For the month of August, we’re shining a light on the Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough. Check them out and learn about the good work they do in our community.

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough is committed to advocating and providing services to all women in our community with a special focus on women who have been victimized, marginalized, criminalized and institutionalized. We are committed to ending the criminalization of poverty, addiction, mental health, and domestic violence. We recognize the rights of women to dignity and respect in all aspects of their involvement with the criminal justice system. We are committed to working with other agencies and all levels of government with similar principles and objectives.

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough is incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario. The Board of Directors and the Society’s employees uphold our philosophy and policies and honour the best interests of those persons that we assist at all times.

Find them on-line HERE

June 2019 – 

Check out Habitat for Humanity, our community group of the month. Help them build a better future in our community

Are you looking to stay active, give back to your community and learn new skills? Then there is no better place to volunteer than at Habitat for Humanity.  We have plenty of opportunities available at a location near you, ranging from construction to retail or administration. This is your opportunity to make a difference!

Check them out HERE or follow along on social media.

Make a Difference with Habitat for Humanity

April 2019 – It’s April 1st, and that means we get to shine a light on another great community group… This month it’s @DalhousieYouthS Dalhousie Youth Support Services is a non-profit organization committed to helping youth in conflict with the law in the Peterborough area.

Dalhousie Youth Support Services is a non-profit organization committed to helping youth in conflict with the law in the Peterborough area. Our innovative programs promote and develop positive social behaviours and encourage personal and academic growth.

Dalhousie Youth Support Services is committed inspiring youth to make better choices and reach their full potential.

Check out their website for all the details.

March 2019 – Our neighbours just up the street, are a remarkable cultural centre with so many good things going on all the time. Check them out.

Market Hall Performing Arts Centre Inc. is a not for profit charitable organization which operates the Market Hall as a busy, vital cultural centre. Market Hall Performing Arts Centre provides and maintains the premier venue in developing, nurturing, and sustaining the creative qualities of life in Peterborough.

Located in the heart of the downtown, Market Hall is a small to mid-size, multi-functional space that hosts a wide variety of performing arts groups, a series of youth presentations, community fundraising events and educational programmes.

Market Hall Performing Arts Centre has played an indispensable role as host to the region’s community-based and avant-garde performing arts activities, hosting a wide variety of national and international performers. It is unique in Peterborough and the region in its steadfast support of artists, and in its commitment to engaging young people in the arts, through opportunities to create work and by exposing young people to high quality, curriculum linked theatre, dance and music. Market Hall is wheelchair accessible and provides a hearing assist system.

Tickets to all their events are available HERE

February 2019 – Hospice Peterborough

Get to know Hospice Peterborough, a valuable community org doing good work right here, in our community.

Thanks to generous volunteer and donor support, Hospice Peterborough offers the best possible support to individuals and families living with or affected by life-threatening illness and grief.

Guided by a philosophy of compassion, respect and autonomy, the organization’s team of specially trained staff and volunteers work together to care for the whole person, improve quality of life and enhance comfort. When individuals and families come to Hospice, they realize they are not alone. Read more here: 

Find out about Hike For Hospice, coming up in May.

For December, we’re shining a light on the wonderful organization – The Peterborough Humane Society!

Get to know what they do!

What We Do

• Investigate incidents of cruelty to animals including abuse, neglect and abandonment
• Facilitate adoption of pets to new loving homes
• Provide shelter and care for approximately 1,300 lost, injured, abandoned and abused animals each year
• Reduce pet overpopulation by providing spay/neuter surgery for every dog/cat/kitten/puppy adopted from our animal centre
• Participate in various adoption programs with corporate sponsors to find homes for loving companion animals
• Give tours of our shelter to individuals and groups
• Our volunteers operate a thrift shop featuring gently worn men and women’s clothing to assist in raising funds for our animal welfare programs. Please visit our store at the Northcrest Mall

Their mission statement

The Peterborough Humane Society advocates for the welfare of animals by improving their lives, alleviating suffering, rescuing, providing shelter, healing, facilitating adoption and reducing pet overpopulation.

