WOOLWICH COMMUNITY SERVICES
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Mission Statement
Woolwich Community Services is a charity providing social service programs for Individuals and Families, Children and Youth, and for All residents of Woolwich township.
About This Cause
WOOLWICH COMMUNITY SERVICES Updated January 2016 Summary of Programs Woolwich Community Services (WCS) was founded in 1974 with the assistance of the Elmira Chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association. WCS became a registered charity in 1976 and incorporated in 1980. Since its inception, this agency has strived to serve the citizens of Woolwich Township in the most meaningful way possible. Vision Together Making a Difference. Mission Building a safe, supportive community by providing opportunities and resources for all residents. Values Our Values will be evident in all services, relationships, and actions within Woolwich Community Services and the community we support. • Integrity Demonstrated by transparency, honesty, accountability and professionalism. • Respect Demonstrated by fairness, inclusiveness, and acceptance of people and their decisions. • Innovation Demonstrated by a willingness to take risks, continuously improve and find new solutions. • Empowerment Demonstrated by providing tools and opportunities. Woolwich Community Services now consists of nine core programs and a variety of associated partnerships. Each program has been arrived at through the response received from the community. The core programs of WCS are the Community Information & Support, Christmas Goodwill, Food Bank, Kids & I Children's Resource Centre, Thrift Shop, the Family Violence Prevention Program, the Low German Family Support (formerly St. Jacobs Family Support Centre), and the Youth Centre. The Woolwich Community Information & Support program is the first contact for people requiring services. Community Information & Support is located on the main street in Elmira. It performs a variety of functions for the people of Woolwich Township and parts of Wellesley Township. The program provides an information and referral service either over the phone or in person. Trained volunteer Information Counsellors and staff are on hand to answer almost any question you may have. The Community Information & Support program has available a variety of government application forms such as birth certificates, social insurance numbers, passport, OHIP, Old Age Security, etc.. WCS will assist in the completion of these forms if requested online or by paper copy. A yearly income tax clinic is available for persons with low income, a meeting room and office space, a rental housing list of available local rentals, a job board, computerized job search, and a photocopying/fax service are some of the other services within the Community Information Centre. A Mobility Loan Cupboard provides crutches, wheelchairs, canes, and walkers at no charge. . The Community Support aspect of the program is a collection of supports geared to meet the needs of persons with limited resources. Staff may offer short and long term support. This may include the role of advocate, support counselling, crisis intervention, and mediator for persons in the Township experiencing difficulty. Any of these roles may be required at any given time. In larger communities, a variety of services and resources are available to those in need. However in a rural area the options are limited and therefore a conscious effort has been made by WCS to provide the support if at all possible, and/or to assist the individual in evaluating their present difficulty and developing with them a future plan of action. In addition, our staff is available to provide assistance in developing the annual Community Garden and initiatives such as the Youth Centre, Back Packs, and Birthday Cupboard. Also included is the management of our many volunteers throughout the agency and the role in developing new community initiatives. The Christmas Goodwill program provides families in the township with new toys, new clothing and food for the holiday season. These items are generously donated through individuals, churches, service clubs and business in this community. Up to 190 volunteers are involved in this undertaking. Each Christmas hamper is put together with a particular family in mind. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to sponsor entire families or individual members. The Food Bank provides food hampers to residents of the Township. Donations of food are obtained through drop off bins located at the various grocery stores in Woolwich Township and those made directly to our office. Cash donations are also welcomed and are used to purchase perishable items such as milk, fresh vegetables, eggs, fruit, meat, diapers, and infant formula. In January 2013, the food bank created a “Lunch Crunch” program for families with low income to assist in nutritious lunches for children in school. The Kids & I Resource Centre provides a drop in program for parents and their preschool children. The preschool setting offers games, crafts, and toys for both parent and child to participate. Toy libraries is also available through Kids & I. This library offers a wide selection of toys, books, games, and parent resource materials for loan. The Thrift Shop located in the same building as many of our programs and offers a wide variety of quality used clothing and small household articles at very reasonable prices. Donations are made by dropping off the used articles at the store or bin located at No Frills in Elmira. Many items not sold are given to various agencies and groups. The Thrift Shop is used as a fundraising activity for this agency and a place where clothing can be readily accessed for persons without. The Family Violence Prevention Program began in 1992 with the provision of funding by the Ministry of Community & Social Services. The objectives of this program are twofold. One is to provide education, information, and community awareness of the issues of violence in relationships and healthy dating. Education is offered to all grade levels in the school system and to the general public. The cost of this is covered through extensive fundraising and community donations. The second objective is to support victims of spousal assault by offering supportive counselling individually and in groups. In July 2000, Woolwich Community Services assumed the support and administration of the St. Jacobs Family Support Centre (now Low German Family Support) from the Mennonite Central Committee of Ontario. The SJFSC provides extensive family support and an English School/Preschool day program to Low German speaking Mennonites from Latin America who have immigrated to this area. Services include assistance with settlement concerns, interpretation/translation, health care, infant health needs, English and literacy classes, and parenting, just to name a few. WCS has a Youth Centre to serve youth ages 10 to 18 in the located at the Woolwich Memorial Centre. The Youth Centre offers a late afternoon and evening program for youth from grade 6 through to 18 years of age. Primarily a recreation and leisure program for youth, activities include ping pong, pool, table games, computers, foosball, movies, music, and special events. Associated partnerships exist to provide easily attainable supports to residents of Woolwich Township and the north part of Wellesley Township. Employment Ontario provides counselling services to persons of all ages. The employment counsellors will assist with job search techniques, resume and interview skills and aptitudes. Information and assistance in accessing retraining and apprenticeship programs is available. Literacy classes are provided through the Literacy Group of Waterloo Region. Carizon Family & Community Services provides their Outreach Worker at our location. Finally, WCS is involved with a number of different community initiatives in various capacities. WCS is represented on the Woolwich Healthy Communities Coordinating Committee, Domestic Assault Review Team (DART), VAW/CAS Group, Local Literacy Group for Low German Families, and South West VAW Planning Committee to name a few. WCS role might be to provide resources, represent the interests of rural residents of the Region, lead a group, provide direction on program development, or provide administration support. WCS considers its active role with theses committees and groups essential for the continued the development and enrichment of this community.