A local charitable organization that goes out to help homeless people where they are at now has a home base to continue their work to meet the growing need.
Reach Out Chatham-Kent Missions recently moved into its own building at 39 Richmond Street.
Intended to provide office for employees and some storage, ROCK’s operations co-ordinator, Renee Geniole said, “It’s already organically turned into a drop-in spot where we’ve had friends every day.”
The new location is a safe space for people to hang out and connect with ROCK staff, she said.
When they get the kitchen up and running to meet public health standards, staff will probably serve food on a daily basis, Geniole said.
The volunteer-run program used to operate out of the kitchen at the United Way. Geniole said the United Way recently sold its building to Royal LePage, which didn’t ask them to leave.
With a $710,000 grant from Health Canada received earlier this year to expand a peer program for people experiencing homelessness or substance abuse, combined with the growth in people being served, she said it was time for ROCK to find its own location.
ROCK worked with Royal LePage to find a new location in a building owned by Howard Gold, who Geniole says has been “an amazing supporter of ROCK Missions,” and a great landlord.
The most important aspect of the move, she said, “is it allows us the capacity for more in-depth collaborative work with community partners.”
About 1,000 people are served lunches weekly in Chatham, Wallaceburg, Blenheim, Ridgetown and Bothwell by ROCK Missions, so the outreach programs remain a vital component of the organization.
“We’re still going to do all that good work, too,” Geniole said.
“Our motto is ‘Meeting people where they’re at.’
Anyone interested in volunteering for ROCK can call the new number at 519-351-1450 or email [email protected].