East Wellington Community Services (EWCS) has moved to a new home in Rockwood and has set a $35,000 fundraising goal for the Christmas season.
“I can’t tell you how proud we are in this community to have this service here,” Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White said at the official opening.
“After sitting up on county council my assumption always was that the safety net was solid and across the board and the county could do everything, but the reality is there’s a zillion gaps and I know many, many families in this community that have been supported by the services these folks provide that nobody else does.”
Dec. 1 marked the organization’s first day at the 107 Harris St. location, which EWCS is renting from the Rockwood United Church, where many of its Early Years Programs are run.
“Most places we don’t have storage so at least we can store some of the stuff here and the staff just have to take it from here right next door (to the church) instead of loading their cars up and running to another spot,” explained Kari Simpson, CEO of EWCS.
The Early Years program is one of many services offered by EWCS, which was founded more than 30 years ago.
“East Wellington Community Services offers residents in the Town of Erin and Guelph-Eramosa Township the programs and support they need to be happy, healthy and contributing members of their community,” explained children’s programing facilitator Jane Wahl.
“Our aim is to help, share and connect families so that they can be the best they can for as long as they can and we have various programs in east Wellington.”
The new Rockwood location has a larger space for the EWCS thrift store and food bank.
“We used to have to store stuff in our Erin food bank and then when they’d run low here we’d be bringing it back here, so we’re driving back and forth because we only had a little closet really over there for a food bank,” Simpson said.
“Now we have a whole kitchen we’ve (turned) into a food bank plus we have storage downstairs too.”
Because the Rockwood building was designed as a house, the organization put the food bank pantry in the kitchen so there was potential to make sample meals for clients using food bank items.
“We can … do up some meals in a crock-pot for clients to try and then if they like it, here’s what you need for it,” Simpson said.
She added sometimes clients aren’t sure how to use fresh fruits and vegetables that are donated, so it will be beneficial to demonstrate potential meals.
The EWCS food bank serves more than 236 people, 99 of whom are children, and distributes 50,000 pounds of food per year, which equates to about $125,000, Wahl explained.
The new space also includes offices that allow for privacy when EWCS employees meet with clients – something not available at the old space, explained Barb Carscadden, EWCS manager of community and volunteer engagement.
Simpson also said she hopes to increase the EWCS outreach program in Rockwood now that private meeting spaces are available.
The organization employs an outreach worker who assists with a variety of needs that may include going to a medical or therapeutic appointment with the client; advocating, counseling or connecting the client with other services; or visiting with seniors who feel isolated.
Some outreach work has been occurring in Rockwood, “but not as much and it was more difficult and for people coming in, we just didn’t have private space to really talk to people about what’s really going on,” Simpson said. “We want to help people be sustainable, not have to continue to rely on the food bank.”
Simpson also said she hopes the new space will allow for a mentorship program with college students coming into the social services sector.
