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Tag: The Working Centre

From A Better Tent City to Cabins on Ardelt

Joe Mancini September 13, 2026

A Better Tent City (ABTC) was a remarkable shelter project that grew out of a plan developed in January 2020 by Ron Doyle and Jeff Willmer to respond to growing homelessness. With the formal shelters all full, Ron and Jeff wanted to create better shelter options compared to random encampments. Two years later, during a cold and muddy November, the cabins of ABTC were moved to the Ardelt property by agreement with the City of Kitchener and the Waterloo Region District School Board.

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The Bricker Block from 1877 – 2026

The Working Centre September 13, 2026

The Bricker Block story has its roots in 1877 when David and Aaron Bricker purchased the site after a catastrophic fire burned through the Royal Hotel and properties around it. Aaron Bricker established a successful Blacksmith and Livery service out of a wood frame building that he built after purchasing the property.

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Remembering Arleen Macpherson (1937 – 2026)

Joe Mancini June 5, 2026

On May 9th 2026, we celebrated Arleen Macpherson’s immense contribution to the development of The Working Centre community. For over 30 years from (1987 – 2017) Arleen offered unwavering commitment to support those who have been left out. Her work was marked by her natural ability to combine prayerful reflection with thoughtful action. Her practicality was demonstrated by taking on St. John’s Kitchen and creating a place of welcome and hospitality. This work stretched from organizing and cooking in the kitchen, to walking gently with those facing struggles, to writing and reflecting on poverty and relationships.

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A Retrospective on My 17 Year Journey at The Working Centre

Susana Escamilla June 5, 2026

I had the privilege to work for The Working Centre, a truly amazing organization, which feels like a living, breathing organism, with all its parts deeply interconnected. One of those parts is the Job Search Resource Centre, where I spent 17.6 incredible years learning from and giving back to the wonderful community we serve.

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St. John’s Kitchen and A Community of Supports

Roger Gilbert March 1, 2026

If you stand by the doors of the new St. John’s Kitchen, you see the constant flow as people come in and out. Some go immediately left to access showers, washrooms, laundry; others turn right to enter the dining room and select a table either alone or with friends. Each day some 350-400 people visit the space.

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Building Community with Your Support

The Working Centre December 1, 2025

Dear Friends, It was heartening to welcome 800 people to the 97 Victoria Open Houses. While we celebrated the completion of construction, the stark realities of the struggles people face continue to weigh on us. Our community has so much to give, but the many challenges people face are ever present.

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Hope Is A Choice

Stephanie Mancini September 1, 2025

Hope is a choice. Hope is a disciplined and spiritual practice that sustains our work. These do not feel like hopeful times as we witness the despair of people living without shelter or housing, as we receive the growing anxiety of people looking for work in a tightening labour market, as we witness the tightening of funding options and increasing administrative burdens

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Open Hearted Work

Roger Gilbert September 1, 2025

I have worked for 25 years in many roles with agencies and services providing support to the community and particularly to those most vulnerable and marginalized. It was always a calling for me from an early age. Throughout those years I worked with so many wonderful people and had experiences and growth from the community I was present with. While the work was always well intentioned, there were systemic blockages which hindered truly aligned work. You could feel the blockages and the dissonance it created for individuals – a dissonance between your work-self and your true-self.

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Building Community with Our Neighbours

Joe Mancini June 1, 2025

Remarks by Joe Mancini at the 36th Mayors’ Dinner: There are so many people who are here tonight who contribute to The Working Centre. It is overwhelming to think about the deep generosity that has helped sustain TWC’s village of community supports.  

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Site Menu

The Integrated Circle of Care is a fluid and collaborative approach followed by workers from different agencies weaving through St. John’s Kitchen. Within this approach, staff members from each agency are aware of their specific personal roles. However, the high level of collaboration between workers means that people can approach any worker, without knowing their agency association or specific role, and still receive support – either that worker will support the person directly, or they will introduce the person to another worker who can support the person more appropriately.

This approach makes relationships more natural and support more accessible. Workers from different agencies are easily approachable, meaning that people build relationships with multiple workers. Having relationships with different workers is important to a person’s support – it makes support from a trusted source easy to find, and means that people have a choice of worker to approach in any given situation.

In order to maintain a circle of care around a person, workers from different agencies ask for consent from the person for information to be shared between workers. Continuous communication between workers helps to ensure that people do not fall into gaps between services, and also that services are not duplicated.

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Fresh Ground