Redeemer University heads downtown
HAMILTON, ON - A $35,000 grant will help Redeemer University College further its mission to be a change-agent in downtown Hamilton.
The idea for “Redeemer Downtown" started when development director Judith Drost-Storey attended a poverty roundtable. Discussions took place after the Hamilton Spectator newspaper exposed differences in health care across the city and a Hamilton Community Foundation study showed the economic divide between city neighbourhoods.
“Redeemer is located in Ancaster, one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in all of Canada. We don't want our students [to be] sheltered," says Drost-Storey. Students volunteer or work with downtown ministries and service organizations. One group of students hands out hot chocolate and granola bars in Gore Park. Other students take part in a literacy program in Hamilton's north end. Some social work program students intern at organizations like the Hamilton Native Women's Centre.
Redeemer Downtown will share space and resources with the city's Jobs Prosperity Collaborative. The money - the largest amount available from the Stronger Together 2011 funding collaborative - will be used to hire a part-time community development coordinator.
The coordinator, hired in August, will look at what Redeemer does and could do in downtown Hamilton. At the end of the year-long contract, they will suggest what Redeemer can continue to do, what it might start and what will be needed to do both.
“It's too early to say what those will be," says Drost-Storey, noting the downtown's vibrant arts community, business base and social work ministries and organizations may fit in with current Redeemer programs.
The long-term goal is to see Redeemer students, staff, faculty and alumni become key players in creating a sustainable Hamilton. Drost-Storey is encouraged by the number of alumni who have already chosen to remain in Hamilton and stay committed to the downtown by living, working or volunteering there.
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