The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Thompson Inc. will soon be home to a new community resource and information centre where new and existing members of the Thompson community can go for information on what types of social services, education and volunteer opportunities the city has to offer. CMHA staff are hoping the centre will be up and running by Aug. 28.
After the decision was made for the CMHA to manage the homeless shelter since January of last year, Tammy Watson, innovation and special initiatives co-ordinator with the CMHA, decided to start working on a new resource centre at their Fox Bay facility.
"I looked into it and we decided there's nowhere in the community that not only just new people but even people that live here can go and find out what actually is available in town," Watson explains, saying often people are sent to many different places before they find the information they're looking for. "Here we're trying to just centralize it, and we're focusing mainly on social service agencies."
The community resource and information centre will also post information about agencies that are in need of volunteers or board members. Watson is also currently working on gathering a few books to form a small library in the centre that will focus on social issues like illness and addiction.
Watson has been working on opening up the centre since February of this year. Originally it was going to involve information about businesses and schools, but she decided there were enough places in town to get information about those facilities but not enough about social and educational services, so the focus was put on them.
"We're going for that one-stop shop where you can see what the community has to offer in regards to all sorts of different programs right now I have a lot of information on the different educational opportunities in the community, and I don't think people understand how much there really is," she notes. "It's the same with youth. There are a lot of programs out there for youth and each of those have programs within themselves."
According to Watson, there has been some interest in the community about the new centre already.
"I don't think people really understand what it is yet, and I think when they know how it's going to be utilized, it's going to be easier," she explains. "A few people have phoned and asked us about it and they think it's a good opportunity."
Watson is hoping agencies throughout Thompson will bring their information to the CMHA so that it can be posted at the centre, saying it will benefit them as well as people in the community.
The new community resource and information centre will be open during the CMHA's operating hours, which are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Watson is hoping the opening day will be held on Aug. 28 from 3 to 5 p.m.
