Grand opening celebrates expansion of The Center in Swift Current
The successful renovation of a building next to The Center created a convenient new working space for support services offered by the Swift Current Community Youth Initiative (SCCYI).
This new expansion of The Center was celebrated with the grand opening of the support services building, Nov. 23.
The layout and decoration create bright and welcoming working and counselling spaces. SCCYI Executive Director Nathan Wiebe said this was exactly what they wanted to achieve with the renovation.
“This building is a real representation of our community and we want it to feel welcoming,” he noted. “I feel Swift Current is a really welcoming city for people and we want people that are in need, when they walk in here, to feel comfortable, to feel like they can bring what they're going through to the forefront. … So making it comfortable, making it feel welcoming was high on our list. It's been cool to see it all come together.”
One of the key features of the building’s layout that he really appreciates is the two waiting areas. One is next to the front entrance and the other is at the back.
“So if you're waiting for an appointment and there's another person waiting, you can come sit in the back area,” he said. “It has a lot of versatility. It has this feeling of welcomeness to it. And that part of it I feel was really accomplished.”
There has been an increase in the use of counselling services offered to youth and families at The Center in recent years, which made it necessary to find additional space.
There are three counsellors on staff and currently there are between 130 to 150 counselling visits per month. Counselling is done on site or virtually, and the service is free of charge.
“We do a lot of booking online, but we have a lot of flexibility with our counsellors being set up the way they are,” he said. “In order for kids to be healthy, we need to have healthy households. And if parents come to us with a need of support, we take that really seriously. So people in need will come to us and seek out that counselling and mental health support.”
An important benefit of the project has been the creation of a dedicated space suitable for the provision of counselling services. The Center is not always a practical location from that perspective, because it can become a busy place when various programming activities for youth are under way.
“That's the main reasoning behind this,” he said. “You want people to feel safe. So to be able to keep that separated, but still work really well together, it's a really unique opportunity.”
Wiebe added that the location of the support services building directly next door to The Center is a huge benefit, because it makes it easy to keep a connection between staff.
“We have such a close-knit staff too,” he said. “We're fortunate. We don't have a lot of turnover. We have a real family atmosphere here and we work really well together. We support each other.” The total cost of the project from purchase to renovation was close to $300,000. The building was purchased at the end of March and renovation work began in June. The support of local contractors made a big difference to the success of the project.
“It really says a lot about the contractors and the tradesmen that we have here,” he noted. “Everybody kind of just followed each other and got it done. It's been cool to be able to witness that. It's a real example of our community.”
He is especially pleased that all the details of the renovation project were carried out and there was no need to put off any work to a later time.
“We were able to get everything done that we needed to get done,” he said.
“And the number of contractors that came in and contributed and gave us free labour or a deal on something really helped us within that as well. So big kudos to all the contractors, volunteers, and people that helped us out.”
There was a capital campaign to raise funds, which began with a dessert night fundraiser in May and the project received strong support from the Swift Current Kinettes. Several major donations and grants helped to achieve project goals. The Robertson Family Foundation made a donation of $100,000 and the Innovation Federal Credit Union provided a grant of $15,000. The Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund provided $75,000 towards the renovation project.
“We're just in a state of gratitude for everybody that came alongside and whether you volunteered or you donated, it means a lot to us,” Wiebe said. “So we're pretty grateful.”