Conversations at St. John’s Kitchen sometimes reveal gaps where available supports do not meet people’s needs. In their roles as listeners, narrators and advocates, St. John's Kitchen workers take these conversations into the wider community and invite collaboration around responses.
Projects that have emerged from these conversations include the following based in and around St. John's Kitchen (on the 97 Victoria ‘Campus’):
- Medical and Psychiatric Clinic ─ Supports for people who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, or street-involved, and have concurrent disorders.
- Hospitality House – Residence providing family-style care for people who are acutely ill and are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and who are not able to maintain other shelter.
- Community Dental Clinic – Dental care for adults who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, or street-involved: For more information about the Dental Clinic please email Stephanie at stephanie@theworkingcentre.org
- Worth a Second Look Furniture and Housewares – Resources to make a home, including moving services, and affordable second-hand furniture and housewares.
- Job Café – Connections to casual and temporary labour for people who are unable to, or choose not to, participate in the mainstream labour market.
- Bunkees – Emergency temporary shelter for people who are persistently homeless.
These responses have the cultural model of St. John's Kitchen as their framework ─ fundamentally, they are built on the values of the people they serve. Partners in these projects include the Region of Waterloo, local social service agencies, professional associations, and community members.
