Community Investments

Part of the investment that donors make in United Way helps us support over 40 partners and programs, including United Way-led initiatives, helping us address the effects of poverty on individuals and families across our region. Thanks to our partners and donors, we helped ensure vulnerable local people had access to the resources they needed in the places they live, building a better system of care for all.  

Your Impact

166

payments to households to support access to basic needs

1,895

contacts made to 211 for support accessing services

1,646

individuals and their family members accessed counselling to build resilience

1,941

visits to Nourish Equal Access Market in St.Marys

13

clients received transitional housing and supports

42

children who witnessed domestic violence received trauma-informed counselling

156

individuals were supported to reintegrate post-incarceration

473

newcomers received support accessing services

4

Access Centres open to provide clients with information and assistance in Exeter, Listowel, Stratford and Vanastra

15,979

total visits to United Way Connection Centres for basic needs and connection to important services

65

young people received housing-focused supports and temporary shelter

240

individuals learned essential kitchen skills

45

women and their children who experienced Intimate Partner Violence stayed in emergency shelter

148

children received financial help to participate in extracurriculars

39,443

visits to food banks and mobile food banks  supplied by the Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre

10

youth enrolled in leadership programming

Supported Partners and Programs

Artemis Huron (formerly Huron Women’s Shelter, Second Stage Housing & Counselling Services )

Huron Women’s Shelter – Transition Program:
Provides the only emergency and transitional housing for women and children fleeing gender-based violence in Huron County. Operates 24/7 and offers crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, safety planning, and Second Stage Housing.

Canadian Mental Health Association Huron Perth

North Huron Connection Centre and Stratford Connection Centre:
Offers a safe, welcoming space for individuals facing poverty, homelessness, addictions and mental health challenges by providing access to basic needs, healthcare, identification, and social services.

Heart to Home:
Provides short-term bridge housing and intensive support for individual and families in Huron experiencing homelessness.

Children’s Aid Society Huron-Perth

The Well Youth Hub:
Provides integrated, youth-centred mental health and social services across Huron and Perth County. The Hub co-locates mental health care, peer support, system navigation, education, and employment into a single, walk-in space.

Exeter Noah’s Ark Community Table Association

South Huron Connection Centre:
Provides a safe, welcoming space for individuals facing poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, and isolation through access to basic needs and fostering a supportive environment.

Shelterlink Youth Services

Housing First For Youth (HF4Y) Shelter Services:
Provides 24/7 emergency shelter and wraparound support for youth aged 16-24 in Perth County, using their Housing First for Youth (HF4Y) model.

The Emily Murphy Centre

Child Witness Program:
Provides trauma-informed care support through counselling for children in Perth County who have witnessed or experienced Intimate-Partner Violence (IPV).

Town of St. Marys

Outreach and Community Development Worker:
Provides non-crisis support to residents facing homelessness, food insecurity and social isolation. Their work is a vital resource to improving health, stability, and awareness across St. Marys.

Kaswentha/Two Row Now

Program Development and the Tipi of Huron-Perth:
An Indigenous-led collaborative that offers cultural programming, education, and community-building across Huron and Perth counties. Programs foster belonging, pride, and healing through Indigenous teachings, meals, and access to social supports.

Huron Turning Point

Huron Turning Point Residence:
Is a transitional housing program for men experiencing homelessness in Huron County. The program offers men a stable foundation to pursue housing, employment, and wellness. All of which is supported by providing supportive housing, food, 24-hour care, and adapting to individual’s needs.

Living Wage Canada

Local Living Wage Perth-Huron
Calculates the local Living Wage rate, conducts outreach and awareness-building activities and operates the Living Wage Employer certification program.

Municipality of North Perth

Community Developer and Support Worker:
Provides confidential counselling, mediation, and social service navigation to residents facing housing instability, food insecurity, and other challenges.

The Local Community Food Centre

St Marys Access Market – “Nourish Market”:
Provides fresh, locally sourced food at cost to support food security within the community.

