05/14/2026
OPEN HEARTS, OPEN DOORS NOW ON CANADHELPS.ORG
OPEN HEARTS, OPEN DOORS is St John's Anglican Church Fundraiser to renovate our Parish Hall to ensure accessibility and equitable access for all of our community who use our Parish Hall for their time together.
OPEN HEARTS OPEN DOORS - BACKGROUND
Our community of Bancroft is located 3 hours northeast of Toronto, and 2.5 hours southeast of Ottawa. Beyond it’s posted population of 4065, Bancroft is a hub with a metropolitan population of over 60,000 in the off season and over 100,000 in the summer months. Fifty-two percent of our residents are senior citizens as the area has become a popular retirement area. Our number of unhoused citizens is twice the per-capita found in the City of Belleville which sits at the southern tip of our county.
At St John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Bancroft; we base our ministry on four pillars chosen collaboratively by members of our congregation. Those pillars are Worship, Love, Joy, and Outreach. We have focused on Outreach by increasing our engagement with our community, especially those struggling with housing. Our efforts have been bearing fruit. We currently host a warming centre on weekends and statutory holidays. Our Parish Hall continues to be a hub for activity in the community. We have several strengths, including a central location, a large, air-conditioned meeting and banquet space, and a professional, recently renovated kitchen with a commercial dishwasher, commercial refrigerator, and improved workspace.
CURRENT SITUATION
Now we want to invest significantly in expanding the scope of our Outreach by making our facility fully accessible to all members of the greater community. We are already well-known as a positive presence in Bancroft and the surrounding area, especially to people in need and organizations that support them. We have the opportunity to grow and expand, as we are one of the most popular meeting spaces available.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
Our objective is to sustain and expand our presence as a Community Hub that is safe and provides equitable access for all community members. To do this, we propose to replace our deteriorating ramp, with an enclosed entrance to the Parish Hall. This entrance will include an electric lift, providing full access to both the upper and lower floors. In addition, we plan to convert the current washrooms on the lower level to a fully accessible washroom to service that floor.
FUTURE GOALS
Our goal is to continue to expand the use of our Parish Hall by community-minded individuals, groups, and organizations. This could include permanent or recurring rentals for one-time special events and presentations. For example, our Parish has had inquiries from Loyalist College about using our kitchen for a food-handling course.
Our success will be measured based on the number of new events, the number of individual uses, and the number of new organizations and agencies who use our space.
Our CandaHelps.org Goal - $100,000.00 to our building fund.
To donate using CanadaHelps.org, please go to their website and search Anglican Parish of North Hastings, or you can contact the Parish Hall at (613) 332-3662 or send us an email at [email protected].
