Bulletin - February 2023
EDGE is Evolving
If you know MetroWorks’s EDGE program, you may remember that it operated in two physical locations: Halifax and Bridgewater. Well, we have some news! The Department of Community Services has changed the Bridgewater location to be entirely virtual. The Halifax location will still operate in-person programming, but now the Bridgewater staff will facilitate all the online programming.
Now we have more budget room to hire more staff! We’re hiring more community job navigators to help participants across the province with job search and job applications. Our job navigators also build relationships with community employers to help our participants access more employment opportunities.
Although we’re sad to see the physical location in Bridgewater go, the team has put so many memories into that space, we’re excited for this evolution and to be able to offer our programming to all Nova Scotians. More information to come as we get it ourselves!
Money Path Atlantic Training Community Champions
Money Path Atlantic is hard at work providing Nova Scotian communities with financial literacy training. The program currently has three collaborative hubs: Halifax – operated by MetroWorks, Dartmouth – operated by Affirmative Ventures, and Inverness – operated by Mill Road Social Enterprises. They offer a curriculum based on national standards set by Prosper Canada. Right now, they offer programming and train others on the curriculum. This helps the team reach more communities and spread the knowledge about money and life further!
The Inverness location recently started a workshop that trains individuals on the Money Path curriculum. These participants are training to be able to facilitate the lesson plans within the community either through individual workshops, or within their existing organizations. This is the first round of this training for Money Path, and they’re excited to hear the success stories and feedback!
If you are interested in learning more about Money Path Atlantic, check out their website at moneypath.ca.
Ampersand Sponsoring Dalhousie’s Crossroads Conference
Ampersand Café is a sponsor for Dalhousie’s student-led conference, Crossroads Interdisciplinary Health Research. The conference is for students to share their health-related research, participate in plenary sessions, and complete mini courses on a number of current health-related topics.
Originally, the conference focused on just Nova Scotian students, but has grown to welcome students across Canada, and even internationally. They will welcome undergraduate and graduate students from diverse geographical, cultural, socioeconomic, and academic backgrounds.
If you are attending, be on the lookout for the gift cards we’re giving to the conference! This is their 19th conference and will run March 10 and 11 at the Halifax Central Library and Dalhousie University’s Collaborative Health Education Building.
Learn more about the conference here.
Community Volunteer Tax Program
MetroWorks is part of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) again this year and will help anyone looking for free assistance when filing their 2022 taxes. Last year we filed 283 tax returns through the CVITP and are looking forward to helping any community member we can.
If you’re looking for help with your taxes, be sure to reach out! Find our contact information on our contact page here.
Stone Hearth at Joseph Howe Elementary
We’ve heard so many times that “kids don’t like rye bread!” Well, the students at Joseph Howe Elementary have something to say about that because they are loving our rye bread. Joseph Howe Elementary school now purchases Stone Hearth rye breads for their meal offerings. We’re so proud to have continued community support and to be able to spread the love of rye bread. We also make other breads, but ryes are where our hearts lie.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to give rye a try. Dip your toe in with a light rye, or go all in with the taste of our dark rye. After you try it, normal bread just won’t cut it anymore.
Space to Share!
If you’re in the Bayers Road Centre outside of business hours, you might notice the MetroWorks office is still bopping! This is because we’ve been sharing our space with a long time community partner, United for Literacy! Several of their volunteers donate their time to assist in the classrooms of our Cunard Learning Centre and in December, United for Literacy had a Book Fair for the staff, students and program participants at MetroWorks. They gave away over 300 new books!
They use our office three times a week for their programming, and because we’re all about building a supportive community of local non-profits, we want to share what they are up to when they’re hanging out in our little corner of the world.
On Monday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. they have a reading club! This program is for children from grade primary to grade six who are learning to read or are struggling with their reading skills. United for Literacy works with the students through large group activities that focus on phonics and other reading skills. Students also receive one on one tutoring and have the opportunity to read aloud to their tutor. The program provides engaging activities and games to help children develop and strengthen their reading skills and foster a love of reading.
On Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. United for Literacy has their STEM Club! STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. This program offers these STEM activities to children in grades 1 to 3 and grades 4 to 6. They learn about the scientific method, keep a science journal and experience hands-on science experiments under the guidance of the volunteer tutors. The most popular activity this year was making slime!
On Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. you will find the Immigrant Families Learning Together program. This volunteer program focuses on individual and group help for newcomer families. The adults participate in group activities to strengthen their English language skills and they also work one on one with their tutors. Tutors create individualized lesson plans to meet the needs and goals of the adult learners. Children take part in engaging literacy and numeracy games and activities to improve their English language skills and their numeracy skills. Families participate in different field trips throughout the year giving them a chance to experience social activities with their children and practice their English language skills.
Show some love to the efforts of United for Literacy and check out their website here!
