Amherstburg Care Fair brings services to local residents

Windsor police chief Jason Crowley and Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb welcome people to the Amherstburg Care Fair last Thursday afternoon.

Services that may be tougher for some local residents to access than others were brought to Amherstburg last week so that people could see what is offered.

A group of community partners, a major one of which was the Windsor Police Service, held the second annual Amherstburg Care Fair Feb. 5 at the apartment building at 340 Victoria St. South in Amherstburg. In addition to showcasing supports that building residents and others in town have at their disposal, there were medical treatments, blood pressure clinics, harm reduction kits, legal support services, senior support programs and mental health and peer support programs offered.

Other partners included the Canadian Mental Health Association, Community Legal Aid, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, the Windsor-Essex Community Health Centre, Windsor-Essex Community Housing, the Community Support Centre, Hiatus House, the House of Sophrosyne, Hear Canada and Family Services Windsor-Essex.

“It’s actually quite inspiring to see so many organizations coming together for the people in the community,” said Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb.

Gibb said the Amherstburg Care Fair was a way to bring services and agencies to where people live and provide services where they are. He believed it was “incredible” to see everyone come together as they have.

Vendors and service providers were set up in the lounge area at the Victoria St. S. apartment building where the fair was located.

Windsor police chief Jason Crowley said it was an attempt to bring multiple community groups together to serve the community and those who need the services.

“Everyone here does an amazing job,” said Crowley. “To see everyone come out and work together, we love it.”

Part of the reason the fair was established was to direct people to services and not have to have first responders come out to calls that can be handled better by other means.

Amherstburg Community Services (ACS) was also on hand to share their list of services, which include a wide array of programs from Meals on Wheels to the Pathway to Potential (P2P) Neighbourhoods program. Regarding the latter, ACS’ community awareness and fundraising officer Annette Sak noted there is an engagement meeting coming up Feb. 26 at 9:30 a.m. with people able to access transportation to the meeting by e-mailing Jessica at p2p@amherstburg-cs.com by Feb. 20 to book a ride. 

The neighbourhood ACS’ P2P Neighbourhoods program is bounded by Sandwich St. S., Pickering Dr., Fryer St. and Fort St.

The Amherstburg Care Fair also featured free snacks and sandwiches for those who attended.

Amherstburg Care Fair brings services to local residents

By Ron Giofu