This is our 14th year of the Christmas WishList!
AND... once again EVERY SINGLE PERSON has been ADOPTED!
Thank you Bradford!
Click the "wishlist" link below if you still need to see how to drop off your gifts and check back after Dec 10th!
2023 Bradford's Christmas WishList
This is our 14th year of the Christmas WishList!
AND... once again EVERY SINGLE PERSON has been ADOPTED!
Thank you Bradford!
Click the "wishlist" link below if you still need to see how to drop off your gifts and check back after Dec 10th!
Sponsors
We were blown away by the support that our local businesses community provided.
Sponsorships included
5 Diamond $1,600
5 Gold $1,400
8 Silver $1,000
8 Bronze $800
Unlimited Copper $500
Here are a list of all of the companies that contributed
Diamond Sponsors
Dracup Insurance Brokers Limited
Simcoe County Airport Services
Harbour House Grill
Cooks Bay Marina
Town of BWG
Gold Sponsors
Eye Candy Ads
Lanno Torelli LLP
Marciano Beckenstien LLP
Torrejon Financial - the Co-operators
Silver Sponsors
Jessica Harcourt - Century 21
Perfect Sealing
Bronze Sponsors
DCL Woodworking Ltd
Isagenix - Doreen Pennell
Beeton Family Dentistry
Live Dessert Auction
Caterer Michelle Olivera baked 25 delicious desserts as her way of giving back to the Out Of The Cold Cafe community that offered her support during a challenging time in her life. Gala guests participated in a live auction to bid for the desserts of their choice. Together we raised $3,000 from the desserts!
Support WOW Living
WOW Living is a registered charity with CRA
charitable registration number 764443347RR0001
Our heart is to invest every minute and dollar donated intentionally into the lives of the people we're serving.
This may include covering a few nights at a hotel for a homeless friend, putting gas in someone's car to get them to a shelter, driving a friend to an appointment, helping one of our friends move, fill out forms, navigate the welfare system or buying them a cup of coffee, groceries or a meal. Financial donations may also go toward the cost of training, operating costs associated with the Out of the Cold Cafe, and other affordable housing initiatives. We are committed to using every dollar and every minute intentionally.
Trailer project
Following the fire at 114 Holland St. on March 22, 2021 some of the displaced tenants said they would live in trailers temporarily. That lead to WOW Living partnering with Bradford Community Church to provide temporary shelter in seasonal trailers.
In May, some of the men living at the Guest House suggested the idea of winterizing a park model trailer into a four season, one bedroom micro home.
With a grant from Magna, we were able to begin working on our first trailer as a pilot project.
Watch this video to see the progress that is being made!
Extreme cold overnight warming centre
In October of 2022 the County of Simcoe asked if The Out Of The Cold Cafe would serve as the Extreme Cold Overnight Warming Centre for South Simcoe for the 2022-2023 season.
We had a CREW of 15 men and women step up to work overnight when the weather went below -15 or felt like -20.
Our first season was a success. The extended hours provided amazing opportunities to strengthen relationships with our guests. We were also able to assist 2 guests find safe and affordable long-term housing.
Truly 'Affordable' Housing Project
The idea:
Convert park model trailers into fully winterized micro homes to be used as garden suites for people living below the poverty line (Individual $26,426 or couple $32,898).
Individual - $500/month
couple - $800/month
Our first micro home is finished and has weathered it's first Bradford winter very well.
Bradford Community Church offered the use of a parcel of their land to be home to our first 6 micro homes.
Once we knew the prototype worked we started the rezoning process with the planning department and On September 20, 2022 our Town Council approved the temporary zoning amendment for the project.
Following Council's approval there is a 21 day appeal period that had to be extended an additional 21 days due to a misprint in the town's communication. On the last day of the appeal period we were notified by the town that the project was appealed and that it would now have to go through the Land Tribunal.
While this was disappointing news we were encouraged to hear that because Bill 23 was voted through this meant that we would no longer be expected to pay the $209,000 in development charges! If the project had not been appealed and we had moved forward with signing the Site Plan Agreement we may have missed out on the relief this Bill is providing.
We are doing all we can to see the process move forward however, we do not want to rush through any part of this project. As a pilot project, one of our goals is to learn as much as we can through every step in order to be better equipped to assist other communities in the future. If our project was not appealed and a future project is we would be of little help to that community. Our hope is to gain as much knowledge and insight into the process as possible.
This is an innovative affordable housing solution that has the potential of being duplicated in other communities. As a precedent setting initiative we have had to be patient in the process.
We are still hopeful that the project will move forward in God's perfect timing.
The infrastructure costs will be:
Well - $40,000
Water Treatment - $10,000
Hydro - $25,000
Septic - $10,000
Landscaping & Pads - $8,000
Water Treatment building - $10,000
Pavilion - $16,000
______________________________________________
$119,000
If you are interested in supporting this project please email us at
info@wow-living.ca or call 416-697-5634 to schedule a tour.