Source: Posted in the St. Catharines Standard on July 2nd, 2024
Start Me Up Niagara is a step closer to moving into its new home as construction moves into the final stages of the Church Street location.
The agency, which offers help to people who have low-income, are food insecure and experiencing homelessness, sold its previous location at 17 Gale Cres., in St. Catharines after accessibility issues became a concern.
Start Me Up Niagara (SMUN) moved to 203 Church St. in January after issues arose around permits for the construction of the new location at 211 Church.
“We received our permit, about a month ago, to finalize the construction (and) we hope to move in by the fall,” said Laura Dumas, the agency’s executive director.
“We have people working to ensure we’re meeting the permit requirements.”
Dumas said the current setup in the former Work Action Centre is cramped, to say the least.
“Sometimes people are walking around trying to find a space where they can have those private conversations,” she said.
“But it’s working, once we get to (211 Church St.), we hope it eases the pressure on staff.”
Dumas said the new space will have office and cubicle areas, a staff kitchen, storage and an office space for REACH Niagara as that agency plans to offer services through SMUN.
Additionally, SMUN will also host an area for “like-minded agencies” to rent and have access to workers with similar crossover in clients.
Dumas said services will slowly move over from 203 Church, with the Work Action Centre moving over to the new location.
“The employment (service) will continue in the front, we’ll have administrative offices, REACH Niagara will be here, our fundraiser and social media will be here,” she said.
“The centre, kitchen, Bike Me Up, and Niagara’s Mobile Closet will remain at 203 Church St.”
Anticipating further growth, Start Me Up has included extra space in the design, said Dumas.
“There’s space in the front for a separate area for more programming, the kitchen will have space, so if we offer cooking and nutritious food workshops, we can work right there,” she said referring to the 203 Church St. location.
For 211 Church St., she said Start Me Up will not only have space for other agencies to rent, but also more storage.
“We can expand on the space we have, we can’t build on to it, but we can make changes to ensure we have the programs we need,” she said.