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Are you ready to fill your bowl with tasty soups from local restaurateurs?
Home Suite Hope's popular annual fundraiser, Empty Bowls, is back this Sunday, Nov. 6.
Hello, my name is Melissa Filice and I am happy to introduce myself to you as the Volunteer
Coordinator for this year’s annual HSH (Home Suite Hope) fundraiser, Empty Bowls.
I am a recent graduate of the HSH program myself and I do not know where my son and I
would be today if it were not for the support and guidance I have received from HSH over these
past few years.
I joined HSH in August 2019, almost three months after I had given birth to
my son. I remember then not knowing how I was going to sufficiently support my son alone; it was
a very isolating and uncertain time for me, but my son gave me every reason I needed to want to
find an answer. Home Suite Hope was our answer.
Since joining HSH my son and I quickly found our own apartment, I learned of community
supports we could access, and I attended various life skill workshops, as well as was granted a full
scholarship to Sheridan College for the Human Resources diploma program. I graduated with
Honors in April and completed extra courses this past summer to qualify to write the CHRP
exam. I have now also graduated from being a participant of HSH and am working in the service
industry while I look for employment in my field, HR. Moving for ward I hope to obtain my CHRP
designation and secure a full-time HR entry level job, perhaps in an HR generalist or recruitment
position as I am passionate about the areas of organizational behaviour and total rewards.
If it was not for HSH and all its supports, I would have never been in a position to financially
support my son and go back to school, as it is just us, we have no other outside support.
HSH gave us the chance at a fresh start, which is why I could not have been happier to accept
this position with them now as the volunteer coordinator for Empty Bowls. It allows me to use
some skills I have developed through my studies, such as managing the data for all volunteers,
and to give back to a program that has given my son and I so much.
I plan to always give back to HSH moving forward and help other single moms get their fresh start as we work hard to overcome intergenerational hardships and give our children the best possible future that they deserve.
Tickets are on sale now for the 14th Empty Bowls, presented by The Taylor Group, to be held in-person Nov. 6, 2022 at St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School.
For full details watch our Empty Bowls 2022 video.