Bryony House expansion fundraiser struggles to sell tickets

An ambitious plan to help fund an expansion atBryony House one of Nova Scotia's largest women's shelters is struggling.

The Dare to Dream lottery was created by two women to raise money for the Halifax shelter. The top prize is a luxury home in the suburb ofWaverley.

Maria Sancho, a former client of Bryony House, was one of the women who thought of the idea.

"I was a very successful businesswoman. But things at home were not as successful," she said.

"The shelter was like an emergency room for the soul, to me. It was critical at the time that I obtain that help that they gave me."

Sancho started discussing fundraising ideas for Bryony House with another woman, Kris Martin. Martin who had just built a dream house for her own family decided to use itas a prize in a home lottery.

The women decided it was the best way to raise funds to expand the shelter.

"They're in desperate need of expanding the shelter, there's just not enough room for all the people that go there," Martin said.

"The extension will give them an extra 30 beds, which they desperately need."

The two women hoped to sell 60,000 tickets for the lottery to fundthe shelter expansion. So far, they've only managed to sell 10,000. They've scaled back their expectations and now hope to sell about 25,000 before the deadline of Sept. 19.

Stiff competition

Because Martin had originally intended for the house to be her family's home, she poured everything into it.

There's a three-car garage, a double Jacuzzi in the master ensuite and a basement games room with a pool table and jukebox. In addition to the home Martin built, there arealso vehicles, vacations and gift cards included in the prizes.

"It is hard," Sancho said. "But it's been exciting because we believe that the cause deserves it. And we believe that if we bring enough awareness, we cannot fail."

The Bryony House lottery faces stiff competition. The region's largest hospital the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax has just launched one of the two large home lotteries it runs each year.

Sancho is philosophical about the competition.

"The QEII? It's an amazing cause," she said.

"Women that don't get the right help at the right time end up in the QEII. So we can never take away from the QEII."

Both Martin and Sancho say they believe there is room in Nova Scotia for two home lotteries. Even though ticket sales have been slow, they're confident their lottery will survive into the future.

"I don't think we can fail because there's too much support," Sancho said.

"Next year, we want to do this with a bunch of women."