Your Impact in St. Marys & Area

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 St. Marys and area have the chance for a brighter future including…

• 88 people called 211 or visited 211ontario.ca to connect with services
• 144 people received counselling
• 1,467 visits to access affordable food
• 79 youth used the St. Marys Youth Centre
• 9 men accessed post-incarceration supports
• 6 youth accessed shelter and supports

#UNIGNORABLE Local Issues

Lack of Housing: A single bedroom rental is over $1,200/mo. 149 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: Stratford/St. Marys police received 564 calls related to intimate partner violence in 2022.

 Food Insecurity: 1 in 6 Canadian children live in a food insecure household.

 Discrimination: 69% of immigrants and visible minorities and 80% 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.

Changing Local Lives

Thanks to United Way and a supported partner, May has the support she needs:

May, a resilient senior citizen living alone, faced the challenges of limited mobility and a fixed income. Navigating the aisles of traditional grocery stores became a daunting task for her, and she often had to purchase large quantities of items to get a “deal” on them, or just because that was the only option.

The Nourish market was designed with seniors like May in mind, offering not affordable fresh produce as well as help carrying groceries out to her car. She can choose one carrot, and even have a cabbage cut in half for her, Cutting down on cost and waste.

The Nourish market had a profound impact on May’s quality of life, allowing her to age gracefully with the support of her community. It has become a new social outlet for her, and she now carpools with a friend.

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.

Urgent Needs Fund

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:

Maggie was sad and happy that her grandchildren were with her now. She was thrilled to be able to see them every day, but she was sad that her daughter was in such a bad place. Chris and Clare had arrived suddenly two days before with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Maggie’s mind raced, thinking about her modest savings, wondering how she could afford the cost of clothes, toiletries, some toys and extra food. Probably $120 would do it, but she had to budget carefully over a couple months; so extra on groceries now, one extra set of clothes…

Last year, 34 people in St. Marys and area accessed the Urgent Needs Fund.

St. Marys Community Outreach Worker

The St. Marys Community Outreach Worker offers facilitation, education, and referrals for residents needing support including life skills, mental health, homelessness, and addictions, along with providing short-term support and help connecting community members to important services, and delivering community education and outreach, including neighbourhood mediation.

Addressing Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is linked to learning difficulties, obesity, reduced productivity for kids at school and poorer mental health. Nourish helps mitigate the effects of poverty by offering wholesale prices on fresh vegetables, fruits and meat to residents facing food insecurity; providing a dignified shopping experience.

Action: St. Marys Nourish Equal Access Food Market

• Mitigates the effects of poverty by offering wholesale prices on local fresh vegetables, fruits and meat to lower income residents
• Provides a dignified shopping experience
• Runs bi-weekly on Thursdays
• 1,467 visits to the market last year

United Way St. Marys Community Committee

Changing Local Lives

Kofi experienced chronic homelessness in Perth County since he aged out of the youth system. Unable to trust people after dealing with so many broken promises and disappointments, Kofi wasn’t ready to accept help when he first saw a friend of his talking to the local Community Outreach Worker. Over time, he saw the caring and concern his friends received and slowly, Kofi opened up and shared his struggles, his disappointments, and his hopes for a better future.

Together with the Outreach Worker, who he started visiting with regularly, Kofi started connecting with community supports to help him. He was able to find stable housing and apply for the benefits that made his day-to-day life easier.

Now, Kofi is doing better. He has also learned to trust enough to enter a program to help address his ongoing mental health challenges, and he still visits with the Outreach Worker to ensure he is able to receive all the supports he needs to keep building a brighter future for himself. Kofi hasn’t been able to find stable, permanent housing yet, but for the first time in many years, Kofi has hope for the future.

Petra phoned 211 looking for in-home supports for her stepfather, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer. The family had a support worker coming into the home but needed additional support. During the conversation, the Community Navigator discovered the woman’s mother was struggling with the burden of caregiving and needed mental health support. By the end of the call, the Navigator was able to connect them to resources for both in-home supports and caregiver support for the woman’s parents. “I love when I can uncover additional problems people might not realize are there,” says Lisanne, the Navigator who answered the call. “Sometimes it’s a much bigger issue, and addressing that can help resolve other concerns.”

Supported Partners in St. Marys

Want to read more?

St. Marys & Area Trifold Pamplet (PDF)