FERGUS – Grove Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario welcomed the community to its fall festival here on Sept. 25.
The event took place at the far end of the Giant Tiger parking lot and featured booths from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre Wellington, and Compass Community Services.
The event aimed to educate and showcase the many free supports offered by the organizations for youth in the community.
“I feel like youth hubs or youth help in general can be very limited and can be very hard to find, especially free services,” said Zoe Taylor, a volunteer with The Grove.
“And I think it’s great that we are all located in the same space so you can get the help you need without having to go everywhere.”
The Grove, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Compass are all located inside the Skyline Community Hub between Pet Valu and Giant Tiger.
The Hub offers shared workspace for community organizations that share the same vision. Its fall festival event featured an array of support brochures, fun games like Jenga and cornhole, and free ice cream vouchers redeemable at the Fergus McDonalds.
The Grove now has seven locations across Wellington and Guelph.
The organization provides youth between the ages of 12 and 26 can with access to services, including tutoring, housing support, employment counselling, primary care, mental health and substance abuse.
“We provide them with the skills they need,” said Taylor. “We have even ran a hygiene trivia program.”
The Grove also features a free clothing section where youth in need can pick out clothing they need, free of charge.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre Wellington looks to connect youth with older mentors to create a sense of community, belonging, friendship and safety.
“We serve about 250 youth in the community each year,” said representative Ashley Winterburn.
All of the organization’s mentors are volunteers 18 years and older, and typically mentor youth aged five to 18.
While all of the organizations take a strong focus on youth, Compass Community Services is accessible for community members of all ages and even offers a senior’s support program that connects senior citizens with others their age to foster friendships and fight of loneliness.
The organization also offers a suicide prevention hotline that can be accessed by dialing 9-8-8 on any cellular device.
For more information on any of these organizations and supports, anyone is welcome to visit the Skyline Wellness Hub.
You can also read more on their websites: Thegrovehubs.ca, Compasscs.org and centrewellington.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.
