The Mission of The Old School Community Gathering Place Co-operative Ltd.
is to foster a vibrant inclusive community by providing programs and services that promote the health, well-being, and community spirit of all people in Musquodoboit Harbour and surrounding areas.
Funding for The Old School comes from membership fees, donations, fund raising, and grants and contracts for which we apply and compete. Your donations help.
NEWS
New Horizons Grant for TGIF
The Old School would like to thank, The Honourable Sean Fraser MP for dropping by and presenting the New Horizons Federal Grant for Seniors Program in the amount of $24,250.00. These funds will help us to develop and refine our TGIF (Transportation,Gardening, Information, Food) program that we have piloted to impact and grow a dementia friendly community. We will continue to provide our Friday Enhance Through Dance sessions, weekly wellness nature walks and journaling with Sure Footed along with food workshops, access to our food pantry, financial literacy and navigation support for seniors.
YESS Grant funding
The Old School Community Gathering Place would like to thank The Honourable Sean Fraser MP for dropping by and presenting the Youth Employment & Skills Strategy (YESS) Federal Grant which is a youth initiative led by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and delivered in partnership by 12 federal departments. This program supports youth to gain work experience and develop the skills they need to successfully find and keep quality jobs.
Programming focuses on youth facing multiple barriers to employment such as
education, food and income security, mental health, transportation, housing and health as well as broader systemic barriers such as racism and ableism.
This successful program has been in existence at the Old School since 2019 employing 83 local youth who received employment training and work placements with local businesses and organizations. To date we have had an 80% success rate with our program. The funding totals $948,885 over 4 years. The next program will begin in September 2024.
Thank you to Barbara Markovits
The Old School Community Gathering Place is grateful to receive a small bequest of $5000 from the late Barbara Markovits.
Barbara was a longtime activist, therapist, and mentor for many. She was a leader of EasternShore Forest Watch and she participated in a number of significant environmental initiatives,including Ship Harbour-Long Lake, Otter Ponds Demonstration Forest, halting the gold mine inMoose River, and the creation of Owl’s Head Provincial Park. Barbara believed in the value of community arts and service and supported the work of many organizations.
She cared about community, vulnerable people, the planet, and justice. Her gift to the Old School is encouragement for all of us to keep at it
We are a non-profit co-operative owned by its members. Funding for The Old School comes from membership fees, donations, fund raising, and grants and contracts for which we apply and compete.
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We are based in a Craftsman-style heritage building built in 1924, Musquodoboit Harbour’s former community school.
The Old School Community Gathering Place is a hub for the arts, culture, community health and wellness. We offer accessible programming to an intergenerational audience, with projects ranging from a youth employment program, to arts and cultural programs, to a food pantry, dance therapy group for seniors, Fibre Friends, and Tai Chi.
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Explore our programming through our website, contact us or simply drop by to learn more about what we do, how we can help, or how you can help us and others in our community.
Join Us
Become a member. Here's a page just for you.
Think about volunteering. What skills and interests do you have that would mesh with the goals and activities of The Old School? Let us know on the membership form.