Dennis Chippa has been let go from The North Bay Gathering Place Soup Kitchen.
"I'm disappointed, I thought I was able to turn it around and I just couldn't," said Chippa Thursday morning.
"I respect the board's decision. The board is going to go in a different direction, in a different way, with different people, in a different voice and I'm not that voice, and I can't fault the Board for their decision. Because, you know, ultimately, at the end of the day, I'm the one that should have had a better handle at the wheel."
Rumours of changes at The Gathering Place had been swirling around the community for weeks.
BayToday reached out to Peter Gregory, chair of The Gathering Place board of directors on Saturday.
Gregory gave "no comment" when asked if Chippa was still working with the organization.
Gathering Place struggles
It has been a tough year for the local soup kitchen.
In August of 2024, Chippa told BayToday the not-for-profit organization was having some issues with Revenue Canada and had refinanced the building on Cassells Street to help make ends meet.
See related: Gathering Place says Warming Centre big reason for its financial woes
On September 1, the Gathering Place made the call to cut several staff members and decrease their meals to five meals a week, one a day and lunch only.
In the financials listed on the Gathering Place website, it's revealed the organization lost $187,291 in 2023 compared to $31,156 in 2022.
The organization took on an additional $150,000 in wages and benefits in 2023 and added $84,000 in security costs which Peter Gregory points to supporting and operating the Warming Centre on Fraser Street last year as reasons for that escalation.
"We were dealing with conditions in the warming centre that we had not seen before as far as the kind of numbers, the kind of demand," said Chippa.
"It was a thing that the numbers were so incredibly high and the demand at our place was still incredibly high so it was really difficult to juggle both."
Donations down
Chippa says he is responsible for the fact that he didn't react or realize how much donations were dropping.
"I own that," said Chippa.
"I did not keep track accurately enough of the downturn in donations that came in and I think that is part of it. When you are putting $12,000 in the bank it sounds like a lot of money, but to realize that two years before that $12,000 was $18,000 and I had not noticed it. The numbers were still coming in but we were not seeing the amounts. The amounts over Christmas and the New Year were steady but it was the amount donated that I didn't notice."
Decorated citizen
Chippa was named the 2024 Kiwanis Citizen of the Year, in April as recognition for his efforts at The Gathering Place and the Warming Centre.
See related: Chippa is Kiwanis Citizen of the Year
See related: Award winning community leader named Gathering Place Executive Director
He was named the executive director at The Gathering Place in May of 2016, replacing Jill Clark. He was an original member of the Gathering Place Board of Directors back in 2002.
He also received an Order of Ontario in January of 2016 for his community efforts with AIDS Committee of North Bay and Area but also volunteering at The Warming Centre and Haleyfest.
In 2020, Chippa was given an honourary degree in the humanitarian category from Nipissing University.
Taking some time
Chippa, who has worked in the media at CTV, Cogeco and as a freelance writer at BayToday, along with running his own consulting business, says he will take some time for himself.
"I've done a lot of stuff over the years for a lot of people, and I'm going to take a little bit of time for me and a little bit of self-care for a while," said Chippa.
"I am looking forward, but I am also looking back at all the relationships I had through the years of the Gathering Place, the community members, the folks that would come in, I will miss them. I will miss my relationships with the volunteers along with the amazing staff."
With files from Stu Campaigne
