63 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,S eptem ber 26,2019 insidehalton.com Find everything you want, just outside your front door Local Garage Sale Search at YourClassifieds.ca Oakville's Neighbour Care Network will hold a gala on Thursday, Sept. 26, to high- light their work and to raise needed funds to help those struggling in this community. The Neighbour Care Network, which is organized, facilitated and supported by Kerr Street Mission, is a program that provides care for people in distress through partner- ships with the local church communities. "We help people that are facing eviction, that are facing financial issues, that are fac- ing- God knows what," said Matt Foxall, the program lead. "We work with them to try and get them into a more sustainable situation and how we do that is we leverage partnerships with the church communities. The churches are really the driving force behind the network, whether that's through referring clients to us or through their volunteer base helping to come alongside these individuals." Michelle Lockhart, client care lead for Kerr Street Mission/Neighbour Care Net-Kerr Street Mission/Neighbour Care Net-K work said sometimes someone experiencing a hardship just gets stuck and they need to be connected with someone who can help them. Or they need some instructions on how to move forward, or even something as simple being reminded to attend a certain appointment. "Sometimes people just need their hand held through certain experiences until they get to a point where they are feeling confi- dent in their abilities to do it themselves," said Lockhart. She said even if the network can't solve the problem, they can help by giving the per- son someone to talk to, so they do not have to go through their ordeal alone. Foxall and Lockhart shared the story ofFoxall and Lockhart shared the story ofF Bonita Hill as an example of what the net- work can do. They said Hill came to Kerr Street Missi- on when she had nowhere else to turn. She was on a fixed income of $1,167 a month from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and was also taking care of her seven-year-old granddaughter. Hill registered with the network because her teeth had been rotting for nearly a year and she required dentures. However, ODSP would not cover this $3,500 expense. Neighbour Care put out a call to its net- work and within 48 hours the churches had raised enough funds to cover this cost. "Bonita was in tears when she heard that her problems were solved and her mouth and jaw would finally be out of pain," said Foxall and Lockhart.Foxall and Lockhart.F "Recently Bonita came in for a visit to show off her new teeth...We were blown away by the difference it made in her appear-away by the difference it made in her appear-a ance and the fact that Bonita could feel con- fident in smiling for the first time in a year."fident in smiling for the first time in a year."f Foxall said all network clients are thor-Foxall said all network clients are thor-F oughly screened. There is no shortage of people in need of help, with Foxall noting the network has worked with around 187 clients so far this year. He expects that number to reach 300 by year's end. The Neighbour Care Network lead says the number of people seeking help grows as the gap between the cost of rent and the in- come provided by social assistance or em- ployment (or both) continues to widen. As the need for help rises, the Neighbour Care Network is facing a potentially turbu- lent future. The network's work has been supported with grants from the Ontario Trillium Foun- dation and the Halton Region Community Investment Fund. These grants end in summer 2020. Foxall said the Kerr Street Mission willFoxall said the Kerr Street Mission willF contribute funding to keep the Neighbour Care Network going, however, more will be needed if the program is to adequately help the community moving forward. That is where the Sept. 26 gala comes in. The gala, which will be held at the Oak- ville Conference Centre at 2515 Wyecroft Rd., seeks to raise $100,000. It will begin at 6:30 p.m., and feature a din- ner and stories from some of those who have been helped by the network. Tickets are $200 each or $2,000 for a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased online at www.kerrstreet.com/ncngala. "If we don't get the $100,000 we don't have the capacity to impact the community as much. We don't have the capacity to help our clients as much," said Foxall. "The more money we have the more peo- ple we can support and meet the demands of what is coming through the door." CHARITY HOLDING GALA TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THOSE IN NEED DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Matt Foxall Neighbour Care Network Lead and Michelle Lockhart, Client Care Lead Kerr Street Mission/Neighbour Care Network. David Lea/Torstar NEWS