About Safetynet Children & Youth Charities
Safetynet was established in 2006 to support financially disadvantaged families by providing a range of free wrap-around services. We rely on community donations to assist approximately 1000 families per year from a 10,000 square foot warehouse facility and Tutoring Centre in Oakville, Ontario. Services include a Clothing and Necessities Bank, Bicycle Program, Housewares Bank, Tutoring and Music Programs, and a Furniture Program. With assistance from the charity to meet material and educational needs, families are able to direct their limited financial resources to essentials such as food and shelter.
Families qualify for assistance through referrals from social service agencies and partner charities, or by contacting us directly and presenting documentation proving financial need. Our clients are diverse, including working families and those receiving government assistance, single-mothers, newcomers to Canada, and homeless individuals and families living in shelters.
Our Impact
In the Clothing Bank, families access free gently used and new clothing and housewares in a welcoming retail-style setting that fosters a sense of dignity and hope. Diapers and menstrual products, which hinder quality of life and societal participation for those who cannot afford them, are also provided free.
The Furniture Program assists families who are moving out of shelters or other temporary housing, by providing gently used and new furniture, mattresses and housewares. Clients choose items from an online inventory with assistance from our friendly Furniture team, who then deliver their order. When a family is transitioning from precarious to stable housing, access to good quality furniture provides a sense of security and hope for the future.
A team of dedicated Bicycle Program volunteers clean and repair donated bikes of all sizes, from tricycles to full size adult bikes. For younger clients, access to a bike provides exercise and recreation, and for many adults bikes are essential transportation to school and work.
Free one to one tutoring is provided for students in grades 1 to 12, with a goal of breaking the cycle of familial poverty by supporting academic success now to ensure employment success later in life.