A push to create a Charity House that would house several charities and non-profit groups under one roof could dramatically change the way business is being done for people utilizing support services in town.
The idea was presented to nearly 20 business owners and concerned community members who gathered at the Innisfail Public Library to discuss local needs and demands at the Oct. 8 Community Partners meeting.
At the monthly meeting, Howard suggested taking steps towards the possibility of housing a string of non-profit groups and charities under one roof, tentatively called the Charity House. It could cut transportation costs for the needy, which would ultimately help some people work towards higher levels of independence through the use of community support initiatives.
“It depends who wants to participate and what their needs are,” said Innisfail's Big Brothers and Big Sisters executive director Tim Howard. “If we get five or six organizations that want to participate and they have similar need to ours, then we'll probably be looking at a custom built facility.”
But the first step, he added, is to see who is interested in having the discussion.
“It looks good, feels good and it's really good for business,” he added.
He expressed some concerns about the cost of travelling to a number of different buildings in order to access social services programming. Howard explained that creating a Charity House could cut costs for residents that are utilizing support services in town.
“The furthest this has gone at this point in time is with the Community Partners group,” he added after the meeting. “It's very formative.”
Several people who attended the Community Partners monthly meeting supported the idea by nodding in agreement and expressed the desire to create a “critical mass” in an attempt to serve the area more efficiently.
However, there were no representatives available to provide comments about the proposal.
Howard volunteered to create a survey to assess the community's level of interest before the next Community Partners meeting on Nov. 12. He plans to present the survey at the meeting and is optimistic that it could be used as a tool to identify key players and target groups that might be interested in participating with his idea before distributing it to local program operators.
“I'd like to get it (survey) done by the beginning of (this) week, so we can get it out,” Howard said last Thursday afternoon. “Right now, there's no point in going forward with any of this if there isn't an appetite out there among agencies within the community. I'm hoping we'll have it ready (this) week.”
For more information about the proposal, contact Howard at 403-227-6766.
