10 John Street Downtown Hub Meeting, November 10th, 2015
Bill Davidson’s Presentation on Community Hub’s
Changed lives, healthy communities
How they started:
-They started in 1977 as a townhouse community hub in social housing
-Got a free townhouse from a landlord
-Took a dozen years to become stable- grants, volunteers, etc.
Funding:
-Government funded, municipal, federal, 17 different sources of funding
-Lease structure- base rent, common fees, menu of back options (i.e. access to boardroom, internet, reception.)
-Offer good price on rent/agencies don’t have a lot of resources
What they do:
-Community health
-Early years
-Resource centre
-Volunteer centre
-Central intake
-Midwifery
-Dieticians
-Diabetes education program
History:
-Purchased land in 2007
-Granted 4.9 million from federal government and 3 million from city of Cambridge in June 2010
-58,000 sq. ft. facility includes living wall, walking track, green roof, gym, and many meeting spaces.
-Moved in Sept 2011
North Dumfries Satellite Hub- (huge sports complex style hub)
-Partnered with the Township of North Dumfries in their vision to create a multi-purpose community complex
-NHL size ice surface, banquet hall, program rooms, and more.
Partners:
-20+ co-located partners; social agencies, dentist, chiropractors, public health
-Waiting list of partners who want to join, building an expansion to accommodate more partners.
The hub opens other doors:
-Special events
-Art shows
-Connectivity table
-Lead for Cambridge health link
-Rentals
-20+ health and social service and health partners
Partnership selection process:
-Focus groups with partners
-Expression of interest
-Selection process undertaken by community members with criteria established
-Langs is the governing body and approved selections
-More partners versus 1-2 anchor tenants
-Lease structure- base rent, common fees, menu of back options (i.e. access to boardroom, internet, reception.)
-Offer good price on rent/agencies don’t have a lot of resources
Best Practices and Achievements:
-Trillium grant to hire a coordinator staff
-Diversity of partners
-Awareness lunches with tenants- professional development/joining volunteer appreciation event.
-In kind resources (realtor and legal counsel)
-Shared services, reception, meeting room, joint programs
Challenges
-No provincial funding
-Financing from the bank is costly, (project monitoring fee)
-Tight timeline
-Diversity of partners
-Landlord issues
-Parking
-Ongoing infrastructure
-Logistics
Words of Advice
-Variation of hub models have been around for years
-Just because it’s called a hub doesn’t mean it’s a hub
-Hubs should be self-sustaining
-Co-location is different than integration
-Relationships are key
-Risk taking is required
-Every neighbourhood doesn’t need a hub
-A provincial consultant process followed by policy is needed
Other:
-2 options for lead agency- one agency leads or pool money to fund one coordinator
-Over 220 volunteers
-Need lots of parking and meeting rooms!
-Finding the right contractor and architect is very important!
-* pick the right staff to go to the hub- has to be a people person, not the struggling staff.
-Can’t be a 9-5- open evenings and for events/rentals on weekends
-Use shared outlook calendar to book program rooms
-Development fees with municipal and regional governments, etc.
Conclusion
-9 communities visit our hub to seek advice on how to begin; offering a community Hub workshop, date tbd.
-Take a field trip to other hubs and come visit Langs!
-For more information please don’t hesitate to contact
Questions:
-How do you do evaluations?Langstracks who is coming in and for what, Langs does internal evaluation, looking to hire an external evaluation
A word from our Developer:
-Own a community hub in Lindsay Ontario/ just built second building
-The own 10 John Street and wan to develop a community Hub in Brockville- they have received 2 letters of commitment from local agencies
-20,000 sq. ft. available. The possibility of a 3rd floor plus a rooftop terrace.
-Ready to go- just need a couple more commitments. Building doesn’t have to be full to start building
Nov. 10th Attendance List:
David Henderson, Mayor, City of Brockville
Jonathan Faurschou, City Planner II
Meg Plooy, DBIA
Dana Pearce, Girls Inc.
Lesley Hubbard, Girls Inc.
Anna Hudson, YMCA
Peter LeClair, Brockville and District Association for Community Involvement
Sue Watts, ED, EEC
Harold Hess, Volunteer Centre of St Lawrence Rideau
Margaret Van Beers, Child Development Centre
Kathy Senneker,BDACI
Laurie Bourne-Mackeigan, Assault Response & Care Centre
Melissa Francis, LG Immigration Partnership
Joan Hodge, Untied Way
Linda Chadwick, Brockville Public Library
Steve Weir, Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce
Jenny Smith, Lanark Community Programs, CABA/IBI
Debbie Blair, LLGAMH
Marg Fancy, EKIOC
Mark Heffernan, Brockville Police Service, Community Safety Officer
Kristina Hubert, Brockville Police service, Community Hub Coordinator
Orlando Spicer, Royal LePage
Ron Evers, Reify Solutions Inc.
Mike Charendoff, J.D.L Finance Limited