Get to know more about this community asset:

https://peterboroughhumanesociety.ca/

November 2018 – The Peterborough Theatre Guild

Twitter: @PTBOTheatre

The Theatre Guild is the only producing theatre company in the region which owns its own theatre. The troupe performs its plays in the Guildhall located at 364 Rogers Street in Peterborough. The building (formerly St. Luke’s Anglican Church) was gutted by fire in 1959. A local group of theatre enthusiasts raised the funds to purchase the old church and after extensive renovations, staged their first play just a few years later. Since 1965 the Guild has entertained thousands of area residents and visitors with award winning live theatre.

Check out these upcoming productions:

PRELUDE TO A KISS
Romantic Comedy
By Craig Lucas
Directed by Jane Werger
Production Manager Linda Conway

December – RAPUNZEL – A PANTO
Family Play – Panto
By SG Lee Bolton
Directed by SG Lee Bolton
Production Manager Jen Eve

Sept 2018 – The Canadian Canoe Museum

Upcoming: 

September 2018 – We are very pleased to have Community Care as our feature community group for September 2018. They do so much good work in the community. Check them out, and consider volunteering.

Community Care Peterborough supports the health and well-being of individuals, caregivers, and communities.

If you are looking for information and support, Community Care Peterborough is a great place to start.  We work with you to create a service plan to fit your unique needs.  We can also guide you to other community resource that supplement our programs and supports.

We can come to you:

• Bringing nutritious meals to your door
• Offering friendly in-home visits
• Supporting your transition home after a hospital stay
• Offering referrals for affordable home help and home maintenance

You can come to us:

• Take advantage of the services available in your local community. We have a total network of eight local offices – Apsley, Ennismore, Buckhorn, Havelock, Lakefield, Millbrook, Norwood, and Peterborough

We can help you get around:

• Our specialized vehicles and volunteer drivers offer transportation options to get you to medical appointments, treatments, community services, and activities

Be safe and confident in your home:

• Benefit from Medical Equipment Program
• Have a Personal Distress Alarm installed
• Sign up for regular check-ins by telephone

Powered by a team of 887 volunteers, providing over 104,000 hours of service last year – 58 full time equivalent positions – we:

• Delivered 37,649 meals through our Meals on Wheels program
• Provided 35,598 drives to medical appointments, dialysis, shopping, and more
• Completed 24,154 reassurance calls and visits to individuals living alone
• Installed 571 personal distress alarms to keep people safe in their homes
• Helped 741 individuals settle back into their home after a hospital stay through our Home at Last program

August 2018 – Camp Kawartha

We are very pleased to have Camp Kawartha as our feature community group for August 2018.  Please read below, and find out about all the good things going on.

Camp Kawartha’s Vision:

IMAGINE A FUTURE where we raise engaged stewards – citizens who care for each other and the earth we share…

Simeon Ogonda, a Kenyan Youth worker once mused:  instead of asking what kind of world we are leaving for our kids, we should ask what kind of kids we are leaving for our world.  Environmental Education is a community-wide responsibility.  As the saying goes, “it takes a village.” 

At Camp Kawartha, we are taking a leadership role in fostering stewardship in children and adults of all ages.  The word “stewardship” means “the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.”  To us, there are few things as important as protecting and enhancing the living systems that sustain and nurture us all.  Not just for us, but for future generations.  And now it is time for us to take the next step.

With your help, we are about to embark on a remarkable journey. Our goal is to become recognized as an national leader in environmental education, and be a place where we can promote nature connection and teach children and adults the skills to enjoy the outdoors for the rest of their lives; a place where we engage in simple acts of green; where we teach educators, parents and community leaders about best practices in environmental education; and a place where we can showcase innovative sustainable design. It is time to replace our older buildings (many are coming to the end of their useful life). They are energy inefficient and were not built for four seasons. This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate the very best in sustainable building practices.

