The Salvation Army opened its third church-based family-services resource centre in the capital region this week in Victoria West, following the establishment of similar centres in Langford and near Christmas Hill two years ago.
The three locations are combining to take on the role filled by the former Stan Hagen centre at Quadra and Hillside, said community-ministry director Pat Humble.
“I thought: ‘We’re not reaching everybody from this one location,’ ” he said, so the decision was made to move and create space inside churches around the region.
The Vic West facility is in High Point Community Church at 949 Fullerton Ave., while the Langford site is in the Connection Point Church & Resource Centre at 737 Goldstream Ave. and the Christmas Hill location is in the Next Steps Resource Centre at 4030 Douglas St.
A food bank and some services have already been running for three years at the Vic West site, Humble said.
New renovations mean programs can be offered in a larger area “and not just a corner in the building,” he said.
The main program space is in the refurbished church manse, which used to be the pastor’s residence, said Humble, noting the centre can work with other agencies, help people in crisis, and provide household items or clothing through its thrift store — including those transitioning from the street into housing.
Staff members are not clinical counsellors but offer “supportive counselling” to those who want it, he said.
“And there’s easier access for people now instead of all of them having to come to one location,” said Humble, adding discussions are ongoing with the community about what programs are needed.
There will a drop-in coffee time from 1 to 3 p.m. every Tuesday for the public to come in and make their wishes known, he said. “It’s still a church on Sunday, but the rest of the week we’re a family-services resource centre.”
On Saturdays, the centre has a toy-lending library, where people can sign out toys.
A community garden will be planted soon by children from the church and the community with seeds donated by the City of Victoria.
Suggestions for added services are already coming in, Humble said. “Some of the other asks are children’s programs, life skills, cooking classes, English as a second language,” he said. “So we’re going to be exploring all those.
“In the next few weeks and months we’ll be expanding what we offer.”
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