All Saints' SideWalk Community: More than 5000 individual visits in six months
Photo: Hans Zegerius
By Rev. Marty Levesque
All Saints Anglican Church in Waterloo moved into our new building in November of 2023 and began operations of the SideWalk Community Centre January 2024.
The impetus behind developing a community centre in Waterloo was born from our missional listening exercises and assessing the needs of the mission field. As recreation services are the responsibility of the municipality, the City of Waterloo takes a central delivery model to fulfilling this responsibility. Simply put, there are no neighbourhood community centres in Waterloo. There are larger central complexes that residents must drive or commute to.
As such, large swathes of the city have been abandoned for recreational services. The City of Waterloo relies on non-profit organizations, like All Saints, to fill these gaps. As the only community centre in North Waterloo, the Sidewalk Centre is uniquely positioned to support and create opportunities for our neighbours in the Columbia/Lakeshore area of North Waterloo, which according to Waterloo Public Health is:
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in the highest category for proportion of visible minorities, by neighbourhood
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in the highest category for proportion of the population that is low income and of families without disposable income, by neighbourhood
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in the lowest category for proportion of families experiencing social cohesion, by neighbourhood.
For the first six months of 2024, from January to the end of June, SideWalk Community Centre has had more than 5200 visits from individuals not connected to the church thus far. The 5200 individuals do not represent members of the All Saints community or any of our various parish activities. These visits include Girls Guides, Boy Scouts, Various Yoga Groups, Art Classes, Garden Club of KW, Pickleball, Volleyball, food bank services, and various birthday parties and baby showers.
The next six months look to be getting even busier with Music Together, Taekwondo, basketball skills camp with Anthony Lee Jr from the KW Titans, Suzuki Talent and Education of Waterloo and much much more.
As All Saints continues to develop the SideWalk Centre, we are reminded that we are called to "love one another" (John 13:34). SideWalk Community Centre is a tangible expression of that love in action, providing a safe and welcoming space where All are Loved, All are Welcome, and All are Saints.