This social-services experiment is working — could there be more?
The C5 North East Community Hub serves an area that needs it, but its future is not guaranteed, and its replicability is untested
Suzette Mercier was going through a rough patch taking care of her kids when she discovered a community services hub in her neighbourhood while idly scrolling through Facebook.
"I saw an advertisement for 'family night,'" she said, "I went to check it out as a way to get me and my kids out of the house for a bit, and it kind of took off from there."
Mercier has been dropping by the C5 North East Community Hub multiple times a week — COVID-19 permitting — for around two years now, and she said the hub has been an important factor in keeping her family together.
"Our whole experience has been extremely positive," she said. "My eldest daughter has been pushing me to get back to some of the programs that were running before (the pandemic) happened. She can't wait to go back."
Located in a dated strip mall just off Victoria Trail, the C5 Hub is an experiment in collaboration between five social service agencies: Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre, Terra Centre, the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society, and Boyle Street Community Services. Six years into its existence, the hub has around 750 families on its list of regular clients, said director Mohamed Elsaghir.
The hub is unique in Edmonton, both as a collaborative effort and as a source of comprehensive help in an area of the city that has few other social services. So far, it appears to be a success, and a potential model for other neighbourhoods with families in need, notwithstanding some challenges.
It's not guaranteed that the hub will continue to receive funding it needs from the City of Edmonton, however, nor is it certain that there is an appetite for funding similar hubs elsewhere. That will be for future city councils to decide, which is a reason to take a closer look at the C5 experiment ahead of the municipal election on Oct. 18.