We have all heard the concerning statistics around hunger and homelessness in Canada. According to Feed Ontario, over 1 million people are turning to food banks each year. What’s more, it has become increasingly common for smaller communities to face these issues that were once only found in large cities. In Leamington – a small town of less than 30,000 people in Essex County – a few resourceful business leaders decided to do something about what they were seeing in their community.
In the fall of 2022, four Leamington entrepreneurs decided that they wanted to address the issue of poverty in their community. They came together to purchase a downtown church that was no longer being used. It was the perfect location to serve Leamington’s vulnerable population. Their goal was to secure a community space where necessary resources would be available to people in need, and the Leamington Community Hope Centre was born.
The Hope Centre contracted an organization out of Windsor to help them set up their program. What they quickly realized is that the issue of hunger was being fueled by the even greater problem of addiction. If they wanted to alleviate hunger, they needed to build recovery programs as well.
The Leamington Hope Centre operates on four key pillars of health: mental, social, physical, and spiritual. If a client shows an interest in recovering from drug or alcohol addiction, the staff at the Hope Centre can get them in the programs that they will need to succeed. From withdrawal management, to their initial 90-day recovery program, and onto their long-term recovery homes, “our clients build healthy habits and are required to go to a specific number of recovery meetings per week – and they’re encouraged to come to our church service,” says Jennifer Hyde, Executive Director of the Hope Centre. Support re-building their lives up to and including job training is customized to the needs of each individual client.
A typical day at the Hope Centre begins with a variety of recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous using the space during the day. There’s also a food pantry that folks in need can access. Often, cooking teams made up of volunteers from churches, community groups, and small businesses come in to prepare the meal for later in the day.
At 6:00 p.m., they open the doors for their drop-in program. This program welcomes anyone in need of a hot meal, a friendly conversation, and a sense of community. It operates 365 days per year and regularly serves over 100 people per night. The volunteers have conversations with clients with a goal of building trust, so that clients feel comfortable asking for what they need. They even have doctors who visit on Tuesday nights, and will see clients documented or undocumented – no health card required. There is also a pharmacist and a lab who support the medical needs of their clients.
Also on Tuesday evenings, there is a church service that is attended by a wide variety of folks from the community. “We have people from our drop-in that will come up, we have people from our recovery programs who attend; and we also have people from the Leamington community who attend as well,” reports Jennifer. “It’s about getting people comfortable being in church. This shouldn’t be their end-game. We hope they build relationships with others in the community and then get plugged into a church in the community for that ongoing spiritual development and accountability.”
Church groups, small businesses, and individuals all volunteer at the Hope Centre. “It’s so rewarding to see the community come together to support a common cause,” comments Jennifer. There is also an expectation that those who come through the Hope Centre programs eventually start volunteering and giving back themselves. In fact, one fellow who had gone to Hope Centre’s 90-day recovery program, and then later to the 1-year long term home, has now gone back to school to be an addictions counsellor and volunteers at the Hope Centre.
Kindred Credit Union is pleased to support Leamington Hope Centre’s nightly drop-in program. Their work aligns with our values of compassion, integrity, and stewardship. In addition, it addresses our social impact focus themes of hunger and mental health and we share their belief that everyone deserves an opportunity to better their lives.