Valley Connect Outreach's legacy is a 25-year commitment to community support and volunteerism in the Annapolis Valley, providing food, shelter, and comprehensive care through a dedicated network of volunteers and community-driven initiatives.
Valley Connect Outreach is the continuation of a vision for Street Ministry & Community Advocacy that began over twenty-five years ago. It is our privilege and joy to welcome and assist people seeking help as a growing community of support. Since launching under the Valley Connect Outreach banner in 2022, we have expanded into a network of more than 120 volunteers, originating from the longstanding 'Community Soup Kitchen’ in Kentville. Today, we serve those in need throughout the Annapolis Valley from our outreach locations in Middleton and Kentville.
Our strength lies in our ability to gather and equip a diverse network of volunteers into a supportive structure for individuals struggling with poverty, addiction, or seeking a sense of belonging.
Rather than seeking funding to initiate individual projects, our community of volunteers and participants lead and innovate based on local needs and service gaps. We are uniquely all volunteers providing peer/friendship-based support, allowing for diverse voices and opportunities for those receiving support to also contribute as volunteers.
Food, faith, and friendship together form bonds that offer refuge to many through our weekly recovery supports, life skills programs, and regular meals provided by the Community Soup Kitchen in Kentville and the Middleton Outreach Centre. This work fosters a sense of new identity and purpose, encouraging people to make healthy choices as they discover their own identity and purpose. Our passion is for both spiritual renewal and for individuals to find the array of solid supports necessary to leave negative patterns behind.
KEY INITIATIVES
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Volunteerism, along with food rescue partnerships with grocers and food suppliers, enables us to provide hundreds of prepared meals each week and support hundreds more with food and other donated items for their households.
Regular food support through the Community Soup Kitchen, the Middleton Outreach Centre, and our Food Rescue Team helps combat food insecurity throughout the Valley, distributing thousands of pounds of food.
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Community Soup Kitchen in Kentville and Middleton provides regular meals and combats food insecurity through food rescue partnerships.
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In 2023, we relaunched a fully volunteer-run Winter shelter program. This service hosts people in crisis, focusing on helping them get the assistance they need through direct referral to our Care Team.
Kentville, in particular, is becoming a regional destination for people with nowhere to call home. We see emergency shelters as a way to help people in crisis and address this worsening trend with shelters in both Kentville and Middleton. Guests not from our region are encouraged to return to their respective home communities. We believe we play an important role in crime prevention and ensuring that none of our area towns become a catch-all for street-involved people from the broader region.
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Valley Connect Outreach is “community supported” through donations, fundraisers, and with the help of a charity thrift store - The Purple Peacock in Kentville. This associated social enterprise is a place where people in need can "shop" for free in a dignified way, and where the general public can donate and shop to support our work. The store serves as a place of belonging and training for the people we assist, as well as being a training platform for participants in other work programs.
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We function as a resource center, referring people to community supports while operating recovery groups and sponsoring individuals ready for 12 Step recovery programs. Those seeking assistance are supported by the CARE Team with a self-directed “action plan” and directed to other relevant community supports.