Your Impact in North Perth
Together we improve lives through support for basic needs, service connection, advocacy, research and cultivating innovative initiatives.
United Way Perth-Huron helps here in the community you care about. Thanks to United Way, its partners and donors, vulnerable people in North Perth and area have the chance for a brighter future including…
- 384 people called 211 or visited 211ontario.ca to connect with services
- 156 people received counselling
- 47 people in crisis accessed financial support
- 20 children matched with mentors
- 15 individuals with mobility issues accessed transportation
- 11 youth received counselling
- 4 youth accessed housing and supports
#UNIGNORABLE Local Issues
Lack of Housing: A single bedroom rental is over $1,200/mo. 142 people are experiencing homelessness in Stratford, St. Marys and Perth County.
Low Income: About half of people with incomes in Perth-Huron earn less than a living wage ($41,405 annually).
Mental Health: By the time Canadians reach the age of 40, 1 in 2 have experienced a mental illness.
Access to Services: Navigating the local social service network is challenging, especially for our most vulnerable.
Intimate Partner Violence: In Perth County, police received 564 calls related to intimate partner violence in 2022.
Food Insecurity: 1 in 6 Canadian children live in a food insecure household.
Holistic Approach
United Way is committed to cultivating innovative initiatives addressing root causes of local social issues. We research and advocate for a living wage, affordable housing and improved social assistance rates and services.
We also understand that long-term goals don’t solve the challenges of a person facing eviction next week, or the parent with empty cupboards and hungry children right now. To that end, we also fundraise and invest in programs to help ensure people get the immediate help they need.
Supporting Local Youth, Adults and Seniors
Mental health and well-being are critical and the North Perth community has demonstrated a commitment to United Way supported programs and services that help improve the mental health of local people in their time of need.
The Youth Counselling, Supports and Mentoring program provides early intervention service for youth and their families, aiming to reduce demand for more serious interventions by improving coping skills and general well-being.
United Way is also committed to funding counselling programs for other individuals and their families to help ensure vulnerable people get the support they need to face life’s challenges.
People like Magda…
“I felt a little lost after the death of my husband, Clarence. We’d been married over 50 years and in the wake of his passing, I found myself at a loss, wondering who I was at the age of 73.
“Previously, my life revolved around being a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. And before that, I spent my life in the shadow of a childhood growing up with a violent father who used to physically abuse me and my sisters almost every day. I had never had the opportunity to really be a child or even to be my own person. I was always preoccupied with keeping dad happy or tending to my husband whom I was the primary caregiver for as he had dementia.
“My doctor recommended trying therapy, and at first I was hesitant because mental health wasn’t something we ever talked about. I don’t know why, but I changed my mind and decided to try. The therapist was kind, and as we talked, she asked me how I was feeling and what brought me to her. A flood of emotions overwhelmed me, feelings that I did not even know I had just poured out. It is as if my body knew I was in a safe place and so it reacted almost immediately, but I still felt embarrassed. The therapist reassured me and it felt like she was really focused on me—the actual me behind being an abused daughter, a caregiving wife, and the grandmother with candies in her purse. We came to a conclusion there were a lot of complex layers between history, abuse, identity, and even self-esteem. Here I am, four sessions in, and I am still discovering truths about myself but I am falling in love with the person I am uncovering. I finally feel safe enough to meet my true self after all these years.”
And people like Jared…
Nineteen-year-old Jared struggled greatly with body image. As a child, his parents would enroll him in weight loss activities, restrict his meals and food, and comment on his weight regularly. Initially Jared had trouble sharing his story with his counsellor even though he desperately wanted to make changes in his life.
As a result of years of negative body image messages, Jared developed very low self-esteem, and he became hyper focused on his weight. Jared identified as shy and shared with his counsellor that he had always struggled a bit socially and had few friends.
Now, Jared is doing better. Through a long journey, he developed a healthier relationship with food, himself and others and is working to address the many layers of fear, anger, frustration, and self-hate that built up in him over the years. He is learning to accept himself with less self-judgment, and is beginning to build a supportive network of friends to help ensure his future is brighter.
Urgent Needs Fund
47 local residents accessed assistance
The Urgent Needs Fund is designed to support local residents in a time of crisis with funds for essentials such as rent, groceries, car repairs, medication and child care. United Way is also working for long-term change, lifting people beyond poverty while still ensuring their immediate, basic needs are met if something like this were to happen:
“All my life I’ve dealt with chronic illness and it finally got so bad my doctor told me I needed to stop my job and try to get healthy again.
“My husband kept working, but it’s tough on our family coping with the pandemic and having only one income. Our budget got tighter each month and our savings quickly disappeared. Then our daughter got sick and needed medication that wasn’t covered by my husband’s employer. With bills coming due, we didn’t know where to turn.
“Luckily, I found out about United Way’s Urgent Needs Fund. I applied and we got enough money to cover the pharmacy bill.”
United Housing
United Housing is Perth-Huron’s first non-profit housing organization dedicated to developing, building, and managing mixed use rental housing in the community. The initiative’s goal is to support and build on existing work being done by the City of Stratford and the County of Huron, further increasing the amount of available housing stock. It’s a local solution to the very real issue of housing affordability we face across the region. GO HERE for more information.
North Perth Community Committee
–>United Way Perth-Huron Manager Community Development, North Perth: Todd Kasenberg
Changing Local Lives
Thanks to United Way and a supported partner, Jake found a mentor to improve her mental health and well-being, and his mentor Terry’s life was enriched getting to know him:
“My son Jake used to always be so outgoing, but as he got older, he became less confident and happy. He was getting picked on he hated going to school. It started to cause him extreme anxiety and he was always feeling sick to his stomach. He missed quite a few days of school and I didn’t know what to do to help him. This is one of the worst parts of being a parent—seeing your child in pain and having no idea how to fix it.
“After meeting with the school, they first connected him with a counsellor, and that in turn led Jake to Big Brothers Big Sisters and his Big Brother, Terry.
“Terry and Jake have been matched for about a year and half now and the changes I’ve seen in Jake are so positive. Jake is more confident and even though he still doesn’t love school that much, he loves going to be with his friends. Being matched with Terry was the first big positive step towards improving his self image and helping him to find where he fits in. I don’t know where Jake would be if not for BBBS.”
Supported Partners
| 211 | Big Brothers Big Sisters of Listowel & District | Community Outreach Services | Connect Youth Perth-Huron |
| Emily Murphy Centre | Family Services Perth-Huron | Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre | Huron Women’s Shelter |
| John Howard Society | Living Wage Canada | ONE CARE | Stratford/Perth Shelterlink |
| Urgent Needs Fund | YMCA of Three Rivers |
