By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A hand up, not a handout.
That’s the philosophy behind the new Chatham Community Hope Centre housed at 52 Croyden St. in Chatham. It’s housed in the former St. Agnes Catholic Church – a freshly revamped space to assist people living on the margins.
As of its fourth day of operation June 18, the recovery-based centre, aimed at helping the unhoused and addicted, had already served 200 people with 56 individuals coming in the first day.
“The Hope Centre’s work is built around supporting the whole person through four key pillars – physical, mental, social and spiritual,” Spencer Dawson told those gathered at a media launch. “We are offering a safe welcoming space for people to come as they are.”
Dawson, who serves as project manager for the Leamington-based Quiring Foundation, said the local effort is a joint collaboration between Chatham’s Community Hope Centre and the Foundation of Hope Recovery Community. Both groups come under the umbrella of the Quiring Foundation founded by Peter and Cathy Quiring to help free people from the chains of homelessness and addiction.
Peter Quiring, a highly successful entrepreneur and farmer, has been helping the less fortunate through the foundation for the past seven years and currently operates 119 beds in Windsor-Essex. A total of 90 of the beds are dedicated to a 90-day trauma recovery program, with the remainder allocated to a transitional housing program that lasts anywhere from 12 to 18 months.
“While our organizations have different roles and different functions, we share a common goal to support people with dignity, compassion and practical help,” Dawson explained. “As the Hope Centre grows, we anticipate more people will come through its doors. And its team is prepared and ready to help those in need.”
The drop-in, which runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, offers a hot meal, a pantry with clothes, food and hygiene products in addition to a host of professional and peer-driven supports.
Foundation members, as well as volunteers, will be onsite as well, advocating to help those struggling with recovery and housing. Plans are in the works to offer volunteer-led Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on site as well as a weekly worship service designed for “those who don’t do church.”
According to Dawson, Foundation and Hope Centre officials are eager to work with other agencies and have already consulted with 25 community partners including the Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton-Kent, the Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team and representatives associated with the Chatham-Kent Community Drug Strategy.
“The last thing we want to do is pretend we have all the answers,” Dawson told the gathering. “Our vision is to support and offer a full continuum of care and a defined path for people in recovery, walking with them through every part of their journey.”
Outreach, immediate connection, trauma recovery programs, transitional housing, life skills development, aftercare support, peer support and long-term community support are intertwined in the Hope Centre’s approach.
“We want to be clear that we are not here to duplicate services that already exist,” he added. “We know there are incredible organizations doing important work and we are grateful for the opportunity to work alongside them.”
Specifically, Dawson said, the new-to-Chatham-Kent organizations are looking to fill “gaps” identified in the community drug strategy. Officials are already talking with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent about potential programming.
“We recognize homelessness is a complex issue,” Dawson said, “and no single organization or program can address it alone. At the Foundation of Hope, we believe recovery is about more than stopping substance use; it’s about addressing the trauma beneath the addiction.”
There’s also talk of the foundation entering into an agreement with Chatham-Kent to operate residential services at the municipally owned property at 110 Sandys St. At its June 8 meeting, council agreed to pause a contract with Architecttura Inc. to develop the former Meadow Park nursing home into a supportive housing facility. Quiring Foundation representatives were expected to communicate their vision about 110 Sandys St. and the former St. Agnes school site to council at the June 22 meeting.
It’s expected that the Chatham Community Hope Centre will need between 200 to 250 volunteers to operate and are welcoming inquires. Volunteer applications can be found on the facility’s online webpage at chathamhopecentre.ca.
