Churches give $17,000 for low-income housing

By ANH HOANG
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

And more cheque-stuffed envelopes are expected on the desk of George Kelly, executive coordinator of the Edmonton Inner City Housing Society, in the following weeks.

"I think we're overwhelmed by the generosity and contributions that have come in so far from (the campaign)," Kelly said.

The campaign, No Room in the Inn, kicked off Dec. 1 when local Church representatives gathered to encourage their churches to share their Christmas offering with the society.

The name of the campaign was inspired by the hours leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, when Mary and Joseph could not find proper lodging in Bethlehem.

The campaign was organized by the Quality of Life Commission and the Edmonton and District Council of Churches, which is supported by such churches as Roman Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, United, Anglican and Mennonite.

Catholic churches which have donated to the campaign include Santa Maria Goretti, St. Pius X and Immacul‚e-Conception.

"We got a letter asking us to consider giving some of our Christmas collection, so our parish council decided we would do it," said St. Pius parishioner Pat Woodman of the parish's $500 contribution.

"We had never done something like this before. We thought it was a worthy cause."

All money from the campaign will go into the society's housing development fund, which is geared towards the acquisition of land for construction of low-income housing or to buy and renovate existing homes.

"I think if we get $20,000 from this, we would be extremely happy," Kelly said. "We were expecting maybe between $7,500 and $10,000.

"This is a great surprise for us."

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