So, who are we, really?

Community Care is a non-profit agency, which means that we do not take in any income, but rely on donations or grants as fund resources to offer our services. Our food and clothing programs are based on 100% donations from community members, partners and donors, while our housing help program does have partial funding from the Region – specifically, one of the services offered, Rapid Rehousing, which you can learn more about below. This reliance on donations is why we made Thank You part of our brand! It is thanks to the generosity of others (like you!) that we exist, and can support those who need a helping hand in our community. Our agency has been around for a long, long time – like, more than 100 years long. We started with one woman who saw a need in her community, and found a way to help. She was the pioneer of fundraising for our agency, calling on her neighbours to lend a helping hand to those who needed it. Today, we offer services including that root vital cause, food security, with added supports through the years like clothing, housing and special programs. We’re a team that operates like a family, with many of our staff having worked here for 15+ years, and our CEO holding her position for 30+ years. We support one another, and we value our volunteers as part of our family – without these compassionate individuals choosing to give of their time, we would not be able to support the operations in our agency. We have a location in St. Catharines, 12 North Street and 129 Church Street addresses will get you to us, and one in Thorold at 19 Albert Street, which is where our Thrift Shop is housed. You can learn more about the Thrift Shop below, too!

How does the food and clothing program work?

Individuals and families visit us monthly to shop for clothing and food, which is based on the size of their family/members in the household. Our food home, thanks to the generosity of community members and donor, offers canned, yes, but also fresh goods like produce, meats, cheese, milk and yogurt when donations are received. We are fortunate to have refrigerators and freezers, obtained through grants, that allow us to store these items and provide them to clients, ensuring there are a variety of healthy, fresh options available.

Clothing works the same way, with registered clients able to complete their shop on the same day as their food visit. We have clothing for all ages and sizes, from babies to men, including socks and undergarments, accessories and shoes. Again, all of this is possible only through the donations received from our care-ing community.

What does our Housing team do?

What does “Housing Help” mean?

Our housing team acts as a bridge to connect clients to shelter, housing and financial supports. The supports we offer on-site are listed below, along with supports we do not offer, and links to where that help can be found.

Trusteeship – this service supports youth and adults with specific needs. For youth, this looks like, a lack of familial support and housing. This means, that a youth under the age of 18 does not have family they can live with, or who can support them financially. Our caseworker will begin by meeting with the youth in person, and placing a call to their family contacts to confirm that there is no support available.  Once this is confirmed, our caseworker can begin providing support, which means ensuring the youth is registered in school, connecting with our other services like ID Clinic if needed, housing through our Rapid Rehousing Program and shelter supports, and connecting the client with Ontario Works for financial support which our caseworker will manage, allowing rent payments to be directly paid on behalf of the youth, protecting their newly found housing. We will work with youth until the age of 18, when they can be released from Trusteeship with the tools needed to manage their finances independently.

Adult clients under Trusteeship can include those with disabilities, meaning that they will receive financial support through the Ontario Disability Support Program or ODSP. All ODSP payments are then paid out through our Trusteeship team, with payments first made directly to rent and other associated bills, with a budget allotted to the client once these mandatory bills are paid.

ID Clinic – our ID clinic assists low income community members with obtaining birth certificates that are lost, a step that is required for registering for services with the agency, and for seeking employment, and housing, including the Niagara Region Housing Waitlist.

Rapid Rehousing – Rapid Rehousing began as a pilot project in June 2023 and has now been included as one of the three Homelessness Prevention programs funded by Niagara Region. Our twoRapid Rehousing Workers are deployed across the Region’s shelter to rapidly rehouse people who have lost housing but are finding it challenging to move on from the shelter. With a target of finding housing in 30 days, the goal is to rapidly resolve episodic homelessness and reduce the number of people who become chronically homeless. Clients in shelter referred to the Rapid Rehousing Program are identified through the Region’s Byname List. On a weekly basis, Regional staff filter the Region’s list according to established criteria and send to the Rapid Rehousing Team Lead.  The criteria and prioritization filters for RRH include individuals and families in the shelter system who are experiencing episodic homelessness before they enter chronic homelessness and with lower to moderate acuity of need. The Team finds permanent stable and affordable housing with short term supports that bridge to community connectedness. Clients are supported in all aspects of the move-in process, including unit viewings, reviewing leases, furnishing apartments, and establishing connections with on-going follow up supports.

NEHLP (Niagara Eviction & Housing Loss Prevention) – This program addresses housing instability, eviction and related risks before they can lead to homelessness, focusing on assisting individuals facing eviction to salvage existing housing. This can be done through connecting clients to services like financial assistance, legal aid, senior supports and mental health and addiction supports through referrals done by our team. This can also include landlord engagement through our team connecting with landlords to problem solve and advocate for the client remaining housed, alongside the supports they will be connected to. If housing is lost despite these efforts, our team will assist in rehousing by working through our other programs.

