Timeline Posts

Resources for fathers of young children were developed by SIRCH and distributed across Ontario.

Community Hospice provided a wide variety of free “Care Notes” (written bereavement information specific to loss of a grandparent, spouse, child etc) in hospital and doctors’ offices. This was done in partnership with the funeral homes in Minden and Haliburton.

The Special Needs Coordination program closed after many years, due to lack of sustainable funding.

SIRCH Consulting was awarded a contract to write and publish “Sharing Matters/Entre Nous” a newsletter of the Ontario Coalition of CAPC and CPNP Projects. The newsletter was distributed nationally. SIRCH continued that contract for about 7 years.

SIRCH hosted the First Annual School’s Cool Conference at the Pinestone, and it was a great success!

A number of School’s Cool resources were created: puppets, math and literacy kits, and training to accompany them. School’s Cool was delivered for children in Haliburton County, for the first time (it had been piloted in Lindsay and other larger urban areas).

Community Hospice developed a Palliative Care Directory of Services and SIRCH set up the first Palliative and Bereavement Care Coalition for Haliburton County.

SIRCH Consulting provided consulting services in the region.

SIRCH packaged the School’s Cool curriculum into a kit, translated it into French and the kits were sold in several provinces. 75 instructors were trained to teach the School’s Cool program in various communities across the province. A series of parent resource booklets were also developed and distributed.

SIRCH decided to divest Counseling Services for Women, so went through a “Request for Proposals” process. It accepted the proposal submitted jointly by the YWCA and Women’s Health Care (Peterborough).

SIRCH applied for expanded federal funding for CAPC (Community Action Program for Children) & CPNP (Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program). Our population didn’t warrant additional funding, but our neighbours to the south, Victoria and Northumberland Counties, did not have CAPC/CPNP services and no new counties were being funded. SIRCH spearheaded a consultative process in both counties that gave the social and health services in those counties the opportunity to choose which organizations would provide the services, while SIRCH would funnel the funding. Northumberland Child Development Centre and the Ontario Early Years Centre Haliburton, Victoria, Brock are still providing CAPC & CPNP services for parents with children birth to six years of age, facing conditions of risk (such as poverty, illiteracy, low education etc).

Also in 1998, SIRCH developed a 72 hour curriculum-based program that increases the skills of children ages 3 to 5, in the areas of math, language, social, self-help and psychological skills. SIRCH successfully partnered with nine organizations across Ontario to pilot the very first School’s Cool program, and develop training for teachers/instructors. Children typically increase their skill development by one year, on average in a 6 week period! (Those results have been validated by longitudinal research.)

Feeling the need to augment government funding with social enterprise, SIRCH set up a Consulting Division to provide consulting and training services at a regional and provincial level. It was to be the first of many social enterprise endeavours.

Two journals were written and published by SIRCH. “My Journal into Motherhood” was a pregnancy journal, and “My Journal into Healing” allowed on individuals who had lost a loved one to journal their feelings and thoughts over a one year period.

Volunteers continued to play a huge part in SIRCH programs, and SIRCH was invited to participate in the World Volunteer Conference in Edmonton.

Women’s Emergency House, after being available 365 days a year to house women fleeing abusive situations with their children, closed. For nearly three years it had operated without any government funding, but the lack of sustainable funding was its undoing. Nonetheless, the model had received recognition from all over the world and was a prototype for rural communities.

Women’s Emergency House was a phenomenon! The shell of a six bedroom shelter was build by a generous landlord. Local and national businesses offered furnishings, building supplies, and appliances. For several weeks, hundreds of volunteers came into the House to plumb, wire, drywall, paint, furnish and otherwise ensure that the House was ready to open. Local church groups made quilts and dolls. Everyone pitched in – cottagers, visitors and residents. It was an amazing happening!

The Women’s Emergency House prototype was staffed by teams of trained volunteers and a part time coordinator. It provided safe housing and support for women experiencing abuse and their children, and was available 24/7, 365 days a year!

Also in 1995, as a result of a partnership between SIRCH and the Ontario Camping Association, an Education Day was held in Haliburton with the esteemed Dr. Dan Offord as the Keynote speaker.

Big Buddies was divested to Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Victoria County who expanded their mandate to take on Haliburton County.

A busy, busy year for SIRCH! SIRCH applied for funding and was successful in a bid to deliver the Community Action Program for Children (CAPC). The program was in partnership with CHACE Place (which eventually amalgamated with the Ontario Early Years Centre, Haliburton Victoria Brock). CAPC provided services to families with young children facing conditions of risk (poverty, low literacy, social isolation, etc). There was a Mobile Family Outreach, Intensive Parent Support (1-1 in-home supports), Parenting Groups and a variety of educational activities.

Another need in the community that SIRCH identified and was successful at obtaining funding for was a Community Hospice Program. Hospice offered in-home support to individuals and families experiencing a life-threatening illness and/or bereavement. Trained volunteers provided the support.

SIRCH also started a Crisis Assistance Program (CAP). Long before VCARS would come into the county, SIRCH had trained volunteer teams available 24/7 who could be called at any time to go on-site to support family, friend and community members for such things as suicides, car accidents, fires and other traumatic events.

A one-year grant funded a program called My Coach Makes a Difference which helped the public and coaches of every type understand what a huge impact coaches and leaders have on youth. It culminated in a fantastic Coaching and Leadership Fair.

Also in 1994, SIRCH partnered with Kinark Child and Family Services that year to organize a Play Therapy Conference at the Pinestone.

At the Haliburton County Counselling Centre, a specialized program for women who had been assaulted, abused or otherwise experienced violence started called “Counselling for Women.”

SIRCH started a community consultation process to develop a way of housing and supporting women experiencing abuse. At the time a woman who left an abusive partner would have to go to Peterborough to find the nearest shelter – which meant taking the children out of school and missing work. The model developed was called Women’s Emergency House and would be the first of its kind, using trained teams of volunteer women to staff the House 24/7.

That year, SIRCH also welcomed Sir Sanford Fleming College Social Service Worker students, as they did their practicum training with staff at SIRCH.