Grant and Funding Programs Offered by St. Paul’s Home (SPH)

St. Paul’s Home is a long-standing charitable society based in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1867 as St. Paul’s Alms House of Industry for Girls and later incorporated by an Act of the Nova Scotia Legislature, the organization evolved from operating a residential home for orphaned girls into a modern funder supporting youth at risk. Over time it built up significant capital resources, including gifts of land, enabling it to acquire and hold real estate for charitable purposes.

Today, St. Paul’s Home owns nine houses, including the original Tower Road building, as well as a church property in Spryfield. These assets are central to its support model: the properties are leased to independent charitable organizations for a nominal rent of $1.00 per year. Tenant organizations operate a variety of programs for youth in need and youth at risk, while St. Paul’s Home remains the property owner and enabler of these services.

Beyond providing low-cost premises, St. Paul’s Home explicitly offers grants to organizations that support youth at risk. This financial assistance complements the in-kind support of buildings and helps partner charities sustain or expand their programs. The organization also provides scholarships to students who would not otherwise be able to afford university or community college, thereby extending its mission from residential care into educational opportunity and social mobility.

Although detailed program guidelines and application procedures are not described on the page, the combination of property-based support, grants to organizations and scholarships to individuals positions St. Paul’s Home as an important local funding body in the youth services and education sectors in Halifax.

Originally, the home focused on girls aged 10 to 14 who were orphans or from indigent families, providing supervision, schooling, church life and eventual placement in employment. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, its operations changed little, even through major events such as World War I and the Halifax Explosion. A pivotal shift occurred in the mid-20th century as the organization redefined its objectives, experimented with different operating models and temporarily ceased direct operations.

In 1982, an Act of the Nova Scotia Legislature changed the society’s name to St. Paul’s Home to reflect its broader goals and more professional management approach. With growing capital strength from land holdings and strategic sales, it deliberately transitioned from running its own institutional program to becoming an owner of facilities used by other youth-serving agencies, and a provider of grants and scholarships aligned with its historic concern for vulnerable young people.

The primary beneficiaries of St. Paul’s Home are youth at risk in the Halifax Regional Municipality and students facing financial barriers to post-secondary education. By partnering with independent charities through long-term, low-cost leases and complementary grant funding, it allows specialized service organizations to focus resources on frontline programming while benefiting from stable, affordable infrastructure. Its scholarships further support individual youth, helping them enter or complete university or community college education they might otherwise be unable to pursue.