A Nova Scotia REALTOR® is making a difference in her community by volunteering and working with Shelter Movers. This volunteer-powered non-profit provides free moving and storage services to individuals and families fleeing violence and abuse. Shelter Movers is a national organization with chapters in five provinces with plans to expand into one more soon.
Jennifer O’Neil, who currently serves as the Chapter Director for Shelter Movers Nova Scotia, started volunteering with the organization in 2020 as a mover and truck driver. Next, she became a lead mover, whose job is to communicate with the client on the day of the move, and liaise with security personnel and police, when needed.
O’Neil got involved because she had volunteered previously at an organization supporting housing for young mothers. She was herself a single mother and she wanted to get back to volunteering in a role that would support other women going through challenging times. As a child, she’d watched her mom volunteer consistently and it fueled her own drive to bolster the community.
She thought she’d be a good fit with Shelter Movers because she’s physically strong, good with people, empathetic and she was eager to help. She applied, went through the volunteer acceptance process, which includes a trauma orientation session (O’Neil now leads these training sessions with new volunteers). She soon found herself driving big trucks for the first time.
Today, she is part of the leadership team overseeing the organization’s work in various regions of Nova Scotia, as she continues her work as a REALTOR® with ENGEL & VÖLKERS in Halifax.
“My work with Shelter Movers has taught me a lot about myself and others should know there are benefits to volunteering,” says O’Neil. “I’ve learned I can cope in just about any situation and remain calm, that I can problem solve quickly, that I can be determined, and that I can work with pretty much anyone.”
Though O’Neil has climbed the ranks within the organization, the quote by author Robin Sharma that she’s highlighted for her LinkedIn profile speaks to her philosophy of volunteering: “Success is not a function of the size of your title but the richness of your contribution.”
While Shelter Movers has been remarkably successful as a unique organization filling a necessary gap to provide these moving and storage services to individuals and families in need, it desperately needs more volunteers and donated funds, says O’Neil.
The Nova Scotia chapter has about 300 volunteers with 80 of them active at any one time but the demand is increasing, she says. The organization expects to hit 600 moves by this spring.
Having grown up in Halifax, she’s seen real estate in the city and Nova Scotia becoming increasingly profitable, while at the same time rising parallel to problems such as the acute need for affordable housing, which can make it even more difficult for women who immediately need shelter from an abusive situation in their home. Sometimes, there is no room in the shelters so they are placed on waiting lists and need to live with their children in hotels or motels for the time being.
Violent and/or abusive partners are what prompt the need for security personnel or police services such as the RCMP when women make the move. Often, it happens in a flurry of activity, says O’Neil, with the Shelter Movers volunteers helping to pack clothes, quickly grab belongings and get the children moving along with their mom to a new location. There is no boundary among people who need help.
“At first I was shocked that it wasn’t a certain socioeconomic background that needed this service,” says O’Neil. “I’ve helped to move seniors, young people and others who come from million-dollar homes. There is no stereotypical person that needs our help.”
O’Neil encourages everyone to get involved by volunteering. REALTORS® in particular could participate in other ways, such as corporate sponsorship, or hosting an event, or programs that give back to the community after house sales, such as fellow Halifax-based REALTOR® Brenda MacKenzie’s A Home for Everyone, which provides a portion of the sale to help provide sustainable homeownership.
“I believe there is a ripple effect to volunteering,” says O’Neil. “If we all did one kind act daily, even the smallest act, just imagine the shift that would happen. It would change the world. I am just a ripple but making a difference, one ripple at a time.”
