Over 850 people made their way to the Delta Hotel on Stone Road for the annual winter ritual of hearing the mayor talk. The Chamber of Commerce’s State of the City event for 2023 had the usual aspirational statements and hopeful outlook about the future, but it also came with a warning about the tough times ahead and the need to work together as a community to meet the challenges were all familiar with by now. Continue reading “Guthrie Drops Gimmicks for Serious Talk at State of the City”
It happened in the middle of the fall election campaign, but the new Strategic Advisory Group on downtown Guelph released a series of short to long-term goals that they hope to achieve to create a safer and more welcoming downtown core. The City of Guelph released a new update on Thursday saying that their aspirations have started to take shape with more formal directions, a “high-level, tactical roadmap to achieving the objectives” if you will. Continue reading “Advisory Committee Lays Out More Specific Plans for Downtown”
In the midst of an election where housing affordability, homelessness and mental health and addition issues are all on the frontburner, the City of Guelph is announcing some direction. Following up on a July vote by the current city council to approve a new Strategic Advisory Group on issues affecting downtown Guelph, the group itself has now announced its six strategic priorities to tackle those problems. Continue reading “Advisory Group Sets Six Priorities For Homelessness and Downtown Issues”
Challenges with mental health and addictions is so prevalent most people can rattle off some statistic whether they, or someone they know, is affected or not. Under the idea of “it takes a village”, a bunch of community leaders were brought together on Tuesday morning at the Frank Hasenfratz Centre for Excellence in Manufacturing for a Youth Mental Health Forum in the hopes of generating some “outside the box” thinking. Continue reading “Mental Health Forum Says Big Challenges Have Local Solutions”
“International Overdose Awareness Day is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind.” That’s what the day is officially about, but it means something different to everyone who’s experienced loss caused by the drug crisis. All those experiences were marked today in a packed event in St. George’s Square. Continue reading “Hope and Healing at the Commemoration of Overdose Awareness Day”
When you think about helping Guelph’s most vulnerable downtown, you think of Chalmers. They’ve been doing it for decades, and they’ve continued to do it though good economic times and bad. While the politicians look for policy and funding remedies, the good people at Chalmers are on the frontlines of the issue every day, so how do they see issues of poverty, homelessness, and mental health as they currently stand downtown? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #334 – Moving the Needle Downtown”
Responding to a motion from Guelph City Council to hold an emergency meeting on homelessness in Downtown Guelph, the Wellington County’s social services committee gathered to address those concerns. The long meeting (by committee standards) saw members agree with Guelph’s leaders that more needs to done, and backed up council’s calls for action. How did we get here? Let’s recap the meeting… Continue reading “RECAP: County Committee Supports Council Direction on Homelessness”
Just a couple of days after Guelph City Council ratified a slate of motions meant to direct action on homelessness, mental health and addiction issues in Downtown Guelph, the City’s social services provider will gather the committee that oversees them for a special meeting. On Thursday, Wellington County’s social services committee, which includes Mayor Cam Guthrie as a member, will answer some of Guelph council’s questions. Continue reading “County’s Social Services Committee to Hold Special Meeting on Thursday”
On Tuesday, many communities around the world marked International Overdose Awareness Day, a chance to campaign to end drug overdoses, and remember without stigma the people who have died as well as the family they all left behind. In Guelph, a few hundred people gathered in St. George’s Square at lunch hour to remember another pandemic that has only gotten worse since COVID-19 hit our shores last year. Continue reading “Less Stigma, More Support the Message on Overdose Awareness Day”
While everyone’s been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been another public health crisis unfolding at the same time without nearly the same degree of attention. From social isolation to tainted supply and the difficulty in accessing services, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the opioid pandemic, but there may be some relief at hand for Guelph and Wellington substance users. Continue reading “Community Health Gets $1.1 Million to Expand Safe Supply Program”
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