HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-10-21, Page 46Page 22
They said it won't work
In 1977, many peel told then co-
ordinator Ann St. Jean that a day cen-
tre would not work in this area. Ten
rears later, she stood before a crowd
who were out to celebrate the Huron
Day Centre For The-Homebound's an-
niversary, that "heart and soul" made
it work.
"It's easy to say 'forget it' because
these people have heavy work loads,
but they didn't," said Mrs. St. Jean.
Mrs. St. Jean was working at
Maitland Manor in Goderich when she
was asked to sit on a committee which
was established to organize the Centre.
Her previous experience in a city was
an assest the committee was looking
for.
-We made proposals to the ministry,
and we had to re -write those pro-
posals," she recalls. "But out of that
commitment came the first rural day
centre."
Mrs. St. Jean listed a number of
words which she felt were vital to a day
centre. The first was directed at the
clients.
Courage. It takes a lot of courage to
put your confidence in strangers and
come out and join others you don't know
when you're feeling low. It takes
MAW
Ann St. Jean, the first co-ordinator of
the Huron Day Centre For The Home-
bound, was present at the 10th anniver-
sary celebrations on September 15. As
guest speaker, she gave a brief history
of. the Centre, throwing in a few per-
sonal recollections. (Anne Narejko
photo)
courage with a capital.`C'.
"The next word is volunteers - angels
with happy faces. They give the gift of
loving and caring.
"Then there are organizers. To
Rosemary (Armstrong) and staff and
all the organizers who put their heart
and soul into the Centre, that's the
description of day care."
Mrs. St. Jean also said she ap-
preciated the gift she was given for her
birthday in 1977. This gift was an assis-
tant co-ordinator, Rosemary Arm-
strong, who became the co-ordinator
when Mrs. St. Jean left in 1979 because
her husband was transferred. _
As an aside, Mrs. St. Jean shared the
story of the first day centre client with
the group gathered in the auditorium on
September 15. She said, "I remeber the
first client, after the first day saying to
us, 'If that's-all.we're going to do, I'm
not coming back.'
"I don't remember what we did that
day, but he did come back."
Today, the Huron Day Centre
averages 17-20 people per day with 65-70
full time regular clients, and what Mrs.
Armstrong calls, "Fifty wonderful
volunteers."
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE HURON DAY
CENTRE
on your 10th Anniversary of service
to the homebound of Goderich,
Clinton and area.
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