Paul Weber Band performs benefit concert for Centre 454

As people came hurrying into St. Albans Anglican Church in downtown Ottawa on the night of Feb. 7, the bitter cold was a sharp reminder of the important refuge that Belong Ottawa’s Centre 454 provides for vulnerable people every day from the basement of the church.

A modest crowd braved the cold night to attend a benefit concert for Centre 454 performed by the Paul Weber Band, and they were rewarded with great music and songs full of stories and the local history of eastern Ontario.

Mary Martha Hale, a retired former executive director of Centre 454, welcomed the audience and thanked the band for their generosity in doing the concert.

Shauna-marie Young, the current executive director of Belong Ottawa, thanked everyone for coming. “Your presence is an act of solidarity, and it means more now than you may ever know and more than ever before.” Centre 454 faces opposition from businesses and residents in the area who want it closed or relocated. “This evening would not be possible without the ongoing support of St. Albans, and the leadership of the Rev. Michael Garner, and the legacy of Mary Martha Hale,” Young said.

“Every day, the people who walk through the doors of Centre 454 and all of the sites for Belong Ottawa face bitter cold, hunger, loneliness, and the uncertainty of simply making it to tomorrow. In fact, today, on King Edward Street, three of my team who work at 454 offered lifesaving overdose support and revived a gentleman who had stopped breathing and had turned blue overdosing.” By the time paramedics arrived, the man was up walking and refused the ambulance.

“The work we do saves lives,” Young said. Since June 2025, “our team has responded to more 2 ,000 incidents on the streets in this neighbourhood, and with today’s intervention, 27 lives have been saved from overdose,” she reported.

“For more than 70 years, Centre 454 has been a place of refuge, offering warmth, nourishment, dignity, and human connection, said Young. “And the need continues to grow…. Since June of 2025, Belong Ottawa has served more than 56,000 meals from this site here, and 110 ,000 meals at all three drop -in day programs. …Beyond meals, we offer warm, clean, and safe places to rest, along with showers, laundry services, and a real sense of connection. Centre 454 is a doorway to support, and for many, a pathway to recovery. to healing, to employment, to income, and ultimately, it is sanctuary to all.

“Some of our participants recently shared with me at a town hall meeting what 454 means to them: ‘It’s like a second home.’ And another young man said, ‘I feel human again when I’m here.’ Another person responded, “You save lives.”

Young thanked everyone “for believing in Centre 454 and Belong Ottawa, and most importantly, for believing in the people who rely on us. Everyone deserves safety, care, and belonging.”