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Basic Needs

Complex challenges like job loss, illness, and the mounting cost of living prevent many individuals from building the life they hope for themselves. For many people across our community, poverty is a daily struggle. Often, the ongoing challenges to meet even the most basic necessities of life means making impossible trade-offs—like buying food or paying rent. Poverty touches almost every aspect of a person’s life, from food, shelter, and unemployment to mental and physical well-being.

Poverty doesn’t discriminate and affects many people in our community:

  • 300 people (80 youth) in Guelph Wellington are homeless every night
  • 1 in 10 Guelph Wellington households struggle to buy food or go hungry
  • 1 in 4 Guelph Wellington households cope with unaffordable shelter/housing costs
  • 1/2 of Canadians live payday to payday, and wages aren’t keeping up

Together, we can do something about this.

United Way is working with community partners in order to:

Provide shelter and keep people housed, to give people a safe place to sleep and a roof overhead

Offer one-time and ongoing emergency food supplies

Help people build possibility by connecting them to networks of services, so they can focus on their next steps

United Way’s poverty reduction efforts are designed to achieve measurable results which ensure families and individuals have the financial, social, and personal assets they need to improve their quality of life. We work together with partner agencies to tackle the root causes of poverty by ensuring people meet their basic needs, and build towards stability with financial empowerment supports.  Your support ensures every person can live with dignity and the opportunity they deserve.

 

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