Not only did Cornerstone Housing for Women have a loyal community of supporters at the 5th annual Purple Tie Gala on Saturday night but the local provider of emergency and supportive housing for women facing homelessness was also blessed with its own guardian angel.
Joseph Cull, who co-hosted the evening with Heidi Rodger, sashayed into the Canada Room of the National Arts Centre in feathered white wings and silver halo. He wore a mirror disco gown, purple wig and matching evening wrap, satin white gloves and Dame Edna eyewear. His entrance song was the 1970s disco tune Heaven Must be Missing an Angel.
“There’s one thing I know for certain, I’m not leaving until I get a picture of me with the angel,” joked Bishop Shane Parker of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. He was among the many who wore a splash of purple.
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Cornerstone got its humble start nearly 40 years ago with three cots in the basement of what was then All Saints Anglican Church in Sandy Hill. In some ways, it’s a story about people of faith and goodwill “who listened from their hearts to the suffering of others and chose to act,” the religious leader said at the podium. Those people, he added, also invited the community to act with them.
“You are a continuation of that,” Parker told the 350-person room. “Each of us, people of faith, people of goodwill, when we listen from our hearts and we’re moved by the suffering of others, and when we act using all of our combined resources, we change lives; we make a huge difference.”
Today, Cornerstone offers emergency housing for up to 60 women and provides supportive housing to another 110 women and gender-diverse people. It will be moving 46 more women into supportive housing when it opens its newest facility on Eccles Street in 2024.
Back for the fifth year as presenting sponsor was RBC Wealth Management Dominion Securities and Joanne Livingston and Alan MacDonald of Livingston MacDonald Wealth Management.
The evening, which included live music, food and drinks, prizes and auction items, nets $150,000.
The Purple Tie Gala is a celebratory way for Cornerstone to thank the community for its support. The evening of food, drinks, live music and dancing, as well as auctions and prizes, raised $150,000.
“We’re very blessed in this city,” said board chair Mark Holzman, who spent decades working in housing policy, research and programs at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. “It’s a very caring community, and Cornerstone plays a key role in helping women who experience homelessness. Over the last few years the community has reached out to us and has supported us, and we are just so grateful.”
Cull recruited his auctioneer brother Preston Cull from the Ottawa Valley village of Douglas to help with the charity live auction. Preston, who normally deals with estate sales, farms and livestock, had no trouble getting supporters to bid on such items as a WestJet trip, a Fairmont Château Laurier/NAC package, a private party at the Nest (the upstairs lounge at Thyme & Again), a cocktail tasting night at Split Tree Cocktail, a Nordik Spa and Hilton Lac Leamy Hotel and Casino experience, a Tremblant package, and custom paintings.
Attendees of the Purple Tie Gala included Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and his wife, Ginny, along with city council colleagues Ariel Troster, Theresa Kavanagh and Jessica Bradley.
Flora Hall Brewing’s Dave Longbottom, who’s been a loyal sponsor, was there with his wife, Carrie Colton, director of contemporary art gallery Studio Sixty Six. They, along with the presenting sponsor and McDonald Brothers Construction, agreed to match every dollar donated to the cause, up to $25,000 in total.
Andrea Laurin and Katie Faught, who co-organize an annual pop-up sale of used designer clothing in support of Cornerstone, were out supporting the gala. So were Stephanie Appotive and Lindsay Appotive, owners of Howard Fine Jewellers and True Bijoux. The sisters launched a fundraiser earlier this year to raise $25,000 for Cornerstone through the sale of 1,000 custom-made pearl bracelets.
The all-women team from communications firm Edelman Global Advisory were joined by such high-profile women as Ottawa Deputy Police Chief Patricia Ferguson and CTV News co-anchor and 580 CFRA host Patricia Boal. Executive director Judy Lincoln and board member Molly van der Schee were there from Westboro Village BIA, which sponsors Cornerstone’s Coldest Night of the Year winter walk fundraiser.
Ottawa couturier Frank Sukhoo told OBJ.social there’s talk of reviving Cornerstone’s legendary garden party in time for the organization’s 40th anniversary next year. The fundraiser, which was hosted for years at the official residences of diplomatic heads of mission in Canada, featured a dazzling fashion show by Sukhoo Sukhoo Khooture.
Donor support remains critical in helping Cornerstone deliver its programs and services, said Martine “Mat” Dore, director of programs at Cornerstone. The organization has yet to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic, she told OBJ.social.
“Honestly, the last few years have been the hardest for Cornerstone. I don’t think we’ve ever been in the place we are now. The need is so great … It’s not going away.”
The pandemic, with the rapid deterioration of mental wellness and alarming rise of substance use, was hard on the vulnerable women who turn to Cornerstone for help, said Dore. Compounding the situation is the shortage of front-line workers. “We’re understaffed. We can’t bring in staff quickly enough and, of course, it’s hard work.”
Creating more long-term supportive housing will go a long way toward addressing the homelessness problem, said Dore. “It’s not just about having a roof over their heads for people who suffered trauma and abuse and have been disenfranchised. They need support.”
Cornerstone is working with other organizations, including Minwaashin Lodge, Elizabeth Fry Society and Kind Space, and improving its French-language services in an effort to become more inclusive and to reduce barriers.
Said Cornerstone’s acting executive director Kate Jackson: “We offer much more than just a warm place to eat and sleep. From the moment someone walks through our doors in the shelter, we provide stability, healing and support.”
Alaina Tripp, who’s a client of the outreach program, has been involved with Cornerstone since she first arrived to the shelter, feeling scared and alone. The organization quickly became her pseudo-family. She moved into Cornerstone’s MacLaren Residence, followed by an independent-living apartment. “My level of support got less and less, and I began to stand on my own two feet,” said Tripp, who holds down a job at Loblaws.
Cornerstone was also there to support Tripp when her service dog, Stewart, passed away, sending the woman into a deep depression. Things got even worse. Her next dog, a puppy named Teddy, was stolen and has yet to be recovered, she told the room tearfully. “I don’t think I would be here today, or (could have) gone through what I have gone through without the team at Cornerstone to support, rally and cheer me on.”
caroline@obj.ca
