A Timmins-area mining company is hoping to give people to the chance to 'Go for Gold' in their lives.
Kirkland Lake Gold has made a $556,321 donation to the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board (CDSSAB).
“At Kirkland Lake Gold, our goal is to make a positive and lasting impact to the communities in which we operate. That means going beyond just creating jobs and contributing to economic prosperity,” said Alasdair Federico, executive vice president of KL Gold, in a news release.
“We look for ways to make meaningful contributions to the community, so that everyone benefits from our presence. By participating in the CDSSAB’s Social Distancing and Fresh Start projects, we hope to give others the chance to Go for Gold in their own lives.”
According to the announcement from the City of Timmins, it's being used for two programs started during COVID-19.
There is $356,045 for the Homelessness and Social Distancing project, which will cover the accommodations, security and support services for people being house at the Northern College residence.
Since early in the pandemic, people who normally would have used the Living Space shelter have been staying at the Cedar Street location, as well temporary sites at the McIntyre Curling Club and college residence. The money will cover the cost of the residence stay from March 26 to July 31.
The remaining $200,276 is for the Homelessness - Fresh Start housing and education project.
According to the announcement, it's to keep five units at the residence for safe housing, food and security while people enrol in college programming. It will be spent between Sept. 1, 200 and April 30, 2023.
CDSSAB CAO Brian Marks is 'incredibly grateful' for the contribution.
“Social distancing protocols created some issues we weren’t quite sure how to deal with at the beginning of the pandemic, and we incurred some costs we weren’t anticipating in order to keep everyone safe. Northern College was wonderful in offering us this space, and the program ran very successfully. We’ve also seen some incredible willingness for change among some of our patrons who had the opportunity to be housed at Northern College throughout this pandemic, and the Fresh Start program was born from this. With the support of so many generous community partners, we were able to manage the situation, and create real change in the lives of some of our community members," he said in the news release.
