After eight months of consultation with the Chatham-Kent community, United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent (UWWECK) has gathered all input into a new report.
The new report launched Monday - called the Voices of Chatham-Kent: Shaping Our Community's Future Together. This report highlights the voices of nearly 600 residents who shared their experiences, priorities, and hopes for the future of Chatham-Kent.
Their input will help guide United Way's next steps in addressing issues such as affordable housing, mental health, food security, healthcare access, youth development, and more.
United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex joined forces with United Way Chatham-Kent in 2024, and now wants to have a better understanding of Chatham's needs, their strengths, challenges, and what role United Way should have in the Chatham community.
The report showcases a list of shocking statistics including of those who accessed community services in the past year, 73 per cent experienced barriers, 15.2 per cent of Chatham-Kent residents lack access to a regular primary care provider, 12.1 per cent of residents live in low-income households, and 1 in 5 households in Chatham-Kent is food insecure.
The average rent for a one-bedroom unit in Chatham has more than doubled since 2019 - from $816 to $1,759.
Lorraine Goddard, CEO of United Way Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent, says this survey allowed United Way to look at all aspects of the Chatham community.
"What are their strengths? Where are their challenges, and where are their opportunities? And what role should United Way have in the Chatham-Kent community, should we be shifting our focus of work, our community investments, and if so, what would be the community's priorities?"
She says academically Chatham is falling below provincial standards.
"55 per cent of Grade 9 students are not meeting the literacy standards for Grade 9. And we know that that can be a risk factor for a student not completing high school. If a student doesn't even get its high school diploma, you know that they're basically going to be living in poverty because the earning potential of that person is very, very low."
Goddard says they want to address these issues at a younger age.
"To prevent problems from occurring because by the time you get to you're 22-years-old and you're living in an encampment, and you're struggling with mental health and addictions, that's a very complex problem that requires a lot of resources to address."
Next steps will see United Way continue conversations with Chatham-Kent residents to see if they would support different strategies in their community.
Goddard adds that while United Way wants to address these issues, it's also going to take lower and upper levels of government, the private sector, and non-for-profits to come together to make change.
The full report can be read by clicking here.
-with files from CTV Windsor's Robert Lothian