After four long years, ONE CARE Home & Community Support Services have officially opened their doors at their Clinton location. On June 26, ONE CARE held their Annual General Meeting in-person at their Clinton location, followed by an open house for excited community members. More than 80 people attended the opening and toured the renovated facility.
The building has been closed for a number of years. In early 2021, the building’s roof collapsed in the main hall as a result of a heavy snow load. The agency was faced with many challenges including the cost of repairs, insurance coverage and securing a contractor during the pandemic. Essential programs and services were temporarily relocated, including the commercial Clinton kitchen which supports one of the largest services – the Meals on Wheels program for Huron County. The kitchen operations were relocated to temporary accommodations over the following years including the Libro Hall, then to the Clinton Legion and then the Reach Centre.
“It’s been a very long road, and we were faced with many challenges along the way due to the pandemic and financial hurdles,” said Kathy Scanlon, Executive Director of ONE CARE. “This building means so much to our community and reopening our doors to clients in the Central Huron area means the world to so many. Seeing our clients’ faces again, in our building, and hearing from them about the difference our services have made to their family was well worth the hardships we faced.”
ONE CARE was fortunate to engage expertise of R.J Burnside and Associates and BELFOR Property Restoration who came forward to 2022 to support the renovation and repairs. The renovations included a new roof, and extensive interior repairs. The agency also decided to make some internal repairs to the building to help make the space more efficient. The renovations include improvements to the kitchen and the Meals on Wheels production area, a new reception area with improved accessibility, and a new foot care clinic.
“We are so grateful for Burnside and BELFOR and to the community, including the partners who stepped forward to relocate our kitchen, so that we could continue to offer these essential services,” Mrs. Scanlon adds. “And at our open house, being surrounded by our clients, employees, volunteers and agency partners while we reopened our doors again was the perfect beginning to our fresh start.”
The ONE CARE Clinton location is the site of many programs including the Meals on Wheels kitchen and production for Huron County, the Clinton Adult Day Program, Dining for Seniors and social programs, foot care clinic and agency administration offices. Additional exercise and wellness programs will start in the fall of 2024.
For more information about ONE CARE Home & Community Support Services, visit www.onecaresupport.ca. To register for a service, call 1-844-482-7800.
Glen McNeill, Huron Warden and Kathy Scanlon, Executive Director of ONE CARE.
The kitchen at the ONE CARE Clinton location is the main production site for Meals on Wheels for Huron County. The general public got to tour the kitchen at an open house event on June 26.