“Beacon of Welcome” Resiliency Fund!
In honour of welcoming our new Executive Director, Rochelle McAlister, and celebrating our Founder Anne Woolger’s appointment to the Order of Canada, Matthew House is thrilled to launch the…
For decades, our refugee welcome homes have stood as a safe harbour—a place of warmth, stability, and immediate support for individuals and families stepping into a brand-new beginning. To ensure these doors remain open for generations to come, Matthew House is proud to introduce the Beacon of Welcome Resiliency Fund.
Building a Strong Foundation
A truly welcoming home requires both tender care and sturdy walls. This dedicated fund is designed with two vital goals in mind:
Capital Care & Upgrades: Keeping our houses safe, comfortable, and well-maintained through essential repairs, vital updates, and long-term property improvements.
Operational Stability: Serving as a secure financial reserve to protect our core mission—safeguarding staff salaries and daily operations against unexpected challenges or future shifts in funding.
Why Resiliency Matters
Arriving in a new country after experiencing hardship and trauma on the refugee journey is often a jarring reality. For individuals and families who have endured unimaginable hardship, walking through our doors means finding a warm welcome and a gentle, steady place to get back on their feet and begin healing.
Maintaining a strong, resilient foundation ensures that our welcome homes will always be there, steady and unyielding. By safeguarding our operations and our spaces, we ensure that vulnerable refugees will never have to worry about whether our doors will be open when they need us most. With your help, we can remain a reliable, safe sanctuary where those rebuilding their lives can finally find peace, hope and the support they need to get firmly established in Canada.
Stand with us as a pillar of hope. Your gift to the “Beacon of Welcome” Resiliency Fund directly safeguards the homes and the hearts of our community.
Our Goal: $1,000,000.
We are aiming to raise $1 million for our fund to move Matthew House forward with stability and a bold vision. Join us as we bring light, hope, and restored dignity to refugees through your generous support.
The story behind the naming of the Beacon of Welcome Resiliency Fund
Several years ago, our original Dundas St. home's living/dining room received a generous makeover by the TV program Divine Design. Among the transformations was the gift of a beautiful crystal chandelier, which still hangs in our dining room today.
Initially, the designers suggested we might sell the very costly chandelier and replace it with something less expensive, using the proceeds toward other pressing needs in our refugee home. I originally considered this option, but once I observed our refugee guests’ response to it, I was deeply moved and could not replace it.
Arriving from places where they had faced persecution, hardship, and trauma, our guests’ countenance often changed when they were welcomed to the big round table beneath that gorgeous, sparkling beacon of light. I could see the profound impact it had—how it conveyed a deep sense of value, welcome, and restored dignity. Hence, I never did have the heart to sell it, because we recognized that true welcome is about more than just meeting basic needs; it is about honouring the inherent worth of every person who walks through our doors and seeing them as the complex, layered human beings that we all are.
That experience and observation is the heartbeat behind our new Beacon of Welcome Resiliency Fund. Named in honour of what the chandelier represents, the fund reflects our vision to bring light, hope, and restored dignity to refugees, and to ensure that this vital sanctuary of welcome continues to shine long into the future.