In each of the last five years, United Way Perth-Huron has eclipsed their fundraising goal by at least 10 per cent.
Staff, hundreds of volunteers and dedicated communities across two counties have come together to produce amazing fundraising figures.
Executive director Ryan Erb attributes that to ‘organizational momentum’. They have carefully listened, taken notes and got down to work trying to implement changes for the better good.
“We see ourselves as a community development organization first and foremost, which means we are here to understand social issues and solve the problem. We describe that by talking about unignorable issues in our community. We don’t want to keep living with the challenges, we want to affect change.”
It’s also the result of the amazingly generous people in Perth and Huron, he said.
Erb said there has been a shift in the organization from funder to community developer.
“For a long time we raised money and gave it out. Now we are actually figuring out what the problems are, solving the problems and funding those things.”
After a short celebration when target is met, it’s back to work.
“We have developed a competency as a social expert. The idea is our organization should have that understanding. If anyone should know what the problems are…we should know it down to the statistics and the evidence that is in our community."
With that, he added, comes the power and responsibility to try and follow through on the changes.
The most recent campaign focused on housing and homelessness. Erb said the issue is prevalent, decribing it as an ‘incredibly complex challenge’. The campaign focus resonated, helping achieve a record $2,236,904, well past the goal of just over $2 million.
To cover a substantial geographic area, United Way Perth-Huron decided in past years to set up committees outside of the city - St. Marys, Listowel, Goderich, Wingham and Exeter. Volunteers in each of the smaller centres can better research priorities and concerns.
Staff have also been added in those communities.
With housing and homelessness, the organization knew they had to build trust with people they were trying to help, as they partnered with existing service organizations in the communities.
“Someone on their journey at some point have lost trust, so building the rapport is important. The nurse, the addictions counsellor – whoever they need on that journey – will help lead them to getting healthy and well.”
Connection centres were opened after being chosen as a place to build that trust. The drop-in style centres are open in Stratford and Exeter. The Listowel location opens in May, while Wingham opens this Fall.
Connection centres are not shelters. They help with warming and cooling, providing laundry, showers and food. More importantly, they act as a system of entry to coordinated access with social service organizations.
Erb said the social problem of housing and homelessness is even more daunting simply because there just isn’t enough housing stock.
“There is a Canada-wide problem with housing and the most vulnerable get the left overs,” he said.
Someone who experiences a brief period of homelessness could get help from family and friends and recover. Others may need help from local organizations to find rent-geared-to-income, for example. Then there are those who need significant help, 24/7 care and perhaps mental health assistance.
That’s three different types of groups with varying housing needs, Erb noted.
There are roughly 300 people across Perth and Huron experiencing chronic homelessness.
Erb said supportive housing is where the focus needs to be in the future but the price tag makes it’s difficult to convince multiple levels of government to provide funding.
United Way Perth-Huron has a long-term goal of providing access centres that could combine aspects of housing and social service organizations under one roof, or in a regional hub format. Community renewal company, launched relatively recently, will own and operate the facility.
“We are getting ready to push send on some grants for that and there will be a fundraising campaign attached to it. It is years in the making but represents the kind of thing that we need to do.”
Another area of growth is at United Way Perth-Huron’s social research & planning council. Consisting of community members, they collect, analyze and distribute information related to social trends and issues in both counties. They produce a number of eye-opening reports each year.
The council released the Future of Housing report in March, which details significant price increases for homes in Perth-Huron as well as a jump in rental prices. Per a release, the report proposes actions to help build a healthier local housing outlook, including an education campaign, workforce attraction and retention, collaboration, consolidation, clarity of direction and potential big system change.