Aftercare – Aftercare is a new Region funded Pilot Project that is for clients that have found housing and are not connected to any supports. (Shelter staff was noticing that a lot of clients were returning to shelter within the first 90 days of them leaving). When clients are in shelter and find housing, the shelter workers open a CAC Goal which then comes to the 3 aftercare workers. We go to shelter and meet with clients, continuing case management with them for 90 days to make sure they are successful in their new unit. We also use this opportunity to make sure clients are aware of their legal rights to the unit, help them get any documentation completed that they may need help with, and connect clients with as many supports as we can. The main goal of this program is to reduce the number of returns to shelter (i.e., landlord engagement, problem solving, community integration).

What does our housing program NOT do?

Unfortunately, our housing team does not offer housing – we do not have a selection of housing options to immediately provide to clients. We can however  be the bridge between unhoused or shelter living individuals to obtaining secure housing, through our other supports.

We do not provide first and last months rent or areers payments – this can be supplied through OW, with support from our team, when all of their requirements are met.

I saw something about a Thrift Shop?

At our Thorold agency branch located at 19 Albert Street, accessed by a door right next to our agency entrance,  is a Thrift shop! The shop accepts donations of household goods, clothing, shoes, accessories, and small furniture (like an end table, but not like a dresser). All of the items in the shop are free of purchase for our clients, while the general public can purchase items, and 100% of the sales go directly back to our agency, supporting our programs and services. Shopping second-hand is always a good idea, at our shop, you get to give back while you save!

What about these “special programs”?

Well, they are special, to start! Thanks to the generosity of our community members, partners and friends, we are able to offer two Special Programs – Back to School and Christmas. Our back to school program receives support from Canadian Tire Financial who donate a selection of brand new sneakers to the program annually, and in 2025, was also supported by Alectra who donated funds to support the program. Our Christmas program, which includes Adopt a Family, is unfunded, and relies solely on the kindness of others choosing to give back.

With our Back to School program, registered families are scheduled for appointments to visit our “back to school shop” and choose from the selection of donated items available. Through this program, all registered students receive:

• new backpacks
• supplies like: lined paper, binders, pencils, calculators etc.
• a brand new pair of sneakers
• healthy snacks

Through our Christmas program, registered clients will receive a grocery gift card, the amount determined by their family size, and those with children under the age of 10 in their household have the opportunity to visit our “toy bureau” and shop for gifts including toys, electronics, books etc. When available through donations, we also offer giftcards for youth ages 11 – 12.

Well, that wraps up the summary of us. Is there anything else you want to know? Send us a message on social or email us at communications@communitycarestca.ca and we will give you the deets!

For now, take a peek at our Board Member list below, and our history at the bottom of the page.

Our history

“I used to cook soup on my stove all day and every day. There was no time when there wasn’t a pan of soup cooking, because I had 400 families to look after.”
– Leone Taylor, Founder of Associated Charities

And so, the organization that is known today as Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold began. The founding members included Judge John Campbell, Mrs. Campbell, Magistrate James Campbell and Mrs. Charles Taylor. Leone Taylor passed away in the early 1970’s at the age of 93, leaving behind an incredible legacy and the testimony of the power of one to impact the lives of many.

In 1953, United Way was formed, and Associated Charities, as Community Care was then known, was the first charity to be supported.

In January of 1956, 8 Centre Street was rented for $20 a month until the agency moved to a shed on Helliwell’s Lane.

In 1958, The May Court Club was started, in partnership with the agency, to distribute Christmas toys to parents of children in need.

1959
The agency moved to a store room in the Grantham Township Annex on King Street.

1961
A move to 2 Queenston Street, where Mrs. Alice Bryne became the first staff member hired – for 75 cents per hour.

1965
A short move to 31 Queenston Street, where the agency received it’s province of Ontario Charter as a registered charity in 1968. With their registration came the first official meeting of the Board. The agency moved to 44 St. Paul Crescent in 1971. 

1973
The agency changed its name to Associated Services, reflecting the expansion of programs offered.

1984
An expansion to an additional location with food and clothing services being distributed out of the basement of Thorold City’s Hall (formerly L.G. Lorriman Central School) on Carlton Street. Form this location, these services moved to the current location of 19 Albert Street West in 2004.

1989
Location change to 125 Welland Avenue, where the agency changed it’s name to what we know today.

1998
Niagara Nutrition Partners program was introduced as a nutrition support program offering elementary and secondary schools assistance with providing healthy snacks for students in need.

1999
The agency moved once more to 264 Welland Avenue in 1994 before making it’s official home in 1999 at 12 North Street.  

In 2001, the federally funded Housing Help Centre made it’s home in the building adjacent to Community Care at 14 North Street.

2005 brought a merger of the Housing Help Program and Community Care – this is the Program we offer today.  

In 2011, Housing Help moved into the front side of 12 North Street, 129 Church Street, and remains there today.

2013
Our first delivery truck was donated in honour of our friend Mr. Chuck Smith, through the Wise Guys Charity Fund. T H A N K  Y O U to these care champions!

2014
Community Care celebrated it’s 95^th year in operation. At this time, the agency offered 17 programs to the community, moving to 19 programs in 2017.

2019 marked the 100^th year of service for the agency – a milestone that would not be possible without the continued support of those in our community who are able to give back to those in need. Together, we continue to service those most vulnerable in our community.