The communities in Perth and Huron Counties continue to step up for the United Way of Perth Huron. The United Way is working through their annual fundraising campaign, and this year’s final goal is to raise $2,624,772.
“I want to say thank you so much to everyone for their incredible support and generosity,” said Executive Director, Ryan Erb. “We are sitting at 37 percent of our goal, and we are closing in on that million dollar mark, which means we are a little ahead of last year which is great news.”
The United Way fundraising campaign focused on the un-ignorable issues in our community. This includes lack of housing, low-income, mental health, access to services, intimate partner violence, food insecurity and discrimination.
“The United Way is the largest funder of social services next to the government,” said Erb. “Each year organizations depend on the United Way raising money so they can continue to offer services for people in our community.”
In terms of the lack of housing locally, the average rent for a single bedroom is $1,200 a month, and a study from the United Way highlighted that roughly 149 people are experiencing homelessness in Stratford, St. Marys, and Perth County.
When it comes to low income, a study concluded that about half of people with incomes in Perth-Huron earn less than a living wage, which would equal out to $41,405 annually.
Mental health is a big challenge across the country with 1 in 2 people having experienced a mental illness by the time they reach the age of 40.
In rural communities access to service continues to be a challenge, especially for the most vulnerable.
As for the other un-ignorable issues, astonishingly, Stratford police received 564 calls related to intimate partner violence in 2022, one in six Canadian children live in a food insecure household, and 69 percent of immigrants and visible minorities and 80 percent of Indigenous people in Perth-Huron report experiencing discrimination.
“Last year we helped a lot of folks in our community,” said Erb. “Over 25,000 people were helped by the United Way and our partners which is incredible.”
Supported partners locally included: CMHA Perth-Huron. Community Outreach Services, ConnectYouth Perth-Huton, Family Services Perth-Huron, John Howard Society, Local Community Food Centre, Shelterlink Youth Services, Stratford Pride Community Centre, United Centre Urgent Needs Fund, YMCA of Three Rivers, Youth in Action Grants, and more.
“We want to stress that organizations like the connection centre, the 211 hotline, and the Emily Murphy Centre, just to list a few, are critically important to the social fabric of our communities,” said Erb.
Anyone looking to learn more about the un-ignorable issues in our community or to donate to the United Way can click here.
