Vernon is a lovely community nestled in the North Okanagan Valley.
Piers has been working in Vernon since our Third Party Administration program launched in September of 2018. During our time here in Vernon, we have come to know some of the service providers in town on a personal level, referring our clients to their services as needed and working in tandem with these providers to get needs met in this community. Vernon is a very close-nit town which allows for service providers to maintain close relationships and communicate regularly about the needs of individuals.
Piers has had the pleasure of working closely alongside many community resources through our Vernon office, and two services in particular: Turning Points Collaborative and The Upper Room Mission.
As some of you may not be familiar with their services, we have compiled a brief list of some of their most important information here for your convenience!
Turning Points Collaborative:
- Turning Points is a multi-purpose agency that aims to promote and lead effective, just and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime and poverty by working directly with individuals, service providers and the broader community.
- Their main purpose and goal is to build community and strengthen people.
- They have several programs available, including but not limited to:
- Public health and safety initiatives
- Housing support/Housing outreach programming
- Low income housing/Supportive housing units
- Employment support and skills training
- Emergency shelter services
- Addictions recovery
- Outreach
For more information and details, please visit their website @ http://turningpoints.ngo/
Upper Room Mission:
- The Upper Room Mission is a donation/volunteer run, faith based organization who feeds Vernon’s hungry citizens.
- They are equipped with:
- A soup kitchen which prepares 3 square meals a day
- A thrift shop that has excellent bargains for lightly used clothing and goods
- A bottle drive program which sponsors snacks for hungry kids
- They also perform outreach.
- Excerpt from their website: “We aim to give our guests something so much bigger than a meal. We aim to give them hope. By offering friendship and food to one girl or one man, we can help end the cycle of poverty and strengthen our community.”
- Every Tuesday morning the Upper Room Mission invites individuals to earn $5 by cleaning up our streets. The focal point is harm reduction, and participants are provided with the necessary tools to safely dispose of any needles and related items scattered around town.
For more information and details, please visit their website @ https://upperroommission.ca/
Don’t forget – Vernon has many other valuable services to offer as well, with no shortage of public service agencies for those who need it most. We are grateful to be part of such a caring community!