“Almost 200 meals were served … [to] a mix of Centre 105 donors and program participants,” executive director Taylor Seguin said, adding that the event raised just over $10,000.

“On behalf of Centre 105’s management board, staff team, and volunteer team, we would like to sincerely thank everyone who attended and donated,” he said. “Times are tough in our communities, but with your support, Centre 105 is able to continue to provide essential services … to the most vulnerable individuals in our community.  Thank you!”

Centre 105, one of five Community Ministries of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, is located at 105 Second Street in Cornwall in the parish hall of the historic Trinity Anglican Church.  It began under the leadership of the Rev. Peter Cazaly (now retired) in 2017 and continues to provide a sanctuary and support for those in need of a hot meal and a safe space to rest or socialize, and referrals to other essential services. The Centre also provides a place for people to do laundry, and in 2024, renovated to add showers.

Amongst those enjoying a delicious breakfast and the social event were members of Cornwall City Council and administrative staff.  “One can never underestimate the value of the contribution of the work done by Centre 105,” said councillor Denis Sabourin.

In attendance were several Anglican Diocese of Ottawa clergy, including the Rev. Canon Dr. Peter John Hobbs, director general of Community Ministries; the Rev. Mark Lewis, the Ven. Peter Crosby, and the Rev. (Retired) Peter Cazaly.

“God’s favourite people are the marginalized, so that is where the church should always be,” said the Rev. Jon Martin, incumbent of St. John’s Kanata North Anglican Church.  Mentioning crises in housing, financial instability and mental health, Martin said, “I think it is essential that Christian communities do everything they can to address those issues and support those struggling with them.”

The next Centre 105 fundraising activity is the Centre 105 Annual Christmas Concert and Holiday Reception Fundraiser, scheduled for Dec. 15 between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Trinity Anglican Church.

For more information on Centre 105 or to donate,please go to: www.centre105.ca

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“The turnout, as always, was incredible,” said Centre 105 executive director Taylor Seguin.  “The Cornwall community is always willing to step up and support the charities in our city.”  He mentioned in a post-event email that 167 meals were provided at the fundraising event which ran between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m.

He explained the funds raised will be used for general operations, noting, “Funding, especially government funding, is often tied to new or special projects.  At this time, most charities in this area are actually in need of funds for regular operations.”

Seguin added that fundraisers such as this are important for the organization as it increases public awareness of its work with city employees, local politicians as well as the general public.

Guests at the fundraiser were able to tour the centre, including its “food storage space, laundry room and newly built shower space.”  Seguin mentioned that Centre 105 provides essential services such as the use of laundry facilities, showers, referrals to agencies, a safe social space and hot meals.

“Thank you SO much to our amazing community for showing Centre 105 so much love and support.” said Seguin.  He said staff were anticipating the summer of 2025 would be a very busy one, but noted that the Centre 105 team feels they will be able to meet the challenges ahead because of the support provided by the local community.

The next fundraiser for Centre 105 will be the annual Fall Breakfast Fundraiser, scheduled for Oct. 23, 2025.  More information can be found on their social media pages or website located at www.centre105.ca.

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“The turnout, as always, was incredible.” commented Centre 105 executive director Taylor Seguin.  “The Cornwall community is always willing to step up and support the charities in our city.”  He mentioned in a post-event email that 167 meals were provided at the fundraising event which ran between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m.

He explained the funds raised will be used for general operations, noting, “Funding, especially government funding, is often tied to new or special projects.  At this time, most charities in this area are actually in need of funds for regular operations.”

Seguin added that fundraisers such as this are important for the organization as it increases public awareness of its work with city employees, local politicians as well as the general public.

Guests at the fundraiser were able to tour the centre, including its “food storage space, laundry room and newly built shower space.”  Seguin mentioned that Centre 105 provides essential services such as the use of laundry facilities, showers, referrals to agencies, a safe social space and hot meals.

“Thank you SO much to our amazing community for showing Centre 105 so much love and support.” said Seguin.  He said staff are anticipating the summer of 2025 will be a very busy one, but noted that the Centre 105 team feels they will be able to meet the challenges ahead because of the support provided by the local community.

