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For over 30 years, Harvest House residents and graduates have participated in our Community Outreach program. Initially, this program focused on school presentations through the Values, Influences and Peers (VIP) program. In the last two decades we have been sharing the bounty of our fresh produce donations so that those in need in our local communities don’t have to go without.
The Values, Influences, and Peers (VIP) Program is one of the longest-running and most impactful initiatives at Harvest House. For over 35 years, our residents and graduates have been visiting schools and community groups to share their personal stories of addiction and recovery. In that time, we’ve delivered thousands of hours of presentations and reached more than 82,000 students—primarily in middle and high schools, but also in elementary classrooms and university lecture halls.
What makes the VIP Program so powerful is its authenticity. Students don’t just hear about the dangers of addiction from textbooks or authority figures—they hear it directly from those who have lived through it. Our speakers share the real consequences of their choices, offering students the chance to learn from their mistakes rather than repeating them. It’s raw, honest, and deeply human.
For our residents, the experience is equally transformative. Many are speaking publicly for the first time, using their past not as a source of shame, but as a tool for good. It’s often the first time they feel they have something meaningful to give back. This act of service—of turning pain into purpose—is at the heart of why we do this. The VIP Program is our way of giving back to a community that has supported us, and of addressing, in some small way, a social crisis that touches far too many lives.
For nearly two decades, Harvest House has benefited from a generous partnership with a local green grocer, receiving weekly donations of fresh fruits and vegetables. These contributions have significantly improved the quality of meals we provide to residents while helping reduce food costs. On average, we receive 120 banana boxes of produce each week—far more than we need. As a result, we’ve made it our mission to share the surplus with others in need.
Each year, we re-donate approximately two-thirds of this produce to local shelters and community centres in low-income neighbourhoods. Over 20 years, this has amounted to more than 2.26 million kilograms of fresh produce received, with over 1.5 million kilograms re-donated to the broader community.
This program is a powerful example of how generosity can ripple outward—nourishing not only our residents but also thousands of others across Ottawa.