Skip to content

Shelter organization officially rebranded as The Busby Centre

Opened in 1993 as the Barrie Street Centre, officials say new name better reflects and honours the efforts of the Busby family as a whole
Sara Peddle David Busby 2018-12-23
Busby Centre executive director Sara Peddle is shown in a file photo. Shawn Gibson/BarrieToday

NEWS RELEASE
THE BUSBY CENTRE
*************************

Sara Peddle, the spokesperson for The Busby Centre, announced this week that the company is officially changing its name to The Busby Centre effective immediately.

Sara Peddle, executive director, explained that “the new name would reflect and honour the efforts of the Busby family as a whole during the 27 years evolution of serving those experiencing homelessness and/or poverty within Barrie and Simcoe County.”

“Over the last 25-plus years, our organization has seen a significant amount of growth in both our staff and the services that we provide in the community. As we have navigated these changes, the board made sure that we never lost sight of our north star, our 'why'," said Julia Brown, chair.

"Through each decision that we made, we came back to our roots – seeds that were planted by Mandy and David and continued to be tended to by Norah and the Busby family – a belief that everybody, regardless of their mental health or housing status, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. It is our most genuine hope that this name change will pay respect to the people who helped to make us who we are today.”

Background

Mandy Hilliard, the founder of our organization, had long recognized the impact that poverty had on members of the community. After reaching out to more than seventy churches, businesses, service providers, health-care professionals and community leaders, Mandy found that there were other people who shared her belief that individuals who were experiencing poverty needed access to services that could provide them with a hand-up, not a hand out.

Working at Mandy’s side, was Rev. Canon David Busby who was known for working to improve the lives of individuals in the community who had fall on tough times.

A steering committee was formed with a mandate to create the Barrie Street Centre. In 1993, the doors of the Barrie Street Centre opened. That first day, only one person showed up. However, on the second day, three more people came and on the third day, five people accessed the services.

The drop-in centre continued to grow, and, in 1995, officially became incorporated as the David Busby Street Centre, an homage to David who was an inspiration to those who knew him and a teacher to those around him. Sadly, David died in a plane crash in the Caribbean just nine days after the Centre was incorporated. Rev. Canon David Busby chose to live his life in service to others and continues to inspire the work of our organization today.

After David’s passing, the Busby family continued to support the organization for many years. This was especially true of David’s wife, Norah, who would come to the centre every Tuesday, rain or shine, to volunteer her time making cookies, playing cards and simply listening to people who needed to talk. Norah was a strong community voice, advocating for affordable housing and equity. Although her children lived across Canada, when the Busby Centre needed them, they were always there to support.

On Nov. 8, 2017, at the age of 90, Norah Busby passed away. This was a loss that was felt deeply by both our staff and our participants. David and Norah Busby are still a very real part of the work our organization does in the community, and we hope that they are watching over us every day as we carry on the original mission of ending homelessness and taking action on affordable housing. Therefore, after supporting our organization for more than a quarter of a century, we are honoured to officially announce ourselves as “The Busby Centre”.

At the Busby Centre, we are fueled by the power of somebody. We have seen, firsthand, what’s possible when we look past a person’s circumstances to see
the “somebody” standing in front of us. Once you truly see the importance, value and worth of somebody, they can’t help but begin to recognize it within themselves. We believe that the power of somebody is amplified when we get home because home is more than walls and possessions – it is a place of self.

Whether your home is here with us or outside of our walls, we will never stop bringing our community home because at Busby, everybody is somebody.

*************************



Comments

If you would like to apply to become a Verified Commenter, please fill out this form.