Thunder Bay Counselling & Children’s Centre Thunder Bay Announce Strategic Alliance

Two community-based organizations formalize long-standing partnership

Thunder Bay Counselling and Children’s Centre Thunder Bay are pleased to announce they have entered into a formal Strategic Alliance, designed to enhance their capacity to serve children, youth, adults, and families in the District of Thunder Bay and area.

With increasingly complex community service needs, the Alliance aims to increase efficiencies and maximize resources to deliver the best possible services to clients. It is a progressive and highly transformative approach for the community services sector.

Says Nancy Chamberlain, Executive Director, Thunder Bay Counselling; “The formalization of our long-standing partnership is the next logical step in the evolution of our working relationship. Our organizations share a common goal to improve the quality of life for individuals and families in Thunder Bay and area, and this model will allow us to be more effective in responding and meeting community needs.”

The new Strategic Alliance brings together decades of professional experience and clinical expertise to help support the unique health and wellbeing challenges facing people and communities. As an Alliance, the organizations offer a wide range of health, mental health, development, social and support services to people throughout their lifespan. The collaboration will also create new opportunities for sharing knowledge, best practices, and service resources. Says Diane Walker, CEO of Children’s Centre Thunder Bay; “Working together, we can better address gaps in the system, improve access, remove barriers, and provide the best possible service experiences. It’s about being efficient and innovative through service integration and shared leadership to realize improved community outcomes.”

The Strategic Alliance is not a merger and instead, leverages the unique strengths and assets of each organization to enhance their collective reach and impact. As part of the Alliance, both Thunder Bay Counselling and Children’s Centre

Thunder Bay will keep their independence, while agreeing to a new level of governance and operational cooperation. Thunder Bay Counselling and Children’s Centre Thunder Bay share a longstanding history of working individually and collectively to support children, youth, adults, and families in Thunder

Bay and region. One of their most successful joint initiatives has been the Walk-In Counselling Clinic, which is now in its 15th year of service.

“This is an exciting and important alliance for Thunder Bay Counselling in 2022,” says Renée Monsma, Chair of Thunder Bay Counselling Board of Directors. “We believe that clients, staff and the Board will greatly benefit from the collaborations to come, and our joint strengths puts us in a better position to tackle today’s community health and wellbeing issues well into the future.”

“The purpose of the Strategic Alliance is to engage in continuous quality improvements at the governance, managerial, administrative, and service levels,” says Tara Gauld, Chair of Children’s Centre Thunder Bay Board of Directors. “There are so many important issues of mutual interest to our organizations, and through this Alliance we can find ways to affect community change together. The new Alliance will have longevity to continue to enhance services the organizations provide well into the future, as they strive toward a shared mission and to achieve a broad continuum of integrated services.

The Strategic Alliance has been endorsed by each organization’s respective Board of Directors and is effective February 16, 2022.