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…

• 155 individuals and their family members accessed counselling to build resilience
• 195 contacts made to 211 for support accessing service
• 328 individuals connected to life stability supports through Community Outreach Worker
• 12 contacts made to 211 for support accessing services
• 2 youth received temporary shelter and housing-focused supports

Pressing Local Issues

Housing Stability: 117 households experiencing homelessness in Stratford, St. Marys and Perth County.

 Poverty Reduction: 19.8% of households in Perth-Huron experience food insecurity.

 Mental Health & Well-Being: 1 in 3 Canadians will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime.

 Access to Services: Navigating the local social service network is challenging, especially for our most vulnerable.

 Healthy Relationships: 3,657 intimate partner violence crisis calls were received by shelter services in Perth County in one year.

 Equity Supports: 69% of immigrants and visible minorities and 81% of Indigenous people in Perth-Huron reported experiencing discrimination.

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 Andie…

When Andie’s father was killed in a workplace accident, her world came to a standstill. Overwhelmed by grief, she withdrew from friends and family, stopped attending school, and struggled to see a future for herself. The pain became so intense that she turned to marijuana to numb her emotions and began to question whether life was worth living without her father.

After Andie connected with help from a United Way supported counselling program, she finally found a safe place to talk about what she was carrying. Along with the devastating loss of her father, she was grappling with unresolved grief, questions about her identity, and overwhelming fear and isolation. Through counselling, she began to understand her emotions, develop coping strategies, and slowly reconnect with the people who cared about her.

Today, Andie is rebuilding her life. She has returned to school, started a part-time job, and restored important relationships. While grief remains part of her journey, counselling helped her move from isolation and despair to hope, connection, and the belief that life can hold meaning again.

And people like Mary…

Mary spent her childhood being told she was unwanted, worthless and beyond help. The people who should have protected her instead caused deep emotional and physical harm. Over time, Mary began to believe the hurtful messages she heard every day. Her pain turned into anger, then rage. As the years passed, she became trapped in a cycle of unstable housing, broken relationships, addiction, legal troubles and hopelessness. After decades of carrying trauma alone, Mary reached a point where she no longer wanted to keep living the life she had known.

Through counselling funded by United Way, Mary began to see herself differently. For the first time, she understood how childhood trauma had shaped her choices and learned healthy ways to manage the emotions that once controlled her life. With support from community partners, she secured stable housing, rebuilt relationships and started planning for a future she never thought possible. Today, Mary feels capable of maintaining a job, keeping a home and building the life she deserves, something she once believed would never be possible.

Urgent Needs Fund

12 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:

“I’ve lived with chronic illness for years until it got so bad I had to stop working and try and get healthy.

“My husband kept working, but it’s tough on our family coping with all the bills and expenses we need to cover on only one salary. Our budget got tighter each month and our savings quickly disappeared. Then our daughter got sick and her medication wasn’t covered by my husband’s insurance. We didn’t know where to turn.

“Luckily, I heard about 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. United Housing has purchased and is retrofitting 190–198 Main Street West in Listowel, Ontario, revitalizing 4,500 square feet of underutilized space on the second floor of the building into 10 mixed-income rental units. GO HERE for more information.

North Perth Community Committee

–>United Way Perth-Huron Manager Community Development, North Perth: Todd Kasenberg

Supported Partners

Want to read more?

North Perth Impact Brochure (PDF)