A non-profit organization that helps single parents perform home renovations related to safety has shut down after nearly eight years of helping the community.
Mark Paterson, founder of Safe Homes for Single Mothers MJ Inc. and Thunder Creek Home Inspections Inc., announced in mid-December that he and the organization’s board members had decided to dissolve the organization after seven-and-a-half years, although he did not provide a reason for the move.
“The board members and I would like to thank everyone that took part in building the organization over the last 7.5 years. There are far too many of you to list individually, but you know who you are,” he said.
“Lastly, I would like to say that it has been an honour to run a non-profit/charity here in Moose Jaw for the last three-quarters of a decade. I’ve met so many good people with huge hearts and it’s a time in my life that I will never forget.”
Some upgrades the organization performed over the years focused on electrical repairs, plumbing upgrades, painting, insulation, installing doors, bathroom enhancements, furnace installations and new water heaters.
Safe Homes for Single Mothers MJ Inc. had almost $10,000 in funding at its dissolution, so it disbursed the money among several other charities and non-profits in town. Those groups were:
- $1,500 to Moose Jaw Transition House for a new copier/printer, which the organization needed
- $2,500 for the food bank for frozen fruits and vegetables and $500 for diapers
- $1,150 for seven food hampers at Riverside Mission, $1,000 for ground beef and sausages, $500 for men’s underwear, socks, toques and mitts
The remainder of the money helped close the non-profit organization, while any leftover money went to Hunger in Moose Jaw, Paterson added. Overall, the organization invested almost $70,000 into the community from its founding to its dissolution.
