Ryan's Hope over capacity, searching for new space

A Barrie non-profit is outgrowing its space at a local church and is looking for a new location to store its donations.

 Ryan's Hope has been at the Burton Avenue United Church since forming in 2020, but say the space they currently have is hindering their ability to help the community.

"The room that we were in previously was larger than this room that we're in now, and it was still too small for us," said Christine Nayler, Ryan's Hope Co-founder.

The organization has been using a free space at the Burton Avenue United Church to store food and sort through donations. However, they've had to downsize to a smaller room.

"That's led us to have to rent a second storage room outside of town because the cost of storage in town is very expensive," Nayler said.

Ryan's Hope supports people experiencing homelessness and those living with mental health and substance abuse issues.

The rent for storage costs them roughly $600 per month.

"Any money that has to go to storage is money that's not going to the immediate needs of our community," said Anne Bergman, Ryan's Hope volunteer. "They're going through such a hard time, they're cold, they're hungry, they're insecure on so many fronts of their lives, and they will turn down the second cup of coffee to make sure somebody down the line will be able to get theirs."

Having the space out of town makes it challenging for the volunteers to give vulnerable members what they need.

"When someone needs a sleeping bag, and they're freezing outside, and they call you, it's kind of inconvenient to have to drive all the way out of town," added Nayler.

She said her ideal situation would be to have a donated space downtown that they would have 24/7 access to, to continue helping the community more efficiently and effectively.