Stratford & 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 Stratford and area have the chance for a brighter future including…

• 240 participants in food skills programming
• 115 individuals supported to reintigrate post-incarceration
• 75 payments to households to support access to basic needs
• 460 newcomers received support accessing services
• 30 children who witnessed violence received trauma-informed counselling 
• 30 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 Stratford-Perth-St. Marys 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.

Changing Local Lives

Thanks to United Way and a supported partner, Elliot has the support he needs:

“I walked into the Connection Centre for the fourth time this month. I had a doctor’s appointment the next day and thought I should wash my clothes. When I went down the stairs, I smelled shepherd’s pie. My grandma used to make that for me. I haven’t had it in about a year — not since I got evicted from my place.

“I wish I could make shepherd’s pie for my kids, but I haven’t seen them for a long time. I really miss them.

“Lately, I haven’t been able to sleep. I keep seeing the faces of my army buddies. To make the dreams go
away, I started drinking. Then I needed something stronger. I just want my brain to stop.

“Sara at the Connection Centre is helping me make a plan to visit my kids. There are three steps to making that happen: I need to get my ID and some other documents, stay sober for five months and get a spot in a transitional housing program.

“I’m 26 days sober so I still have a ways to go. But today I’m at the Connection Centre using the washerdryer
and eating shepherd’s pie, so that feels like a good start.”

And so does Mary:

Imagine growing up being told you were unwanted. That you were a waste of a life.

That’s what Mary heard over and over as a child.

The people who should have protected her hurt her instead. There was no one to help her feel safe. She carried that pain quietly, all on her own.

As Mary grew older, her anger grew too. She believed the words she heard as a child. She felt bad, wrong, and not worth anything. Over time, that pain began to spill out into the world around her.

There were charges laid, broken relationships, and no stable place to call home. Everything felt uncertain. Everything felt hard.

For so long, Mary lived with this hurt that she didn’t even know how much it was shaping her life. She felt stuck in a cycle she didn’t know how to break.

At her lowest point, Mary wondered if she even wanted to go on.

With some hesitation, Mary agreed to try counselling.

At first, it wasn’t easy. Talking about the past meant facing memories she had spent years trying to bury. But little by little, she began to open up.

For the first time, someone helped her understand that what happened to her was not her fault. Mary started to make sense of the anger, fear and pain she had carried for so long. She learned new ways to manage her emotions instead of being overwhelmed by them. She began to see that while she couldn’t change her past, she could decide what came next.

Slowly, things started to feel different. The walls she had built around herself began to come down. Relationships became stronger. She started to see herself differently, too. Not as the person she had been told she was, but as someone worthy of care, respect and a future.

Today, she feels capable of holding a job, maintaining her home and building the future she wants. The fear and hurt that once controlled every part of her life no longer have the final say.

Mary’s story is a reminder that healing is possible. Sometimes, all it takes is one person willing to listen, one safe place to turn, and the support to help someone see their own worth again.

Stratford Connection Centre (operated by CMHA Huron Perth)

In an effort to tackle the pressing issue of chronic homelessness in Stratford, a drop-in space opened for those experiencing homelessness or otherwise vulnerable. 

The Stratford Connection Centre offers wrap-around supports including trauma-informed care, substance use and mental health counselling, as well as basic needs such as showers, laundry and food. Services are client-centred, providing dignity and choice with an unrelenting focus on securing permanent housing.

Goals

Meet basic needs. A place to use a washroom and shower. Have a cup of coffee with access to clean water, and/or an indoor space out of the cold or heat.

Build social ties. Build trust with service providers and volunteers, leading to opportunities for more formal supports.

Connect to social services. Volunteers and staff can help clients navigate entry into formal support with existing agencies.

Build pathways out of poverty that provide dignity and choice, empowering clients.

• 233 unique individuals accessed services last year
• 5,418 total visits to the Stratford Connection Centre

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

75 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:

Daima was struggling to pay the utility bill AND buy groceries for her family. The Urgent Needs Fund provided support so she didn’t have to choose between keeping the heat on and buying food for her children.

Stratford & Area Community Volunteers

–> United Way Perth-Huron Senior Manager, Resource Development and United Housing: Rebecca Scott

Supported Partners

Want to read more?

View our United For Good 2025-26 Impact Report.