By teaching action skills, leadership skills and nature awareness, we hope to seed the next generation of environmental stewards and leaders.

It comes down to this….  If we want to empower our children, we need to inspire them.  That can only be accomplished by bearing witness to innovative sustainable living in action.  Every renovation and addition that will come to fruition through our “Branching Out for a Sustainable Future” Campaign will be a teaching tool to show what is possible in sustainable design.  

Camp Kawartha is seeking to build one of the first fully certified “Living Buildings” in Canada as a response to the “Living Building Challenge,” the most rigorous, proven performance green standard for buildings. People from around the world use this regenerative design framework to create spaces that, like a flower, give more than they take.  Each petal represents a sustainability element that can serve as a teaching tool.  Petals include net positive energy, limits to growth, net positive water, creating a biophilic environment, universal access to nature and net positive waste among many others. 

To find out more, or if you want to help – visit www.campkawartha.ca

July 2018 – The world is experienced differently by people who do not communicate through spoken word.  Deaf culture is a community of people who communicate using Sign Language, be it  American Sign Language (ASL), Langue des signes Québécoise (LSQ) or any of the other variations of visual language.  The culture is not defined by hearing loss, but rather of a shared experience of the world through the use of visual images in place of words.  It is unique, diverse and rich in its history, heritage and experiences.  American Sign Language (ASL) helps to illustrate that history and experience in a way that spoken words simply cannot.  Deaf culture is a way of life and learned ways of acting, feeling and thinking based on a group who share common language, beliefs, values and identity.  For many of those who are Deaf, the culture isn’t so much inherited from birth as it is absorbed and adopted later in life, as people are exposed to more of the Deaf community at large.  Deaf culture is and the Deaf community are always identified with a capital D as it relates to the identity of a group of people.   Array Services owes Deaf culture and the Deaf community a great debt of gratitude in informing our services, approaches and understanding of the needs of those we serve.  It is only through their assistance that we are able to help the people in our service learn more about their culture, community and means to communicate.  For more information about Deaf Culture, please visit the Ontario Association of the Deaf or the Canadian Association of the Deaf

For 40 years, we have been empowering people to develop the skills they need to communicate in a safe American Sign Language (ASL) environment.

Check out the wonderful work being done locally at Array Service (formerly Civitan House). HERE

June 2018 – Hospice Peterborough

“Hospice is not about dying… it’s about living, and living your life to the end and to the fullest.” – A Hospice Peterborough client

What exactly is hospice palliative care? Why would I come to Hospice?

Receiving the news that you or someone in your family has a serious, possibly life-threatening illness is terrifying. The last thing you want to think about is dying. However, hospice palliative care can be an invaluable resource to you and your family from the time you hear bad news. To quote a long time Hospice client, “Hospice is not about dying, it’s about living… and living life to the fullest.”

So coming to Hospice connects you with many services that you will find helpful – wellness programs, support groups, the chance to connect with others going through the same situation. You will be welcomed by knowledgeable, caring staff and volunteers whose primary goal is to help you feel safe and comfortable.

Whether you are living with a life threatening illness, caring for someone or grieving, Hospice Peterborough can help guide you through all the challenges, changes and difficult decisions you and your family are facing. Your hopes, your priorities, your comfort and your quality of life define our care.

We hope this website will help you find information, opportunities and options. It also describes the programming we offer.

Our professional staff and skilled volunteers have the knowledge and experience to make a positive difference in your journey. This can be an overwhelming time, but you do not have to struggle alone. Hospice can help.

Note: AGM  – June 28, 2018

Learn more HERE

Join Brant Basics as we participate in the third annual Ride Don’t Hide for Mental Health, taking place Sunday, June 24^th at Nicholl’s Oval, Peterborough in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge. This fun, family focussed, non-competitive event includes your choice of a 2, 12 or 24 km ride along the beautiful Rotary Trail followed by a complimentary BBQ.

