In 2003, a number of Halifax-based community advocates formed the Saint George’s Friends of Clemente Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of those living in material poverty, through education in the Humanities.
            In October 2005, the Society, by then a registered charitable organization, launched an eight-month pilot project called Halifax Humanities 101 based on a hugely successful educational model called the Clemente Course in the Humanities. Developed and first delivered on the lower east side of Manhattan in 1995 by writer and educator Earl Shorris, the course in the Humanities is a proven way to radically and successfully enrich the lives of those in poverty through education. The course material teaches reflection and critical thinking, enabling those on low incomes to combat isolation and to navigate their way through poverty to actively participate in changing their lives.
            Since that pilot year in 2005, over 60 students have successfully completed the eight-month course of study. There have been five graduation ceremonies, at which students and their friends and families, teachers, volunteers, and board members have celebrated a year of study, intellectual engagement, friendships and tremendous growth in confidence and self-esteem.

The former name of the registered charity 'St. George's Friends of Clemente Society' has now been changed to 'The Halifax Humanities Society'

Mary Lu Roffey-Redden is the Director of Halifax Humanities 101.

Humanities 101 offers three non-credit university-level courses at UBC for people living on the DTES and surrounding areas who are passionate about learning and knowledge, especially those whose economic situation, academic experience, financial and social well-being are compromised.