Who are you and what hub are you with?
Volunteer with Chebucto Connections

How would you describe your hub?  Would you say that it's intentional or accidental?
Intentional for sure!

How old is your hub?
Gradually built over 8 years

What stage of development would you say you're in? Where along the hub 'spectrum' would you put yourself?
Well along

What services are offered at your hub? What are some of the reasons people come in?
legal aid, form filling, health, family resources, mental health

How do people get to your hub?
walk, bus, car

What is your governance structure?  Do you have a board of directors?
Yes, we have a board of directors

If you have staff, how many and what are their roles?
4 staff: Executive Director, Community Development Coordinator, Administrative Intake Coordinator, a few hours of Bookkeeper

Who are your key partners?  What roles do they play?
17 partners (community-based service providers): provide services at hub, mutual support, sharing resources

How are you funded / supported? What are your income streams? (ie.  grants, membership, federal gov’t, provincial gov’t, municipality, social enterprise)
grants, provincial gov't

Do you have a volunteer program?  If so, what works and what doesn’t?  How does it run?
Not a formal volunteer program for the Hub

In context of your community, are you a functional or geographic hub?
functional hub, placed strategically geographically!

Are you a resource for other community projects?
Yes, by helping to build partnerships

How much of your space is accessible to the public?  Is there an open space to just sit down / linger?  
Yes, outside of school hours during the day

How do you make your space comfortable, warm / welcoming?
rocking chair, comfortable easy chairs, good lighting, person at front desk to welcome and direct

Story Questions
What is the story of your hub?  How did your hub come about? What is its history?
Started nearly 40 years ago as a Multi-Service system to better meet the needs of residents by coordinating services. Gradually evolved to take a community development approach to more actively engage residents and for the Capt. Spry Community Centre to serve as a meeting place and service centre. Evolved further to become a strategically placed HUB focused on improving access to services and putting more emphasis on community development.

What’s working well?
Well-designed space, increasing use by low-income individuals and families, increased level of funding

What are your challenges?
Always having to search for funds, growing out of the space we have

If you could go back to the beginning of your hub (or your role), is there anything you would do differently?  Why?
A bigger space, an emphasis on fundraising (other than grants) and developing one or more social enterprises

What do you think is the most special or unique thing about your hub?
Having sufficient staff in a welcoming space

What has been most valuable for your community about having a hub?  
People coming together to work together, develop shared goals that are responsive to community priorities

Who uses your hub? Who benefits?
low-income individuals and families use and benefit from the hub, plus some middle-income folks,

What kind of feedback do you get from your users?
Come in for one thing and discover other resources, surprised that such a thing exists in their neighbourhood, grateful for the feeling of being supported

What do you imagine your hub will be like in 5 years? 10 years?
More and more people know to drop in or otherwise connect to the hub to: access services; meet with other residents wanting to effect change; learning how to be politically active

What motivates your volunteers?
Belief in the mission of Chebucto Connections, and support of the programming

Is there space for informal socializing or for more formal programming, or both?
Very modest space, need more for informal socialising (perhaps an opportunity for a social enterprise?), need more space for formal programming

What is your group doing to encourage different groups / individuals to meet one another and network / build social capital?
Monthly Multi-Service Roundtable meetings, monthly HUB meetings, outreach for partners as part of shared goals and applying for funds

Future Needs
Do you think it would be valuable for the the neighbourhood hubs convening project to continue in some way?  If so, how often would you like to meet?
Twice a year

Considering the challenges faced by your hub, what - if any - skill building/learning opportunities do you think could be helpful?
Social enterprise

Is there anything else you’d like to say here?
I'm lacking a lot of details about service providers, but Courtney Spencer will hopefully fill you in.