The next fundraiser for Centre 105 will be the annual Fall Breakfast Fundraiser, scheduled for early September.  More information can be found on their social media pages or website located at www.centre105.ca.

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Centre 105 executive director Taylor Seguin thanked all who organized the drive and those who donated.  Centre 105 had worked previously with the Cornwall Police Service, but this was the first initiative with the Cornwall Islamic Society, he told Crosstalk in an email after the event.  “At Centre 105, our management board and entire team are huge supporters of interfaith work. We have worked closely with various faith groups, especially on joint fundraisers. We are stronger when we all work together. This includes the Presbyterian, Pentecostal, United, Catholic, and of course non-faith-based groups,” he wrote.

“As always, the Cornwall community came out in high numbers, to support Centre 105. The public are always extremely supportive of local food agencies, like Centre 105, the Agape Centre, the Salvation Army Food Bank, and the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank,” Seguin said.

More information on Centre 105 is available at www.centre105.ca

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Centre 105 had been offering residents of Cornwall, Ont., breakfasts, a safe social space and other services three days a week, but starting on Sept. 12, they began operating four days a week, from Tuesday to Friday.

This increase in service was made possible by a generous grant from the United Way/Centraide of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry, said Centre 105 executive director Taylor Seguin, thanking the organization for being Centre 105’s strongest financial supporter.

“Centre 105 participants have already let us know how excited they are that 105 will be open for an extra day each week,” Seguin told Perspective. “Along with the meals, folks are happy to be able to have a place to hang out, for an additional morning each week.”

Earlier this year, Centre 105 also added a shower facility to its space. “We are so proud of opening the first public shower program in our community,” said Seguin. “We would have loved to offer these services at an earlier time, but funding was always difficult to obtain. Thankfully, through a capital construction grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we were able to secure the funds to build the shower program.”

Centre 105 has been running a Sponsor a Shower Tile Fundraising event, inviting individuals and businesses to sponsor a shower tile with a $100 donation. About $4000 has been raised so far to help with costs associated with this new service.

“There continues to be a large amount of need in our community. Food insecurity and homelessness are two very significant social issues in Cornwall,” said Seguin. “We hope that with the addition of a shower program, as well as an additional day of meals / safe social space, Centre 105 will be able to do our part to help our community.”

Centre 105 also provides laundry facilities and hosts a mobile health clinic once a week.

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“This project will help improve the health, hygiene, self-esteem of the increasing number of vulnerable citizens in our city of Cornwall,” said Taylor Seguin, the executive director of Centre 105, an Anglican Community Ministry that provides a hot breakfast three days a week, a variety of other supports and a sense of community for hundreds of people who visit it every week.

Justin Towndale, mayor of Cornwall, and MPP Nolan Quinn attended the celebration and offered their congratulations. “Centre 105 is doing such amazing work for our community here and to be able to have the shower, I think that really makes a big difference for the lives of everyone that uses the services here at Centre 105,” Quinn said, adding that it will be a great complement to the washer and dryer that the centre already has and that the accessible washrooms are an extremely important addition.

The Rev. Canon Peter John Hobbs, director general of the Anglican Community Ministries, thanked the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the elected officials for their support. “I really want to thank the parish of Trinity Church, Father Adam Brown, and the support and the collaboration that Centre 105 has enjoyed with the parish, and we look forward to that relationship just continuing to deepen.” He also thanked all the staff and volunteers at Centre 105 “who each day, day in and day out, make it all happen.”

Hobbs brought greetings and congratulations from Bishop Shane Parker of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, who wasn’t available to attend the event.

Seguin gave a special shout out to shout out to Matthew Daigle and Shawn Kyer and the whole Millennial Contracting team. “We just want to thank them for their dedication to this project. They’ve been so awesome to work with.”

