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Mainstream's 25th Anniversary Celebration and Reunion!

You are invited to Mainstream's 25th anniversary celebration and reunion! Friday, September 24 at Club Roma, in the Starlight Room. 125 Vansickle Road, St. Catharines. Click here for details. We look forward to seeing you there!

Mainstream's 5th annual Golf Classic

Sally, Ken, Flo and Dennis happy to see the sun!
Mainstream’s 5th Annual Golf Classic held on Friday July 23, 2010 was once again a tremendous success! A heartfelt thank you goes out to the golfers, sponsors, committee members, volunteers and Team Mainstream who helped us to raise $12,924.26 for Mainstream’s Resource Centre Day Program. Congratulations to Terry Labelle, one of the golfers who won the 50/50 draw taking home $1,047.00. Thanks also to Tim Denis from CKTB radio for his great job as Master of Ceremonies. Thank you to everyone for all of your help!




Opening of 160 Ontario St.

On June 7th Canada Mortgage and Housing and Niagara Regional Housing hosted the official opening of 160 Ontario St. On hand to celebrate the event were many community partners and supporters including Rick Dykstra, Conservative MP for St. Catharines, Mr. Jim Bradley MPP for St. Catharines and Minister of Housing, and Peter Partington, Chair of Niagara Regional Council.
Mainstream and Gateway Residential and Community Support Services Gateway partnered to construct the nine one bedroom apartments, five of which are for individuals with a dual diagnosis and supported by Mainstream and four for people with mental health issues supported by Gateway.
All of the residents have adjusted nicely and are enjoying living in their new apartments. Residents have reported that they like the location and are enjoying all of the new opportunities afforded to them.

Big Bike for Heart and Stroke

On Wednesday, May 26th Team Mainstream raised $2975.00 at the Big Bike for Heart and Stroke.  We had enough Mainstream employees, program participants and volunteers to fill one and a half bikes, once again showing our commitment to helping other agencies in the community.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored riders, came out to participate or cheer us on, we couldn’t have done it without you!





4th Annual Building Blocks of Independence Conference

Posted by Breanne Griffin

Building Blocks of Independence 2010 Committee
Options Niagara’s 4th annual Building Blocks of Independence Conference was a success. Over 50 people using services participated in the day-long conference that promotes community connections and building independence. The day opened with a keynote address from Yvonne Spicer. She spoke about what independence means in her life and how she has involved herself in her community by working, volunteering, organizing a sports team, and participating in community events. Yvonne is involved with Community Living North Halton and is an active member of several committees working to make change happen for everyone with a disability.

Yvonne Spicer, Keynote Address
Presenters from twelve community services facilitated sessions about health issues, safety, rights, employment, emergency services and more. This year’s conference saw more involvement by people using Mainstream’s services, both past and present. A committee made up of people involved with Options Niagara met regularly in the preceding months to assist in planning the day. Mainstream’s Rights Council gave an informative presentation on Rights, Respect and Responsiblity. A panel of people who are living on their own talked about their challenges and triumphs on the road to independence. The day ended on a high note with people participating in tai chi, drama, card making and Latin dance workshops.

Mainstream’s Graffiti Removal Program

Posted by Kris Akilie

Mainstream’s Graffiti Removal program will commence on April 1, 2010. The 2010 team will consist of 18 members and 2 job readiness coaches who will be removing graffiti five days a week off Canada Post and Cogeco street furnishings as well as St.Catharines City Parks playground equipment. Congratulations to last year’’s team who cleaned 1136 sites and 29 City parks.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

This year marks the 3rd year for Mainstream’s Graffiti Team. We have successfully increased the number of sites cleaned in our previous two years and want to up-the-bar- yet again! Our team needs YOUR HELP! We need you to call the graffiti hotline at 905-688-5601 x 3115 or email graffiti@st.catharines.ca to report graffiti on Canada Post and Cogeco cable boxes in your community. For more information click here.

Thank you to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their support!

Graffiti...What a Waste tours Niagara

Posted by Kris Akilie

Mainstream's Graffiti...What a Waste production has completed its fall/winter tour performing to 30 schools in the Niagara Region. The educational and entertaining drama for young learners in grades 1-5 took a pproactive approach promoting positive personal growth in an effort to eradicate graffiti in our communities.

Mainstream's Graffiti Production and Removal Programs will enhance the community by creating a healthier and more vibrant place for its members. Both programs have created opportunities for people with a disability to assist them in reaching their full potential through community integration.

Congratulations to the cast and crew for their passion and commitment for the production over the past year! Thank you to the Niagara Community Foundation and the Ontario Truillium Foundation for supporting Mainstream's graffiti production! This grant has allowed us the opportunity to raise awareness and promote community integration for the people we support as well as keeping our city beautiful. The skills the participants acquire while participating in this initiative will help prepare them for future employment or volunteer positions within our community. Click here for the website links. Thank you to DSBN and NCDSB for booking the production to perform in their schools.

GREAT NEWS!!!

