In 2020, Start Me Up Niagara received a $75,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to deliver a project to conduct a feasibility study towards creating a comprehensive volunteer program. With a goal of building inclusive and engaged communities, this project will allow citizens to have a say in shaping services that matter to them and has an impact on the lives of 500 people in the community.
Start Me Up Niagara is pleased to hear of Susan Venditti receiving the T. Roy Adams Humanitarian award. Susan has been a guiding light in the city and region for those experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, and other significant life challenges. Susan has been a guiding light in the city and region for those experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, and other significant life challenges.
Start Me Up Niagara is proud to announce the opening of a new remote Resource Drop-In Centre in Niagara Falls. This additional Resource Centre will assist local Niagara Falls residents experiencing significant life challenges such as poverty, homelessness, unemployment, disabilities, addictions and mental illness by helping them to access the resources and programs that will provide them with opportunities to stabilize, participate and grow.
In contemplation of human disconnectedness, author Leo Buscaglia once wrote, “too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” So let’s find small, honest, and meaningful ways to connect and grow as a more thoughtful community.
The MDRT Foundation has awarded a $1,500 grant to Start Me Up Niagara's Art Me Up program, a program designed for SMUN participants to archive their individual creative past and present. Through the exploration of multi-disciplinary arts, Art Me Up participants will have various opportunities in a safe studio environment, including workshops, facilitated open studios, access to a digital lab, and the establishment of web-based exhibition space to express personal memories and to map their jo...
A total of five clinics have been set up at different shelters across the Region – the last clinic being held today. Planning for the vaccine clinics began in January. Still, Stobbe said administering the flu shot last fall also helped prepare REACH and the Region for the COVID clinics. Niagara Public Health is working with the Region’s homelessness services and medical professionals from Regional Essential Access to Connected Healthcare (REACH) Niagara. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of tho...
Because of the compassion and hard work of the people of St. Catharines and Niagara, Start Me Up Niagara will be able to continue its mission to provide a variety of services to individuals who face significant life challenges to provide them with opportunities to stabilize, participate and grow.
Laura Dumas comes to Start Me Up Niagara with over 30 years’ experience in the not for profit world. She has had the privilege to work with volunteers and marginalized individuals in many organizations within and outside of the Niagara Region.
Start Me Up Niagara is pleased to announce that Laura Dumas has been named as the organization’s new Executive Director. Laura will succeed Susan Venditti who is retiring on November 30, 2020. Laura brings over thirty years of not-for-profit experience with the Elizabeth Fry Society, March of Dimes and most recently Community Support Services of Niagara where she served as Program Manager.
Community support is important, but due to COVID-19 and a limitation on space, there are things we cannot accept as donations. Here are some items we can accept, and also clarification on what we can't (and why).