Belong Ottawa has been selected as one of three beneficiaries of Hobin Architecture’s ‘You Give, We Give’ fundraising initiative for 2026.
Hobin Architecture will match donations from new donors made before July 1, 2026, up to a total of $45,000. Belong Ottawa will share donations received through the program with two other charities — the Youville Centre, which supports young mothers and their children, and the Ottawa Humane Society.
Belong Ottawa operates day programs in three locations in downtown Ottawa —Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table and The Well — serving vulnerable people who may be experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addictions. The day programs address basic needs such as food, laundry and shower facilities as well as offering other supports that foster dignity, wellness and hope.
“At Belong Ottawa, we are honoured our organization has been featured in this year’s campaign,” said executive director Shauna-marie Young. “This spotlight gives new supporters the chance to discover our essential, lifesaving work, and it reinforces how powerful it is when charities and socially responsible companies come together. Partnerships like these strengthen our communities and create lasting, positive impact. Thank you for this meaningful recognition.”
Steve Clifford, Hobin’s director of marketing and communications, explained that the company started the You Give, We Give program in 2021 in response to the hard times the community was going through during COVID. “We’ve always had a strong philanthropic mandate here, giving a portion of our own revenues, but we wanted to leverage our peers. So that’s what kind of drove this new matching program.”
Architect Barry Hobin founded the Ottawa-based firm in 1979 as a two-person office that has now grown to a team of more than 40 designers, technologists and administrators. It is now the longest operating architecture firm in Ottawa. Woven into the firm’s DNA is a strong belief in and commitment to giving back to the community.
In an interview with Perspective, Hobin explained, “We hold ourselves accountable…. We don’t come to the end of the year and ask ‘Have we got some money left over that we can throw into charitable giving?’ Our regular accounting and profit and loss sheet has built into it an expectation of charitable giving.” He added, “We philosophically want to give to agencies that are small, who are grassroots…. Our first major gifts were to things like the Ottawa Mission and around social justice and compassion. As causes, those things ring true to us.”
Hobin noted that the firm is a secular company, so its charitable giving is described in terms of recognizing “that we exist because of the strength of community, and we want to make our community stronger.
However, he added that the firm “ascribes to the Judeo Christian framework of tithing…. we’re in a time when talking about personal faith is challenging. Demonstrating your beliefs through action resonates with your community.”
Ottawa architect Barry Hobin and his firm believe in giving back to the community year in and year out.
photo: metropolis studio
Saint James the Apostle, Manotick — West Ottawa Deanery