Building Bridges: Strengthening Community Ties
Harbour Bridges is responsible for the providing safe, efficient and reliable cross-harbour infrastructure. But our organization is more than just a management and engineering entity. HHB’s core values and strategic plan state that to fulfill our mission, we need to be an active member of the community in a meaningful and impactful way.
HHB has demonstrated its commitment to the community in a number of different ways. It has hosted the MACPASS Miles community fun run and Bridgewalk for 40 years, giving residents an up-close and personal view of our unique workplace. We provide non-profit organizations and associations an opportunity to promote themselves and their events though banners on the Macdonald Bridge, and we recognize community milestones with rock gardens located near the MacKay. Our staff undertakes regular fundraising initiatives for food banks and homeless shelters, and we provide small donations on an ad-hoc basis to organizations with a connection to the bridge or our mandate and organizational values.
In 2023, HHB added an additional program to that suite of offerings. The new Key Partner Program is a one-year partnership that provides an opportunity for consistent and highly visible demonstrations of HHB’s commitment to the community.
Key partners are selected based on the following criteria:
They are a registered Canadian charity
The charity's mandate is in alignment with HHBs Mission, Vision or Strategic Plan
The partner has a positive reputation in the community
The partner is willing to work co-operatively and contribute resources, if only staff time
The partner has the time and administrative support to provide oversight and participate in both media planning and social media amplification
HHB’s 2023 Key Partner is the Canadian Mental Health Association, Nova Scotia Division (CMHA NS). The selection builds on existing joint community initiatives that have included the 2022 bridge calendar and a Match-The-Donation contribution.
“HHB prioritizes psychological health as part of its strategic plan. We see this program as a great way to demonstrate to the community just how that commitment plays out in action,” CEO Tony Wright said. “If we can help more Nova Scotians, this alone would be a valuable exercise – but we also want to learn from them to bolster our mental health supports for employees.”
CMHA NS Executive Director, Karn Nichols, said the organization is delighted to partner with HHB.
“To us, this is more than a great fundraising initiative. It’s a great example of an organization taking real steps to support their employees and our community’s mental health.”
As part of the Key Partnership Program, HHB is offering wellness education for staff, as well as more crisis training for emergency response teams. A series of monthly Mental Health Moments, done in partnership with CMHA are featured on the HHB website. Each year, a new organization will be selected by HHB to participate in the Key Partner Program. Details of the Key Sponsorship Program are posted on the Community section of HHB’S corporate website. There will be an annual call for submissions with a deadline of October 31 of each year.
