THE MEETING PLACE TOBERMORY

The Meeting Place Tobermory as a Community Hub operated the following programs and services in our fiscal year 2022/23. Community Information & Resource Coordination service (CIRC) provides support and basic needs information to residents; supervised exercise programs; Community Gardens and outdoor recreation; hosting community groups and Food Bank service; additional Food Security programs - specifically the Good-to-Go guided meal kit program; SPARK community development project which identifies and builds initiatives to support seasonal workers including Long Term Rental Landlord Support Initiatives promoting more rental housing; Open Mic night which provides a venue for local musicians and poets to showcase their talents in an intimate group setting. Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) administered by Canada Revenue Agency provides a tax preparation service for low income families and individuals seniors and indigenous community members; SOAR after school program for children 4-9 years old; weekly Sport's Night for youth and adults partnering with the local school. The Landlord Housing Initiative is a program to provide incentives to landlords currently renting short-term to offer year-round rental housing. Funded by the County of Grey Bruce this program administered by The Meeting Place provides funding to landlords to upgrade their rental accommodations to provide suitable housing for year-round tenants.

Community Learning Gardens which teaches youth how to construct plant and maintain a vegetable garden. Pavilion Project which has been a multi-year fund-raising project to construct a Pavilion for multi-use events within the community. This project was fully funded and constructed by the end of November 2023. The Good Food Box is a program to collect fresh vegetables that have reached their best-before date from participating local grocery stores to offer to food insecure community members through the Tobermory Food Bank and Good-to-Go meal kit coordinator and local volunteers. We have embarked on a Social Enterprise which consists of renting E-Bikes to visitors and residents of the Northern Bruce Peninsula to provide a low carbon form of touring the Bruce Peninsula during their visit. Revenue earned from the enterprise will be used to support the operation of The Meeting Place and its programs as well as provide a low-cost form of transportation for seasonal workers who have no other means of transportation to their work location. The Enterprise consists of 8 rental e-bikes and 2 e-bikes for seasonal workers at a subsidized rental rate. Although it was expected to start the rental program in May 2024 the bikes were delayed in arriving until late August. Two used e-bikes were purchased from a local supplier to loan out to seasonal workers. The program will have a full season of operation in 2025.