About Us

Mission

To provide hope and opportunities for people who are justice involved through prosocial connections and collaborations.

Vision

Judgement Free
A community where people are not judged for their past.

Opportunity
Give people an opportunity to live out their hopes and dreams

Second Chances
Provide a chance for a new beginning, a fresh start

Connections

Peer to Peer support

Values

Hope Respect

Bravery Humility

Love Wisdom

Honesty Truth

Collaboration Commitment

Resilience Empathy

Compassion

history

After working with individuals who have been justice-involved, two social workers couldn't help but notice the value of the peer relationship to help someone recover from addiction and the "criminal lifestyle". After speaking with many justice-involved folks, they spoke often about loneliness, lack of supportive social networks, and feeling trapped into a certain lifestyle. Some spoke highly of their time in treatment or programming within institutions, stating that they missed the camaraderie and understanding that came from sharing lived experiences with their peers.

We also heard a similar story throughout our time in this field; those who are finally able to kick their addiction and criminal lives want to give back and help others get out of similar situations which in turn helps them stay on the healthy path.

All of those ideas were combined to create Branches for Hope. We are currently working towards gaining funding so that we can open our Resource Centre in downtown Kitchener and hire Outreach Workers.

Partners

Fiscal sponsorship through the Social Development Centre