Community Connection & Advocacy Program:
Supports individuals who are facing poverty, food insecurity, and isolation by providing one-on-one assistance, peer advocacy, and access to essential services. Through workshops, outreach clinics, and community partnerships, the program helps clients navigate complex systems, build self-advocacy skills, and foster community connection.

Huron Welcome Hub for Newcomers

Welcome and Assistance for Huron County Newcomers:
Provides supports for newcomers to Huron County by connecting them to housing, transportation, employment, language learning, and community resources.

Huron Safe Homes for Youth

Extended Care Program:
Supports youth aged 16-18 in Huron County who face homelessness or lack family support. The program offers mediation, counselling, life skills training, and independent living support to help youth stabilize, reconnect with education, and transition into adulthood.

Family Services Perth-Huron

Building Resilience Through Youth Counselling and Social Services Supports:
Provides early intervention counselling and support for youth facing mental health challenges, isolation, and systemic barriers in rural Perth County. The program offers affordable in-person and virtual psychotherapy tailored to the needs of equity-deserving youth.

Building Resiliency: Individual, Family, Seniors and Developmental Services Counselling and Supports:
Offers trauma-informed counselling and social services for individuals, families, seniors, and people with developmental and physical disabilities across Perth-Huron. Services are delivered in-person or virtually, and address complex needs through anti-oppression approaches.

John Howard Society of London & District

Institutional Visiting and Reintegration Support Program:
Provides counselling, advocacy, reintegration planning, and weekly visits for incarcerated individuals at the Stratford Jail. The program addresses mental health, addiction, homelessness, and criminogenic risks through anger management groups and post-release supports for housing, employment, and basic needs.

Stratford-Perth Pride

Stratford-Perth Pride Evolution:
Provides the program with staff to lead outreach, advocacy, and empowerment for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and to ensure 2SLGBTQ+ voice are represented in community decision-making. Programming is expanded to include rural and under-served communities and regional collaborations are connecting queer, trans, and Pride organizations across Perth County.

YMCA of Southwestern Ontario

Huron County Recreation, Arts, and Sports Program:
Provides up to $800 annually to children and youth from low-income families for registration fees, equipment, and transportation to participate in arts, sports, and recreation.

Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre

Neighbours Taking Care of Neighbours:
Provides access to nutritious foods for individuals and families facing food insecurity across Huron and Perth County.

Vanastra Community CRC

Vanastra Access Centre
Social services agencies and community services have spaces to meet with clients in their own community and transportation barriers are removed. Community members can also access reliable internet services.

YMCA of Three Rivers (Midwest Ontario)

Newcomer Journey Program:
Provides support for immigrants and refugees in Stratford-Perth County by offering individualized assistance to help newcomers integrate socially and economically into the community.

United Way Perth-Huron (Internal Programs & Services)

211 Hotline & Website:
Database of all available social services. Using just a postal code, 211 Navigators can find specific local programs and services to address a caller’s life challenges. Records of social services are updated annually.

Living Wage:
Advocate for local employers to pay a living wage to provide workers and their family with a better way of life, improve morale, reduce staff turnover and build a more vibrant and healthy community.

Northern Huron Connection Centre (operated by CMHA Huron Perth):
Serving Howick, North Huron and Morris-Turnberry, and located in Wingham at St. Paul’s-Trinity Anglican Church, the Centre is a safe place for vulnerable people to connect with supports while accessing basic needs.

Southern Huron Connection Centre (operated by The Community Table):
Located at the Exeter Pentecostal Church, the Centre is a welcoming place for vulnerable people to connect and build relationships, access services, as well as basic needs.

Stratford Connection Centre (operated by CMHA Huron Perth):
Located at St. James Anglican Church in downtown Stratford, the Centre offers basic needs, connection to services, and helps build community for vulnerable people who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Also includes community outreach to individuals living rough.

United Centre:
Owned by United Way, the United Centre serves as our head office, along with providing office space to five non-profit tenants serving the community.

Urgent Needs Fund:
Helping local individuals and families in a time of crisis with financial support for essentials including, but not limited to, rent arrears, groceries, emergency car repairs, and help with utility bills.

Youth in Action Grants:
Supporting youth-led projects that positively benefit the participants’ communities and peers.