Alice Housing brings home prestigious Donner award
HALIFAX, NS; November 21, 2008- Emera is pleased to congratulate Alice Housing, who were recently recognized nationally with two awards; theWilliam H. Donner Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services and Excellence in Provision of Basic Necessities Award presented by the Donner Foundation in Toronto.
The Donner Awards is Canada's largest and most prestigious awards program and is considered the benchmark for evaluation and recognizing excellence in service delivery for non-profit organizations across the country. Alice Housing of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough, Ontario, shared the $20,000 William H. Donner Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services, the award for the highest performing agency overall. Alice Housing was also recognized for excellence in the provision of basic necessities, earning a $5,000 prize.
“Winning the top award this year from the Donner Foundation is a true testament of the great work this little organization does” says Joanne Bernard, Alice Housing’s Executive Director. “The work we do with women and children who leave family violence is challenging but very gratifying to the staff and Board of Directors. We are particularly proud that we are the only organization east of Ontario to win the overall prize in the history of the Donner Awards.”
Emera Inc. partnered with Alice Housing earlier this year in support of their Healing the Bruises program for children who have been exposed to family violence in Nova Scotia.
“Emera is thrilled to see Alice Housing rewarded for the exceptional programs and services that they offer to women and children in our community,” says Chris Huskilson, president and CEO of Emera Inc. “We have always been proud of our partnership because of the innovative services they provide and the hard work of the staff.”
About Alice Housing
Alice Housing is second-stage non-profit housing for women with or without children. We offer a safe non-judgmental environment for women leaving abusive relationships who have identified their own need for ongoing support and counselling.
In our ongoing commitment to meet the needs of women and children who have fled domestic abuse, Alice Housing now offers third-stage housing for women who have met the second -stage criteria and have identified the need for ongoing support. Here, women can stay for an extended period of time as they continue on their path of renewal and hope for the future.
With 16 second-stage housing units and 3 third-stage units located throughout the HalifaxRegionalMunicipality, Alice Housing is the largest organization of its kind in Atlantic Canada.
About Emera Inc.
Emera Inc. (EMA-TSX) is an energy and services company with $4.8 billion in assets. Electricity is Emera’s core business. The company has two wholly-owned regulated electric utility subsidiaries, Nova Scotia Power Inc. and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, which together serve 600,000 customers. Emera also owns 19% of St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, which serves more than 50,000 customers on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and 25% of Grand Bahama Power Company which serves 19,000 customers on the Caribbean island of Grand Bahama. In addition to its electric utility investments, Emera has a joint venture interest in BearSwamp, a 600 megawatt pumped storage hydro-electric facility in northern Massachusetts; a 12.9% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline; a 7.4% interest in Open Hydro and Emera Energy Services which manages energy assets on behalf of third parties
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For more information contact:
Joanne Bernard
Executive Director
Alice Housing
902- 466-8459
j.bernard@ns.aliantzinc.ca
Sasha Irving
Director, Corporate Communications
Emera Inc.
902- 428-6685
sasha.irving@emera.com