Michele Bellows from Rideau Community Health Services (RCHS) presented a vision to Smiths Falls town council during Monday evening’s council meeting. RCHS would like to develop a hub in Smiths Falls for community, health, and social services. A single hub, Bellows explained, would help clients to access coordinated and collaborative health and social care. RCHS proposed the development of a building on the corner of Chambers Street and Sussex Street.
“We are seeking council’s support to work with municipal staff to take this vision to the next level,” Bellows said. “It continues to be a journey; we continue to meet with the ministry and will meet with our MPP in a couple of weeks to ensure our project stays top of mind. This would be so exciting. I’ve been lucky enough to visit a couple of hubs, and it’s so exciting to see the vibrancy and sense of community that comes to a hub.”
The envisioned space would include both indoor and outdoor spaces, such as community kitchen and recreational space, gardens, and green space.
Counselor Peter McKenna spoke up to “reinforce the point that recreation is a big part of health; wellness requires exercise and green space; not just doctors and hospitals. There’s good value in owning such a building, in pursuing this. I think it would be a jewel in our municipality that would serve the larger community.”
Counselor Jay Brennan, who chaired the meeting, confirmed that the town wanted to get on board in working toward this goal with RCHS.