Mine safety company raising cash for Living Space

 

Mine Safety Solution's (MSS) Anthony Gillin, left, and Living Space executive director Jason Sereda. This month, MSS is donating 20 per cent of its net sales to Living Space. Maija Hoggett/TimminsToday

A mine safety company is lending a hand to a Timmins homeless shelter this month.

Mine Safety Solutions (MSS) is raising cash for Living Space by donating 20 per cent of the net sales of its safety gloves in March. 

This is the first time the company is doing this kind of fundraiser. 

After hearing about the number of homeless people in the city, MSS president Anthony Gillin wanted to do his part. 

His goal is to sell at least 200 pairs of safety gloves this month.

“Money that’s raised will go directly to the shelters to help with food costs and to help with other resources for downstairs, so purchasing new cots, purchasing the supplies that we require and anything else that might benefit the residents,” said Jason Sereda, Living Space executive director. 

He said donations are incredibly important for Living Space, a hub dedicated to ending chronic homelessness. 

It offers an emergency shelter, transitional housing, and will eventually have a service hub as well.

The shelter opened last winter, with the official grand opening being held on World Homeless Day in October.

“Right now Living Space is a brand new organization so we’re in the process of applying for different grants with different levels of the government, but we’re definitely at the mercy of the community to help us out any way they can,” said Sereda. 

Having an occupancy permit for the whole building now, he explained there is the emergency shelter downstairs at night and during the day it's a drop in. Seven people are living in the transitional units. 

“As we work to more progress here on the main level, we’ll open up our primary care room, our skills development workshop and start bringing in more resources to the centre," he said. 

Since opening last winter, Sereda said they have been consistently full. 

"We can fit 20 people in the emergency shelter downstairs, just for safety reasons that’s all we can fit, but he have other people who stay awake at the table all night because there’s nowhere else to go. I’m confident that if we had a 50-bed shelter we’d be full every night as well,” he said.

To learn more about Mine Safety Solutions and how to purchase gloves, visit their website.

Author: Maija Hoggett

Mar 1, 2019

Mine safety company raising cash for Living Space