Storm Clouds & Silver Linings

Stories of Response, Struggle, & Hope from Nova Scotia’s Community Sector during the COVID-19 Crisis

Working during COVID-19 has been tough for Nova Scotia’s 6,000 nonprofits as they struggle to meet the challenges the pandemic has placed on the physical, mental, economic, social, recreational and cultural health and well being of hundreds of rural and urban communities.

The Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia (CSCNS) provides support to these nonprofits, voluntary organizations and nonprofit social enterprises that together employ over 20,000 people and contribute $1 billion to the GDP of the province annually.

We are delighted to share these stories of the challenges, resilience and aspirations of nonprofits in our province that are dealing with COVID-19. This project has two equally important components. The first is the written stories themselves based on interviews with the organizations’ executive directors and the second is the stories as told through art.

We received applications from over 50 visual artists across Nova Scotia to help us tell these stories.
Click here to find some of the samples they sent us along with links to support their work.

Celtic Music Interpretive Centre

“Services and employment are severely reduced, while planning for future events is nearly impossible. The worst may be yet come.”

Patti MacDonald-David
Executive Director

Read their story

Clean Annapolis River Project

“We talk a little bit about the challenges we are having, and try to be understanding of moods and swings in productivity as we navigate this whole thing.”

Levi Cliche
Executive Director

Read their story

Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute

“We do a lot with students and educators in collaboration with the public school system and universities. That translates into 7,000 African Nova Scotians we now hope to reach by alternative means.”

Sylvia Paris-Drummond
Executive Director

Read their story

Healthy Minds Cooperative

“With libraries closed, many of our clients are even more isolated as they have no access to our online services via computers.”

Lynn Yetman
Executive Director

Read their story

Halifax Circus

“The two things that are bedrock for a circus, which are teaching and performance, have virtually vanished.”

Mike Hirschbach
Executive Director

Read their story

Welcome Housing & Support Services

“Staff mostly ‘ad hoc their way through.’ The transition to remote work is hard and isolating for both staff and clients.”

Diana Devlin
Executive Director

Read their story

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Themes from CSCNS Interviews with Executive Directors

During the month of May, the Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia followed up with executive directors (EDs) in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector across the province to see what the continuing impacts of COVID-19 have been on their organizations, their staff, and their future prospects. The Storm Clouds, Silver Linings series was developed from these interviews.

Click below to read some of these themes that came up in those interviews.

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