North End Family Centre plans expansion {UPDATE}
Update:
A hefty donation has given the Northend Family Centre a significant boost toward its expansion plans. Winnipeg realtors Geoff and Regan Archambault presented a cheque for $50,000 to the centre July 17.
“This is a very exciting day for us and for the families we serve,” says North End Family Centre’s founder and executive director, Kyle Mason. “This investment will allow us to serve the community even better, and enable more families to find a safe place to build community and gain the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty.”
“We care deeply for our city and for the great work that takes place at the North End Family Centre,” says Geoff Archambault. “We really believe in what they are doing and the success they are having.”
The North End Family Centre plans to name the new facility in honour of the Archambaults.
Originally published June 19, 2014:
WINNIPEG, MB—Almost five years after it first opened, a ministry serving Winnipeg’s North End community is looking to triple in size to accommodate a growing need.
The North End Family Centre’s focus is based on six words: Building Community, Empowering Families, Strengthening Winnipeg.
“We all need a place to belong,” says executive director Kyle Mason. “We want to provide a Christ-centered, safe community for people to come to and build their networks of support. Even if life is difficult, it doesn’t feel as difficult when you know you’re not alone.”
The centre receives about 1,200 visits every month and has reached its capacity.
“In some ways this is great because our community has responded so well,” says Mason, “but in others it’s frustrating because we want to do more, we want to help more people, we want to offer more programs to serve them better.
“We have secured a building nearby, but it needs to be renovated. It’s triple the size we have now. We’re quite excited about it. Every floor is going to have something new that we don’t currently have.”
At present, the centre comprises about 1,000 square-feet of space. This includes a community living room, a children’s play area, and laundry facilities. Faxing and photocopying services, resumé assistance, community computers and a community phone are also available for everyday use.
“Even something like a home phone can be a luxury,” Mason says. “If it’s a decision between having a phone and feeding your kids, you’re going to feed your kids.”
Plans for new additions include a quiet room for prayer or private discussion, a bigger community living room and play area, a kitchen, a large multi-purpose room, and a free store where people can pick up basic hygiene products that they can’t afford to buy themselves.
The centre also offers monthly workshops, women’s and men’s groups, and pastoral care.
“We offer pastoral care in a non-obtrusive way. We’re not here to force our faith on people. We’re here to love and to serve. When friendships are built through trust and time, you get to share your life and your faith,” Mason says.
In a partnership with World Vision Canada, the centre coaches people through life issues and encourages them in their goals.
“We’ll talk to people about their goals—whether they’re to find work, find housing, get into an addictions program, learn how to read, get away from an abusive relationship, or something else—and help them draw up a plan.
“Then we talk about how to get rid of the barriers stopping them from reaching those goals.”
Centre staff will often work with an individual for up to a year to reach those goals, coaching and encouraging when times are hard, celebrating when life is good.
Mason says they hope to move in to their new home by October 2014, just in time for the centre’s five-year anniversary. To do so they need to raise $125,000 over the next few months.
“We know that God will take care of us and that the community will respond and be a part of this,” Mason says. “It’s a leap of faith, but God has never let us down.”
For more information about the North End Family Centre visit www.northendfamilycentre.org.
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