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In the News - 2022
Awards bestowed on five Bermudians in New Year’s Honours List
December 31, 2022
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Awards were bestowed on five of Bermuda’s best in the King’s New Year’s Honours List announced yesterday.
Sheelagh Cooper, a tireless advocate for Bermuda’s children and vulnerable families, has been appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
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Rectory renovation project represents shift in mental health treatment
December 22, 2022
A former church rectory in Somerset is to be transformed into a home for people suffering from mental illness.
Once renovations are complete, the old St James Church rectory at Somerset Bridge will provide around-the-clock care for patients with long-term mental conditions.
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The initiative was developed by the charity Habitat for Humanity in partnership with the Anglican Church of Bermuda and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. The church will provide the building for a nominal rent, while MWI staff will be on hand to give professional healthcare.
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Buy a block for Christmas – and help fix a home
November 24, 2022
A “wall” of cement blocks is perhaps an unlikely festive window display for a Front Street shop.
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But the building materials have been used to decorate the Habitat ReStore as part of its Christmas campaign.
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Sheelagh Cooper, the chairwoman of Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda, said that the fundraising drive was called “Buy a Block, Fix a Home, Build Hope”.
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Charity breathes new life into record number of properties
October 24, 2022
A home renovation charity has completed a record number of projects this year with new life breathed into 18 properties.
Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda typically works on up to 15 homes annually.
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Sheelagh Cooper, its chairwoman, said: “After completing the Transformational Living Centre last year, we were facing a backlog of smaller projects that had been put on hold while we concentrated all our efforts on the shelter for homeless families.
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Habitat gives home a little TLC
July 25, 2022
A $10,000 donation was made from a thrift store to pay for maintenance of a home to help women and their children.
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Funds from the Habitat ReStore were handed over to the Transformational Living Centre for Families to cover maintenance support.
Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda, which runs the thrift shop, was behind a two-year project in partnership with the Women’s Resource Centre to transform a derelict former rest home into a purpose-designed residence to house up to ten families.
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Habitat Restore launches art gallery
June 16, 2022
The newest Hamilton art gallery is located in a thrift shop, but there is nothing second hand about the artwork.
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Habitat for Humanity Bermuda officially launched the gallery earlier this month, two years after opening Restore in the old Blucks building.
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“When Blucks was functioning as a high-end china store, Sheilagh Head had a gallery upstairs,” Habitat chairwoman Sheelagh Cooper said.
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The thrift that keeps on giving
May 11, 2022
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In today’s cash-strapped times, thrift stores are rapidly becoming a critical lifeline for local charities.
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The Pals Thrift Shop on Point Finger Road in Paget has raised more than $1 million for the cancer charity in its four years of existence. Last year, alone, the shop raised $250,000, and it is open only on weekends.
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“On Saturdays we open at 9am and people are lining up at 8am,” said Colleen English DeGrilla, Pals executive director.
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Artists to show work to support Habitat for Humanity
April 20, 2022
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Two artists will show their work to help boost a charity that renovates homes for families.
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Sheilagh Head and Andy Detzer will exhibit pieces to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda with an event at the charity’s ReStore on Front Street this Thursday.
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Sheelagh Cooper, the chairwoman of Habitat Bermuda, said that Ms Head’s land and seascapes were “absolutely her best work yet”.
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Charity to switch focus to helping families living in unsafe, derelict homes
April 8, 2022
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A charity that renovates unsafe homes for families will tackle a backlog of cases after it completed a major project to provide housing for mothers and their children.
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But Sheelagh Cooper, the chairwoman at Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda, said that another large-scale renovation could be lined up for future work.
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The charity undertook the design and renovation of a Pembroke building to turn it into the Transformational Living Centre for Families, which opened in February.
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