Here you will find information about Veith House Community Centre, its history, its sponsors, and our organization.

1. Our Mission
2. Our Principles
3. Our History
4. 2011–2012 Board of Directors
5. Business Plans and Annual Reports
6. Veith House Sponsors

Veith House is a neighbourhood house whose challenge is to meet the needs of children, individuals, and families. We work primarily with people living in poverty, with empowerment as an ever present goal.

• Fostering interpersonal relationships based on respect, ethics and equality as the foundation of the agency.
• Strengthening a community of cooperation, caring, and affirmation that engages all those involved in the fulfillment of our mission statement.
• The just distribution of power, rights, wealth, privilege and responsibility on agency, community, national and global levels.
• Promoting accessibility through the identification and reduction of barriers to the programs and services of the agency.
• Acknowledging and honoring the individuals and collective diversity that is consistent with the mission statement of the agency.
• Being accountable through the development of policies, procedures and programs that are in keeping with the mission statement, principles and resources of the agency.
• Recognizing and valuing the historical contribution and struggle of the agency and its community as a source of learning and inspiration.
• Effecting change and supporting growth through creating opportunities for individual and collective learning and development.
• The universal application of these principles to all involved in the work of the agency.

Before it became Veith House, the building located at 3115 Veith St. was known as the Halifax Protestant Orphanage. It was home to countless numbers of girls and boys during its 112-year history. This excerpt from Wikipedia's article on Veith House provides some information on the orphanage:

The Halifax Protestant Orphanage (also known as the Protestant Orphan's Home) was in existence from 1857 - 1969. The orphanage was founded by Reverend Robert Fitzgerald Uniacke (rector of St. George Church) in 1857 and was previously located on North Park Street. This became home to a countless number of children, both girls and boys. The orphanage was relocated to Veith Street where it was destroyed in the Halifax Explosion in 1917, claiming the lives of both children and staff. Of the 21 people present in the building at the time of the explosion, only six survived. At this site, a monument has been erected commemorating the lives of the children and staff members lost in the disaster.

Here are a few photographs we have from Veith House's years spent serving as an orphanage. Click on a thumbnail to view a larger version of an image.

After the orphanage closed its doors in 1969, the property was transferred to the Halifax Children's Foundation to be used as the Veith House Community Centre, under which name it is still operating today. Presently, the premises host a preschool, the Veith Street Gallery, a CAP Site, and a number of other programs, including counselling, in-home parenting, and trustee and advocacy services.

If you would like more information about the orphanage or have any comments to add, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear your stories about life in the orphanage and would be glad to share any information or photographs that we have with you. We are very interested in collecting stories and information from folks who have been here over the years.

1. Melissa Morrison (Chair)
2. Jocelyn Mombourquette (Vice-chair)
3. Anne Tawse-Smith (Treasurer)
4. Peggy Nicholson
5. Andrew Waugh
6. Noreen Richards (Staff Representative)
7. Stacey Landry (Staff Representative)
8. Julie Boland
9. Suzy Hansen
10. Doris Ernst
11. Frank Hickey
12. Mary Al-Mansoob MacMillan
13. Sandra Little
14. Larua Conrad
15. Danni Ward
16. Stephen O'Brian

The business plan section includes the organzations goals, objectives, action plans, structure of the board, committee, and staff, as well as the role of volunteers and an overview of the programs offered.

The annual report provides outcome measures and logic models of the programs and supports provided, list of staff members, as well as Veith House Society by-laws decided.

1. Business Plan & Annual Report for 2006 - 2007
2. Business Plan & Annual Report for 2007 - 2008

In no particular order, we would like to take a moment to present to you some generous funders of the programs and services available at Veith house:

• Halifax Children's Foundation
• Human Resources Skills Development Canada
• United Way of Halifax Region
• Nova Scotia Department of Community Services
• Nova Scotia Department of Justice
• The Edwards Charitable Foundation
• Flemming Foundation
• Public Donations