The Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre evolved as a result of the dedication of its founder Fred Jackson and a group of community minded individuals who envisioned a facility that would address the needs of the urban Aboriginal population in the North Simcoe Region of Southern Georgian Bay. The centre was incorporated as a charitable non-profit on July 5, 1984.
In the beginning, the Centre was managed by a fourteen member Board of Directors and a staff of volunteers. For the first two years of its existence, the Centre operated through the fund raising efforts of the Board and volunteer staff and the support of the Aboriginal community.
The Centre grew out of the need for the Anishnabe people to associate with each other. In order to meet this need, several programs were introduced. These programs included L'il Beavers, Youth Social/Recreation Program, Treatment Program, Summer Prevention Program, Seniors Program, Native Language Program, Tenant counsellor, Employment Intake Worker and Arts and Crafts. As other needs were identified, additional programs were introduced. These included PLATO Computer Based Education, Pre-employment Cooking Course, Computer/word-processing and a Building Trades Course.
A house located at 366 Midland Avenue in Midland, Ontario was purchased to house our programs and services. In the first year, we added three full time and one part time position. Decisions were made utilizing a consensus-based philosophy and the Centre continued to grow.
In 1994 a 10,500 square foot facility was built and the Centre moved its operation into the new building at 175 Yonge Street, Midland Ontario and continues to operate from this location. The growth and expansion of the Centre resulted from a study conducted by Ballantyne/Branch, Counsel to Recreation and Leisure Services. As a result of this study, the Board of Directors strongly supported the need to acquire or build a larger facility that would meet the growing needs of our community. We now offer the community Drug and Alcohol Intervention Programming, Child and Family Services, Life Long Care, Employment and Training, Healing and Wellness. In addition to our social programming, we are exploring economic development opportunities. We currently offer Desktop Publishing services to the community on a fee for service and we provide hall rentals and catering services for weddings, meetings, conferences, etc.
The need for community participation in programs plays a vital role in the way we structure and implement programs. we feel the youth are the leaders of tomorrow and we endeavour to create opportunities for them to have a voice and participation in developing the community.
The Board and Staff of the Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre understand that we must maintain a "Community First" approach to implementing programs and services to address the growing needs and quality of life of the urban Aboriginal population.