Families Helping Families - How OPUS Homes Gives Back to the Community!
By Lucas on Sep 16, 2013
Marie Fiorellino-Di Poce, ETA Vaughan meets with Andrea DeGasperis-Ronco, of OPUS Homes.
From OPUS Homes
When OPUS Homes opened its’ doors in 2010, they wanted to give homeowners a different experience, one that they could truly feel proud to be part of. To that end, they decided to provide a closing gift to homeowners: a donation in their name to one of these three charitable partners: ETA Vaughan, Earth Rangers, The Salvation Army, and Ride to Conquer Cancer.
Through the OPUS Homes’ Families Helping Families Program, OPUS Homes delivered the contributions, which totalled more than $8000, to these four exceptional organizations. This week, three of these organizations were presented with their donation.
ETA Vaughan’s YAE Program gets a boost
ETA Vaughan is an organization dedicated to improving the lives of women
and children suffering from abuse. It provides much-needed shelter for families, the necessities of life, and support and counselling in a comforting environment.
Seeing a need that went beyond immediate shelter and counselling, ETA Vaughan has most recently taken a preventative approach to violence, hopefully before it begins - right at school, with the YAE Team. The YAE Team’s youthful and dynamic leaders help students learn to cope with bullying and resolve disputes without the use of violence.
“YAE seeks to challenge youth ideas about relationships, their impact, and ultimately, their connections to violence and abuse,” explained Marie Fiorellino-Di Poce, ETA Vaughan’s Executive Board Member and Co-Founder.
YAE is structured as educational interactive workshops where youth are given a safe space for discussion. They are encouraged to share their experiences, opinions and ideas. Through this, youth have the opportunity to increase their knowledge and this empowers them and equips them with the tools to make informed decisions based upon a sense of all-encompassing respect and compassion.
OPUS Homes is delighted to support this preventative educational program, which has already been introduced to 35 schools across the GTA, and has received very positive feedback.
Marie and her YAE Team graciously opened their doors to show us their Community Outreach Centre, and shared with us some of their knowledge, as well as revealed some expansion plans, which are almost entirely made up of personal and corporate donations. Soon the shelter will boast a new kitchen, which will serve special dietary needs such as Kosher and Halal.
The YAE Team sits outside the ETA Vaughan’s Community Outreach Centre, in historic downtown Kleinburg
About ETA Vaughan:
• Supports an in-school bullying and aggression awareness program called YAE: Youth Empowering Achievement
• Currently supports families with more than 3 children (many shelters cannot accommodate more than 3)
• Provides assistance, shelter and counselling throughout the GTA, not just Vaughan
• Has supported 573 families since it opened its’ doors 7 years ago
• Offers support 7 days/week, 24 hours/day
• Is exclusively supported by the community it serves
Many thanks to the YAE Team and Marie Fiorellino-Di Poce at ETA Vaughan! For more information, or to support, visit ETA Vaughan’s website www.etavaughan.com. If you are in need of assistance immediately, you can always call their 24/7 crisis hotline at 1-877-382-1888.
