Community raises $33K to save night outreach program in Sudbury

A Sudbury non-profit raised over $33,000 in a late-year campaign, saving its overnight outreach program and is now launching a peer-led needle collection pilot.

At the end of last year, the Go-Give Project faced a severe funding shortfall that put its programs at risk of discontinuation.

Turning to the public for help, the Sudbury non-profit organization was met with a wave of generosity through its Giving Tree campaign.

“In those two and a half weeks, we actually raised just a little over $33,000,” said Evie Ali, the organization’s executive director.

“Which is just absolutely incredible. The community really pulled through.”

The funds are being used to sustain frontline staff and allow for the continuation of Go-Give’s night-time mobile outreach program, which runs from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week.

The organization has also launched a six-month pilot project for needle collection, a program that existed in 2025. Now, it will be transitioning to a peer-integrated model under the guidance of staff.

“Peers are typically those that we are serving in the community – the people with lived experience, the experts,” Ali said.

“People accessing the services have the priority to sign up for these programs.”

Go-Give utilizes the peer-integrated model at the warming centre on Energy Court, which Ali said has been successful so far.

“We don’t use cleaning contracts or anything like that anymore. We employ peers to keep the space clean and that has been hugely effective, and very rewarding both for staff and for community,” she said.

“Keeping that same model in mind, we’re really hoping to implement that outside of the center and give people a little bit more availability and options because that program is just overflowing with interest.”

Additionally, Ali confirmed with CTV News that the City of Greater Sudbury contributed more than $48,000 to prevent disruptions at the city’s warming centre – this funding ensures the facility remains operational through the end of April.

Despite the success of the fundraising campaign, the organization has not been able to restore all of its services.

The Welcoming Streets Program and the Daytime Outreach Program have been put on hold.

“The impacts of that are pretty significant,” Ali said.

“Because of the loss of the daytime services, it’s really reduced the number of treatment referrals and hospital care.”

Ali said she is hopeful those programs will be reinstated with support from various levels of government.