River City Vineyard's shelter expansion could be completed this spring.
Pastoral Team Lead George Esser said fundraising for the project began three years ago and so far roughly $700,000 has been raised. He said the Sarnia church is close to having enough funds to complete the expansion, hopefully by the end of April.
Fundraising efforts for the expansion recently received a major boost with the Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) event, held on February 26.
Worship Pastor Renee Card said she was amazed to see the community support.
"In the last few days of the fundraiser, things just took off exponentially," she said. "The last two days of the fundraiser, we ended up raising over $16,000, which put us at $57,000. Our goal was $40,000 so we went well over which was really exciting."
Although fundraising efforts for the expansion started prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Card said the need for more beds has been amplified.
"We have 25 beds in our current homeless shelter right now and they're almost always full," she said.
Card said there's also a need for more beds dedicated for women.
"That's just another need that has certainly been highlighted through this pandemic that more beds are needed specifically for women," she said. "We really want to get this open. There will be 40 more beds, 15 specifically for women and 25 additional beds."
The CNOY event was River City's main fundraiser of the year. Card said the CNOY fundraising page will stay open until the end of March for last-minute donations but contributions can also be made through the church's website.
The CNOY fundraiser also raised over $59,000 for Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton's build project, with four homes being built this year in Sarnia and Forest. The organization's initial goal was $25,000.
Nearly 200 participants took part in Habitat's first CNOY event. Its success has prompted the organization to hold a CNOY walk next year as well.
Coldest Night of the Year walk 2022. (Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton)