Outreach worker says growing demands are stretching St. Marys program to its limits

By Galen Simmons

St. Marys’ community outreach program continues to meet a growing need in the community, but the town’s lone outreach worker says increasing demand and growing case complexity are making it difficult to keep up without additional support.

Presenting her annual report to council July 21, community outreach worker Jade Orquin said the program supported 109 residents between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, while averaging four service calls a day during the first quarter of 2026. By June, that number had climbed to five calls a day as housing affordability and economic pressures continued to worsen.

“The needs that I am seeing in the community are much higher than when I was first in this role,” Orquin said.

“I’m seeing a lot more youth. I’m working within our schools with high-risk youth, which is not something that I did when I was first in this role. So, it’s been a bit of an eye opener to what the needs are in this community and it’s been great and I enjoy it, but it is a lot and it requires a lot of time.”

The report notes the position now serves as a coordinator for increasingly complex case management involving agencies such as Children’s Aid Society, Canadian Mental Health Association, Stratford Social Services, Huron Perth Centre, Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program. As those agencies become stretched themselves, Orquin has found herself filling service gaps while trying to coordinate care.

“It has become increasingly difficult to address the community engagement part of this role as case management has taken a significant portion of time,” Orquin said.

Orquin told council the coordinator role has developed naturally because outside agencies often cannot respond quickly enough to urgent situations.

“I have become a coordinator for individuals in the community,” she said. “It’s simply because ... those external agencies won’t do the work.

“I continue to reach out to those external agencies to push for that work to be done, but it seems to be on a slow process. ... It’s not in my job description, but it is something that has just developed naturally because of the lack of support from external agencies.”

The report also highlights a continuing lack of affordable housing, rising demand from middle-income families struggling to pay utility bills and buy groceries, and increasing referrals for food and financial assistance.

Coun. Marg Luna asked whether additional help could allow Orquin to spend more time on community engagement while maintaining client services.

“I think that certainly on a part-time basis would be helpful, especially with the admin that takes up a lot of time to do as well,” Orquin replied. “Getting the paperwork to the ODSP office, those types of things, those little things that do take up a lot of time; it would be helpful to have an additional individual on a part-time basis for sure to do that admin work.”

CAO Brent Kittmer said the town has explored options with United Way Perth-Huron and other agencies for additional outreach support, but no solution has materialized. He said the priority has always been ensuring residents receive immediate assistance, even if proactive community engagement initiatives must sometimes take a back seat.

Mayor Al Strathdee said the discussion reflects a broader challenge facing municipalities as social-service responsibilities increasingly fall to local governments.

“This is year 12 for me, and if you had said to me 12 years ago, ‘Hey, you should hire a social worker for the Town of St. Marys,’ I would have thought you were crazy. Now I wish we had two.”

Later in the discussion, Strathdee said the situation is another example of provincial downloading.

“The reality is the province should be funding Jade’s position 100 per cent, and they’re not.”

Despite the challenges, Orquin’s report also highlights the program’s continued success in strengthening partnerships, providing wraparound supports and connecting vulnerable residents with housing, food, financial, health-and-safety services through office hours, educational events and collaboration with local organizations.