A men's homeless shelter in downtown Chatham has a new kitchen thanks to a big-hearted national union.
Unifor unveiled the $60,000 kitchen at Chatham Hope Haven at 183 Wellington Street West Friday morning. Just after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, president Jerry Dias dropped more good news. Dias told the crowd "if we're going to do the kitchen, we might as well do it all." The kitchen was upgraded by Unifor members from Chatham and Windsor and now plans are underway to renovate the common and sleeping areas with 14 new beds, new furniture, and fresh paint.
Bill Webster of Autoliv in Tilbury, who worked on the kitchen with many others for 10 days, said the project has been in the making for 1.5 years after his wife Shelley mentioned it to him.
"It all started from my wife. She would make a meal at home and bring it in for the guys here. We were feeding 10 to 15 people at a time. Once a week every Friday, she would come in and bring a meal. If it wasn't for her it wouldn't have happened," said Webster.
Hope Haven General Manager Wanda Bell said she is grateful for the transformation and is blessed to be surrounded by so many kind donors and volunteers.
"We are truly thankful. I'm the only paid employee here so, I'm truly thankful. There are 77 volunteers that are all working together and they're working together because of all the donors. So, yeah, it's incredible," Bell said.
Dias said it's important to give back to the community and reflected on current and former union members who lost their jobs when manufacturers shutdown in Chatham-Kent.
"It's about us understanding the role they played for so many years in our union and this is our way of saying this is what we're giving back to your community out of sheer respect," said Dias.
Webster said the floor was the biggest challenge because it was all rotten and had to be dug up to be replaced.
Chatham Hope Haven officially opened its doors in November of 2017 and during its first year had 105 men seek refuge at the shelter. Almost half of the men staying at the shelter are between 36 and 49 and the average stay is 21 days.