Obituary: Mina Wahidi founded Compassion Society of Halton in her basement
Mina Wahidi was dumbfounded when she was named Burlington's Citizen of the Year for 2008.
She was honoured for founding the Compassion Society of Halton, which provides people going through a hard time or suffering a financial setback with food, clothes, shoes and household items.
A neighbour asked her in 2000 if she could find something to do with three bags of clothes. She hung them on three clothing racks in the basement of her Nelson Co-op townhouse and started offering help to people, with a few friends assisting from Burlington and Oakville. The agency sought further donations at the Halton Mosque on Fairview Street.
The Compassion Society expanded to other locations - it had a dozen volunteers by 2009 - and is now located in the Brantview Plaza, beside the Mandarin restaurant, on Fairview Street.
It helps more than 3,000 people a year in Halton and Hamilton and is one of the charities under the umbrella of the United Way Halton and Hamilton.
But in May 2009, when Wahidi - who died April 4 at age 55 - was named Citizen of the Year for 2008, she expressed amazement.
I'm thrilled to bits," she told The Spectator. I've been crying a lot. I don't know what it's for. It's been so emotional. I never thought I could win anything like this. I thought you had to have big bucks to win."
Wahidi was later honoured with a Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Rotary Club of Burlington in 2009 and a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
In a statement, the Compassion Society said it wouldn't be where it is today without its founder.
A champion of the most vulnerable among us, with lived experiences of hardship and vulnerability, Mina never shied away from helping others no matter what," the society said. No one ever saw her without a smile and the passionate positive energy that she always emanated was contagious."
Her daughter, Sarah, called Wahidi genuine, kind, cheerful and hilarious."
If you were lucky enough to meet her, you knew she was a light like no other," she said on a GoFundMe page that helped the family raise more than $15,000 for a funeral.
Wahidi left the Compassion Society in 2016 and co-founded Lucy's Place - $5 or less for clothing - on Queensway Drive. She was also a co-founder of the Halton Refugee Help Centre, which opened on Brant Street in October 2021.
Wilhelmina Wahidi - Mina for short - was born in Bristol, England, and came to Canada in 1970. Her family lived in Vancouver, but they eventually settled in Brampton. She attended Cardinal Leger Secondary School and later attended not-for-profit governance courses at Sheridan College and McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business.
Wahidi volunteered at the Peel Nursing Home in Brampton. In 1992, she became an auxiliary officer with Peel Regional Police. She also ran the Omar Rug Company at the Mapleview Centre.
She served four years as an auxiliary officer and moved with her husband Farid to Burlington in 2000, a few months before setting up the Compassion Society.
In March 2005, Aldershot Presbyterian Church opened its doors to the Compassion Society.
Wahidi believed the agency was needed and was succeeding at its mission.
It has provided many opportunities for understanding one another," she told The Spectator in 2004. I feel people are generally OK, but once in a while they need a little help. Many of them are struggling to live within their means."
In 2014, Wahidi took a stab at local politics and ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 6 seat on Burlington council.
Lucy's Place opened just before Christmas of 2016. It was named for her grandmother.
Wahidi is survived by her three children, Sarah, Mariam and Bilal. She is also survived by her former husband.
Daniel Nolan can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com