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Elizabeth Fry Society offers support, welcomes residents of Wolfe Street modular housing

A bag of donated toiletries to Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough.
A generous donation of tooth brushes, tooth paste, batteries, and other small items, received by Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough. Photograph by Annessa Stillman.
Edward Sweeney - CFFF - Peterborough • ON | 02-11-2023
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The Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough (EFRY) is currently collecting community donations to assemble welcome baskets for individuals moving into the modular homes on Wolfe Street.

To provide housing for those experiencing homelessness, the City of Peterborough is constructing 50 modular units on Wolfe Street, the location of a large tent encampment. EFRY has been providing support to those living at the encampment, and these welcome baskets are a continuation of their support for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Annessa Stillman, director of operations at EFRY Peterborough, says they are looking to put together 50 welcome baskets for the individuals moving into the modular units.

“Right now, we are collecting some warm weather items, such as mitts, socks, hats, any toiletry items, such as shampoos and soaps, small items like that. We are also looking for $10 Tim Horton’s gift cards, as well as any snacks that could easily be consumed without having to heat them up,” says Stillman.

In addition to the welcome baskets, EFRY is also collecting donations of furniture for the modular homes. They also received a donation of 50 quilts from the Kawartha Quilters’ Guild.

Although there is yet to be a scheduled move-in date, EFRY would like to assemble the welcome baskets in the next week to have them ready for whenever construction is complete. Stillman hopes that the modular units are ready for occupancy before the weather gets too cold, because cold weather presents a risk to the health of individuals experiencing homelessness.

“Right now, we think the units might be something we can try. They seem to be really successful in Waterloo and Kitchener. We are hoping that it relieves a little bit of the issue that we see in the City. It definitely won’t fix everything. And there are still many individuals who are not going to have shelter this winter,” says Stillman.

To learn more about this initiative, call the EFRY office at (705)-749-6809, or send an email to Kira at STEPSstudent2@efryptbo.org.

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