Eric Charlebois of Millennial was working on finishing the shower room on the day of the celebration. He told Perspective that working on this project meant a lot to him because only a few years ago he went through a very hard time, became homeless and stayed at The Mission in Ottawa. During the pandemic when restaurants were closed, it was sometimes difficult to find a public washroom.

He talked about the importance of kindness people showed and how much it meant when he took shelter from a rainstorm in the entry of a store and a woman who also stepped in to escape the rain took the time to listen and talk with him. She gave him some money for coffee and food, which was wonderful, he recalled, but “that conversation, to have a stranger listen and to get empathy from the other person, that stuff is life-changing.”

That’s what he sees happening at Centre 105. “There might be 100 people here, but if there’s one person in there who leaves thinking ‘That meal, that conversation I had with whoever, that made me last till tomorrow,” all their efforts have paid off. “At the end of the day, it’s kindness, right?,” he said, “to give them a shower, to give them a cot for five hours to sleep on, rather than the ground.”

Working on this project, “makes me feel so good,” Charlebois said. “To be able to help another person, because someone’s going to walk in one day here, and they’re going to take a shower in the shower that I built, and they’re going to sit there and look at themselves in the mirror and think, I feel so much better.” He thanked Millennial for hiring him and giving him a fresh start.

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The Rev. Dr. Anne Quick is retiring (for the second time), effective April 15, 2024.

Staff News

Staff from Ascension House visited and helped out at Centre 105 in Cornwall, Ont. in late January. 

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Taylor Seguin, the executive director for Centre 105, an Anglican Community Ministry, told Crosstalk “We’re thrilled that this annual event… has quickly become our biggest event of the year.” Last year’s event raised about $10,000 as well, but Seguin said with economic times being tough, the team wasn’t sure they could hope for as much again. They set their goal as $10,000 but prepared themselves not to be heartbroken if it turned out to be less.

But the generosity of Cornwall came through again. There were some corporate donations. The local FreshCo donated most of the food for the hearty bacon and eggs breakfasts served, (deliciously accompanied by homemade muffins, cookies and cupcakes donated by the ACW groups in all three of the Anglican churches in the area.) The Kinsmen Club of Cornwall, Victim Services, and JobZone each donated $500, but the majority of the money raised came in $20 bills donated by the people who attended the breakfast.

The staff cooked and served the breakfast to the fundraiser guests in Centre 105 in a very similar way to the way the Centre usually serves the people who come three mornings a week.

In 2022, Centre 105 decided not to sell tickets for the breakfast and to do all their fundraisers by donation. “Give what you can, give a little, give a lot, but it worked out really well that way. …Some people who came to the fundraiser might have been clients who weren’t able to give, but the next person might have given $500,” Seguin said.

There was another change in this year’s event. In past years, the breakfast event has featured a guest speaker, but this year a moving video about Centre 105’s work and its impact on the lives of the people it serves created by videographer Nick Seguin played every half hour.  The video can be seen on Centre 105’s website.

The staff had little time to bask in the glow of the successful fundraiser though because winter was on the way and they had started a drive to collect winter supplies—hats, mittens, gloves, boots. “The worst thing is when somebody asks for a pair of gloves and you don’t have them,” Seguin said.

“Every year we do a pretty solid drive with local churches and Walmart. Walmart has been really, really helpful… [Its warehouse] is the biggest employer in Cornwall, so there’s thousands of people who work there. Anytime you set up a drive at that warehouse, you do really well…. It’s as simple as just leaving a barrel for a week and you could be set for mitts for a whole winter.” He said donations are usually split 50-50 between new and used items: all are gladly received and distributed to those in need.

Centre 105 tries to warm up the winter months with activities and fun too. Last December was the first time the Centennial Choir did a Christmas concert, and they will be at the centre again this year on Dec. 10.  The choir does a big performance in the city at Christmas, but the ticket prices can be out of range for many people. The weekend before the big show, they do a practice at Centre 105. “It’s super cool because our participants can come and see a concert [again by donation] and then we have a reception in the hall after,” said Seguin. Last year, Santa Clause was there, and a professional photographer donated her time.

It promises to be a merry day again this year.

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