"Team Matthew House" Participates In The Scotia Bank Charity Marathon

On September 27th Matthew House will be participating in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Charity Marathon for the third year in a row.

This year a number of former residents of Matthew House will be joining the team! Their goal is to raise $50,000. For those who feel a full marathon is to much there is also a half marathon and a 5 km run (or walk!) Something for everyone!

Every dollar you pledge goes direct to the charity of your choice the very small administration fee has been prepaid by the registrant or their sponsors.

We Need Your Support!

Visit the Team Pages to Sponsor a Runner!

"This year Matthew House hopes to have our largest team ever and raise double that of last year. Our goal is to raise at least $50,000. Our team is now forming and looks like it will be the best ever. We are very excited and pleased to welcome our former Matthew House resident Josiane Abougono to our team this year! Josiane, a marathoner who came from Gabon in 2001 and stayed at Matthew House upon arrival has had a fantastic career as a runner in Canada and last year ranked NUMBER ONE among women in the entire Canada Running Series!! Josiane has fond memories of her time at Matthew House and has always wanted to "give back" in some way to express her appreciation for the warm welcome she received at Matthew House. In addition to Josiane, we are pleased to introduce Ayinadis Bedada from Ethiopia who is also a world class long distance runner and a very recent resident of Matthew House. She likewise is pleased to run for Matthew House in hopes that any support she gains through sponsorships can be given back to Matthew House to benefit other newcomers like her. We are thrilled to welcome these two world class runners to our team"

Please show your support for Matthew House
Visit our Sponsors Page! to Sponsor a runner online and track our fund raising progress.
You can make a big difference!

Thank-you!

About Matthew House

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.

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 75 different countries including: Albania, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Angola, Burundi, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Liberia, North Korea, Rwanda, Somalia, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

Without ever advertising its existence, Matthew House continually must turn away more than four times the number of refugees it welcomes due to lack of space. As a result, one of Matthew House's vision is that of encouraging, inspiring and assisting other groups in establishing their own shelters and ministries to refugees. To date, shelters in Fr. Erie, Windsor, Hamilton, Cambridge and Vancouver have been opened based on the Matthew House model. Currently other groups in places such as Ottawa and Montreal are also exploring the prospect of opening shelters for refugees.

As the vision is spreading, and the need for appropriate shelter continues, Matthew House Toronto has recently opened a second more long term, "transitional home" nearby and hopes to expand its current space even more to effectively carry out its programs.