” she said.