Posted by Kris Akilie

Mainstream's Graffiti...What a Waste production has been selected by the In The Soil: Niagara Art Festival committee to perform at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre in the old Courthouse on April 17 & 18 at 2:00pm. Tickets are $ are will be available at the door. For additional information about the Niagara Art Festival please click here.



Accreditation Update

Posted by Kevin Berswick

Mainstream is excited to announce that, on December 17, 2009, we received confirmation that we have been accredited by FOCUS Accreditation Services. Accreditation was a goal identified in Mainstream’s 2006 Strategic Plan and the process began in earnest in March of 2008. After twenty months of hard work. FOCUS Accreditation validators arrived at Mainstream in late November to conduct their on-site validation. They met with people using services, family members, community partners, board members and employees. They toured the Resource Centre, went on community visits with Options Niagara and Supportive Independent Living, spent several hours in one of our 24-hour support homes and reviewed many of our policies and procedures. After evaluating all of their findings, FOCUS awarded Mainstream with a 3 year accreditation status.

On February 25, 2010, an Accreditation Celebration was held at Mainstream attended by over forty of our employees and the Board of Directors. Brian Davies, the Board Chair of FOCUS Accreditation was on hand to present Alan Cimprich, Board President and Kevin Berswick, Mainstream’s Executive Director with our accreditation certificate.

Pursuing accreditation has been a very positive process and one that we are extremely proud to have completed so successfully. It challenged our entire agency to reflect on how we provide services and further develop and improve organizational systems to ensure that the services we offer continue to be of the highest quality.

United Way Campaign

Posted by Tammy VanderWier

Team Mainstream was proud to present a cheque of $1200 towards the United Way Campaign of 2009. Participants were excited to create crafts, bake up cookies and make Christmas cards to be sold at the 2nd Annual Christmas Craft/Bake Sale. But they were amazed by the amount of money that was raised from the sale and given to United Way. Everyone is looking forward to putting on a Sale again next year!! Way to go TEAM Mainstream!



Mainstream's Snow Removal Program

Posted by Kris Akilie

In partnership with the City of St.Catharines Transit Commission Mainstream has launched its snow removal program for the 2009-2010 winter season. The program will provide employment opportunities for five individuals while removing snow from 70 bus stops located throughout the City of St.Catharines.



Mainstream 2nd Annual Christmas Tea

Posted by Kris Akilie

Mainstream's second annual Christmas Tea, Craft, and Bake Sale will take place on Thursday, November 26th. Click the thumbnail to the right for a printable flyer. We hope to see you there!



4th Annual Charity Golf Classic

Posted by Kris Akilie

Mainstream is in full swing for this year’s 4th Annual Charity Golf Classic. Please be sure to mark Friday September 11, 2009 on your calendar, and click the thumbnail to the right to view the brochure.This year’s event is once again being held at Rolling Meadow’s Golf and Country Club in Niagara Falls. Both seasoned and less experienced golfers will enjoy a fun-filled day of golfing, give-a-ways, great food and a silent auction.

We are excited to announce that this year’s golf classic is in partnership with Gateway Residential and Community Support Services of Niagara, a registered charitable organization that provides housing and support services to individuals who suffer with severe mental illness. All funds raised from this year’s event will go directly towards our joint capital campaign to construct and furnish a nine unit apartment building. This project will provide safe, affordable housing and support services for five individuals with a dual diagnosis and four people with severe mental illness.

Spring Fling and Volunteer Awards 2009

Posted by Administrator

Mainstreams annual spring dance “Spring Fling 2009” took place Thursday April 9th 2009. Mainstream participants were treated to a wonderful dinner before the dance thanks to the hard work of the Resource Centre Team. Mainstream also had an awards ceremony to recognize all the participants involved in volunteer placements through the Resource Centre. Mainstream would like to give big congratulations out to: Liz Dickson, Jay Bakker, Kari Ward, Geraldine Latter, Corrine Green, Craig Copping, Ellie Boccia, Stuart Walsh, Nancy Kachan, Malcolm McPhee, Terry Basterache, Arlene Cimprich, Steve Chudobiak, Maurizio Dintino, Allan Mathews and John Storm. These folks also received their very own individual plaques to highlight their accomplishment as volunteers. The music at the dance was once again provided by our own Dan Kozar and his very talented friend Dave Horton. They put on a great show that had the participants moving and grooving all night long; a big thanks to the dynamic duo. A great time was had by staff and participants alike as they celebrated the arrival of spring!

Thanksgiving Dinner/Dance

Posted by Administrator

The Thanksgiving dinner/dance was a great success at the Resource Centre as there were 80 participants that attended the event. The participants had a fantastic traditional meal of Turkey, stuffing, veggies and mashed potatoes. The dinner was provided thanks to the hard work of Claire Cunningham and all the staff that pitched in to help with the cooking, serving and clean up afterwards of the dinner. Dan Kozar and Dave Horton once again did a great job of providing the live entertainment in our country and western theme dance that rocked on until 9 pm in the evening. There was also a photo area in the back room in which participants could have there photos taken in full western theme costume.