Lee Dreany is passionate about the work being done at The Gathering Place, North Bay’s only soup kitchen.
He has volunteered for over a decade and was named honourary chair of its fundraising campaign when the organization set out to find a bigger location.
Over the years, Dreany recognized that their clients required more than just a hot meal.
At the official opening of its new location on Cassells Street on Saturday, Chippa announced the creation of an outreach office, crediting Dreany for his foresight.
Chippa called it the jewel in the crown, which is The Gathering Place.
“When we started the new build, Lee told me what we needed here was an outreach office. He said you can’t sit here and talk about anything whether it’s medical, whether it’s addictions, you can’t stay here and do that. He was right. How can you sit at a table in the Gathering Place and talk about your addiction issues when somebody is sitting right beside you,?” said Chippa.
The executive director used the official opening to honour the man, who those who know him say, has shown nothing but kindness and compassion for the men, women, and children who walk through their doors.
“So for that, and the many, many hours of dedication you have given us, as of today, the outreach office will be named ‘Lee’s Place.’”
Dreany was clearly surprised and humbled by the recognition.
“There’s only one word that describes this, and it’s ‘wow.’ It’s finally happening. This is a dream come true for all of us. Now we’re going to be able to do more, and help the community more, and make people better,” said an emotional Dreany.
‘A lot of our clients are afraid to go into a doctor’s office, or go see a counselor, or a dentist or any other aspect of their lives that they need help with. The best thing is to have nurse practitioners, and social services and others come in and see the people, see what’s happening, see the reason why they’re in the situation that they’re in. This gives them a chance to be able to come in and talk to their client here.”
The Gathering Place is already a safe haven where clients feel comfortable. Chippa says through outreach they can get some of the extended help they need in a place they trust.
“There will be counselling, and practical supports, along with verbal commitments from both the nurse practitioner clinic on Lakeshore Drive and from the AIDS committee to do medical work. We also know the dental hygiene program at Canadore wants to come out and do some outreach here. So we’re having a lot of groups start to contact us already,” said Chippa.
The Gathering Place has contacted 36 different agencies, and beginning next week, will begin the process of creating a schedule.
The Board chair said the move to a larger location has been 15-year journey.
“I’m feeling quite a bit of relief because even though you think you have everything planned out and budgets set and all that, construction is always a bit of a mystery, and it always seems to run down to the wire. I’m really glad that we’re set to open on Monday and it’s gone relatively smoothly,” said Chuck Poltz.
Until all the work is complete, he says the estimated cost of purchasing the building, all the renovations and other purchases is expected to top $800,000.
“We were actually renting office space next door because we didn’t have room in our own building. So that cuts down on our costs as well.”
Chippa said the days of people waiting outside in the elements are gone.
“We’ve gone from a building with 23 seats to 42. We have six or seven other seats we can fill in and people can sit and rest to get them out of the cold. We don’t often have that many people at one time, so we expect this will be able to take care of the needs so there won’t be people standing outside, and that’s the most important thing. We don’t want people waiting outside for 20 minutes, so we’re going to do the best we can to make that a reality.”
The kitchen is back in operation starting with breakfast Monday morning.
Roughly twice the size of the old kitchen, with a separate prep area, it is a game changer for kitchen manager Dave Clarke.
“In the old kitchen you were tripping over everybody, and I mean literally elbow to elbow, shoulder to shoulder. Here it’s wide open and it’s very bright. The other kitchen was extraordinarily hot and humid, and they have gone out of their way to get us this really high-tech range hood. It replaces the hot air with cool air, and it’s just going to be much more productive. We can put more time into our dishes. The meals will improve immensely.”
The new, brighter and more spacious location is in stark contrast to the former location.
“It’s nice. It’s bigger. I volunteered at the old place before, and this is a lot nicer. I think it’s going to do a lot of good because a lot of people need this place,” Claude Proulx.
Ken Brown is happy to see everything come together after helping with the move-in process.
“I think it’s fantastic. We’ve been heavily involved for the last three weeks moving everything in, and it’s just great to see everybody come together. They did a great job. People worked until almost midnight every night to get it done, but it’s really fantastic to see the final product.”
Unable to attend in person, a letter from former executive director Jill Clark was read aloud expressing her pride in knowing that the dream is now a reality.
“The Gathering Place started as a simple idea, to provide a hot meal in a warm environment to those in need. As the years have gone by, the organization has grown to include numerous programs to address food insecurity, provide work opportunities to those who needed the experience, and most importantly educate those in the community both government and business, of the need to support those who require our assistance,” said Clark.
“We live in a difficult time, where the need for places like The Gathering Place is more important than ever. North Bay has proved, once again, that it has good people who are willing to provide funds, time and support to our neighbours in need.”
Chippa told the crowd that plans are in the works to make The Gathering Place even more efficient, and more supportive.
“Hang on. This is not the end, this is the beginning of what is going to be a great ride,” said Chippa.