www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 24, 2015 | 8 continued from p.1 The event at 485 Kerr St. featured Oakville resident and CBC news journalist Diana Swain as emcee as well as a performance by Bob Cates. The new logo was unveiled before 150 guests while O'Neill outlined the mission's plans moving forward. "When we changed it to Kerr Street Mission and called it Oakville's Mission of Hope, we felt that it was clear that it's not about our work," O'Neill explained. "It's about providing for the needs of the people in the community." O'Neill also announced at the event that KSM has been awarded a Trillium Foundation grant from the Province to the tune of $356,000 over five years. The cash is earmarked for a new program called the Restore Method of Care. According to O'Neill, the program has a proven track record of success, having run in Markham for a number of years. O'Neill said the Restore Method of Care requires volunteers, who will be trained as care planners for clients. They will help people who have fallen on hard times traverse the system in order to receive aid and eventually stand on their own. "The reason why this is so important is a Kerr Street Mission unveils changes at Live on Kerr KSM has rebranded from Kerr Street Ministries to Kerr Street Mission. It held Live on Kerr to celebrate its new direction. Pictured, from left, are: Oakville resident and CBC news reporter Diana Swain, who was the emcee for the evening, which featured entertainer Bob Cates using a Chinese Yoyo and beams of light during his performance. KSM Executive Director Gary O'Neill spoke to the recent changes. | photos by Graham Paine Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Royal tReatment pet gRooming Royal Treatment Welcomes Rachel of Bark+Fitz and Sharon of Kustom K-9 to our professional Groom team. New lower rates for our Groom your own facility. Unique boutique. Walk in nail clipping always only $10. Call today to book your favourite groomer. lot of people are overwhelmed when they're in crisis and they know what they should do, but they just don't follow up," O'Neill said. "What they've found with the care planner coming alongside is they encourage them, DIAMOND they support them, sometimes they drag them along, but they say, `You know that place can help you, let's go.' And they take away some of the excuses," he added. Over the last few years, KSM has been wrestling with a number of difficult questions regarding how it will operate and what it is doing to help those in need in Oakville, O'Neill said. It looked at whether the services it was providing were really needed, if anyone else was offering the same services and if KSM could work with other organizations to do better. "We've just been reaching out to people to say, `Together we can accomplish a lot more and we don't have to duplicate services, we don't want to do what you're doing, but if we work together we can accomplish a lot more,'" O'Neill said. In the last 18 months, collaborations and partnerships have been key to KSM's transformation. In that time, the organization has added 18 new programs with no increase to its budget. This was accomplished by KSM leveraging the Dream Centre as a community hub, allowing other agencies the opportunity to use the facility. "It's not our building. We happen to be responsible for it," O'Neill said. "The donors and the people who helped us build it, they were giving that money for the community so see Trillium on p.11 www.royaltreatmentpetgrooming.ca 1380 Speers Rd. Unit 4, Oakville 905-847-7297 Do you want to get BACK TO HEALTH? ...Live without pain or suffering? ...Live a life with optimal Physical and Mental/Emotional Performance? Then call us TODAY to schedule a FREE Wellness consultation and start THRIVING instead of just SURVIVING! Grab a nutritious breakfast or lunch at our Epicurean Eatery. Free shake available for a limited time! NOW OPEN! THE ANSWER FOR TRUE DIVERSIFICATION MAY BE IN YOUR BACKYARD A world-class asset manager--based in Oakville--Acorn invests over $100 million on behalf of institutions and accredited investors seeking true diversification to achieve better portfolio returns and risk reduction. Let Acorn help you diversify your portfolio. Contact us to find out how at acorn.ca or 905-257-0773 Katrina Dollano TCM Practitioner Charleston Dollano Dr. Ron McAlister Executive Chef Chiropractor What's Good...? It is the fusion of balanced nutrition, mind and body with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), food cures, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture and Chiropractic. ...That's Wellness by Design 125 Cross Ave., Oakville · www.whatsgoodwellness.ca · 905.845.5775