Making Wishes Come True

Parents want to make Christmas special for their children, whether that’s buying that treasured Santa gift, making memories doing an activity, or going on an adventure. However, when the wellbeing of your children is in danger, the holidays may be the last thing on your mind. This is where Mission Services can offer a helping hand.

Each year at Inasmuch House, our violence against women shelter, staff work to ensure that all the families and women staying with us, as well as families we’re working with in the community, can have a memorable holiday.

Last year, thanks to Mission Services donors, we were able to provide two boxes full of gifts for a mom and her two children, which included items from a wish  list, as well as things they were not expecting to receive.

“Her son was so moved by the gifts that he had his mom send a letter to the shelter with a drawing of him and how happy he was,” shared an Inasmuch House program facilitator.

Another mom at the shelter who received gifts through the Christmas Care program was so overcome with joy that she broke into tears when she received the presents.

“She said this was the first year she was able to give her children everything that was on their Christmas list,” explained an Inasmuch House Child and Youth Worker.

For some parents, the greatest gift isn’t always presents, but the opportunity to do something special with their children. In the past, thanks to a donation of cinema giftft cards, Inasmuch staff were able to take all the families staying at the shelter to the movies and get them whatever snacks they wanted.

“This made a lot of the families staying with us happy because taking the entire family to the movies is not always possible and this was an experience they got to enjoy together over the holidays,” said Manager of Residential Programming, Jennifer.

Inasmuch House gives women and children a safe place to stay while they rebuild their lives. Taking the stress of the holidays away means one less thing for these moms to worry about as they work to re-integrate into their community.

Thanks to the support of our community we were able to provide food and toys to over 1,506 families and individuals last Christmas through the Good Food Centre, our shelters, Willow’s Place, and The 196 Youth Program!