Through your support, we can all help to erase the stigma of mental illness, mobilize community members to celebrate mental health and raise critical funds for our local Four County Crisis Safe Beds Program. 4CC provides a continuum of comprehensive crisis response services to individuals 16 years and over. 

You can register yourself and/or a team today at http://ridedonthide.com/on/ride/peterborough/ . Registration is $35 to April 30^th and $45 up to event day. Children 12 and under are free. All paid registrations include a Ride Don’t Hide event shirt. If you don’t ride a bike, register as a virtual rider at no charge, and simply raise funds – without the bike – for a great cause! For information on sponsorship, volunteer and other Ride Don’t Hide or CMHA HKPR information, please contact Kerri Davies, Manager of Community Engagement at kdavies@cmhahkpr.ca or 705-748-6687 or visit www.cmhahkpr.ca

April 2018- National Youth Week 2018

National Youth week 2018 is just around the corner.

Join in all kinds of exciting events from May 1 to 7th, 2018 in the Peterborough Community.

All of the events are open to youth ages 13 to 19 years. The week long calendar will be available soon. Check back soon for event details

If you would like to be part of the planning session please contact Ellen Stewart at estewart@peterborough.ca or 705 742-7777 x 1805.

http://www.ptboyouth.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheLoftdys/

CCRC is charitable, non-profit and community-based. CCRC’s professional caring staff serve over 7,000 households each year and help people to maintain and secure housing, strengthen relationships and gain control of their finances. 

CCRC has a ripple effect. Our services reach far beyond the clients we serve to have an impact on their families, workplaces, friends, neighbourhoods and the full community. CCRC services help people keep their jobs. They prevent suicides. They bring hope. They have a lasting effect on the people served and the whole community.

Find us online: www.ccrc-ptbo.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CCRC.Peterborough/

Twitter: @CCRC_Ptbo

Juke Box Mania

Juke Box Mania, a sell-out event in its 13th year, will be held Friday, April 27, 2018 in Peterborough, Ontario. It is a fun evening that brings together over 400 people for great music, food and entertainment, involving a “Name that Tune” game, which challenges players to name musical artists, movies, jingles, television shows and various songs from every musical genre in a fun, relaxed and party-like atmosphere.

The purpose of the event is to raise funds to prevent homelessness and support other services of Community Counselling and Resource Centre (CCRC).

You can register a team of 8 for this year’s event at: www.ccrc-ptbo.com

Check out last year’s event at #jukeboxmania

Join us in celebrating The New Canadian Centre – a group doing some fantastic work in the community. Read along below, and learn more.

The New Canadians Centre Peterborough is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to supporting immigrants, refugees and other newcomers in the Peterborough and Northumberland regions. We strive to empower immigrants and refugees to become full and equal members of Canadian society, and to provide community leadership to ensure cultural integration in a welcoming community. 

We provide information and referrals and organise programs to ease and promote the adjustment of immigrants and refugees to Canadian culture. We also promote cross-cultural understanding and acceptance through education and awareness projects

On Saturday March 3, 2018, you are invited to join us for our sixth annual gala event “One Night in Zimbabwe”!

We look forward to sharing some highlights of Zimbabwean culture with you. Our musical guests Nhapitapi will be sharing the stage with performers from the Trent Fashion Society and Trent African and Caribbean Student Union. Two Dishes Cookshop will also be presenting a specially-designed Zim-inspired menu. A highlight of the event is the Live Auction with great items including a Zimbabwean stone sculpture from Zimart’s Rice Lake Gallery and 4 tickets to a Las Vegas Golden Knights game!

Saturday March 3, 2018
6:00 – 9:00pm at ARIA (331 George St. North)
Free admission to The Social for after-party
Dress code: Cocktail

Ticket: $150
A tax receipt for a portion of the ticket price will be emailed to you after the event

Website: nccpeterborough.ca 
Facebook: facebook.com/newcanadianscentre
Twitter: twitter.com/ncc_ptbo
Instagram: instagram.com/newcanadianscentre