Company Profile
Matthew House Refugee Reception Services
Company Overview
A place of hope at the end of the refugee highway!
Matthew House is a small shelter in central Toronto that welcomes and assists newly arrived refugee claimants who have come to the end of a long journey on the refugee highway. Matthew House believes that God's call to "welcome the stranger" includes refugee claimants from all nations, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, political ideology, or sexual orientation. Matthew House strives to be a place where God's love is felt and communicated within an atmosphere of welcome and peace. Since opening as a permanent home in August 1998, Matthew House has provided shelter and assistance for hundreds of newly arrived refugees who would otherwise have been homeless in Toronto. They have come from more than 70 different countries including: Albania, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Angola, Burundi, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Liberia, North Korea, Rwanda, Somalia, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
Core Values:
Loving Service
Out of obedience to God's call to care for the stranger, as stated in Leviticus 19: 33-34 and Matthew 25:35, we seek to express a ministry of loving service to the refugee claimants staying at Matthew House.
Faith Based
Operating out of a Christian faith, we trust in a God who cares and provides for His people. As such, we value prayer, regularly communicating our thanks and requests, relying on Him in all circumstances.
Human Dignity
We believe that each person is created in the image of God, and therefore sacred. From this conviction we seek to respect, and to protect, the value and dignity of each person staying at Matthew House regardless of race, religion or political opinion.
Community
We value healthy community and work to develop one within Matthew House. We also build bridges with individuals and organizations on behalf of our residents, so that they may continue to experience healthy community beyond their lives at Matthew House.
Professionalism
We seek to continually develop and upgrade our skills, systems and working environment. We strive to have integrity and professionalism in all that we do, using our gifts and resources in ways that honour and glorify God.
Ministry Model
By showing leadership in how we serve newly-arrived refugee claimants, we seek to inspire and mentor other groups to begin, or further develop, their own ministries to refugees.
Company History
Matthew House grew out of a vision of its founder and current director, Anne Woolger-Bell who had worked for many years at a city-run shelter for refugees in Toronto. While working at the city shelter, her eyes were opened to the plight of "unsponsored" refugee claimants arriving in Toronto. Realizing that there was a great shortage of appropriate shelters geared specifically toward the unique settlement needs of refugee claimants, Anne approached her denominational leaders in the early 1990's asking them to consider establishing a church-based reception home for refugees. In October 1996, a new refugee ministry was created and Anne was appointed its first director. In August 1998 a permanent home was opened in central Toronto able to shelter approximately 12 refugees at any given time.
Since opening, Matthew House has welcomed and assisted over 600 refugees from more than 70 different nations. Sadly however it has turned away more than 2,500 other refugee claimants searching for a temporary place to stay upon arrival in Toronto due to lack of space. The need for decent shelter for refugees far outweighs the supply. Therefore Matthew House also serves as a catalyst and ministry model to encourage and inspire other groups to develop their own ministries to refugees. There are now several other refugee shelters in Ontario and one in BC that have been opened as a result of Matthew House,Toronto's inspiration.
Matthew House Toronto is a non profit corporation with registered charitable status. It has grown from having one permanent fulltime staff member to having 4 fulltime, one part time staff and many many volunteers.
Matthew House is able to exist thanks to the generous support of private individuals, churches and foundations who care about refugees. It does not receive any direct government funding. Therefore it continually welcomes support!!
Please Note: Matthew House does NOT do overseas refugee sponsorship to Canada.