By Emily Stonehouse

With sparklers on a glossy cake and shimmering balloons in the background, Gena Roberston, the executive director of SIRCH, officially celebrated 35 years of giving back to the community with SIRCH. “35 years ago, I was the only employee in a tiny little office building,” she reminisced. “But it’s really a team effort. It’s a huge collective effort, and Haliburton County is one of the best places to make those connections.”

In 1989, the Supportive Initiative for Residents in the County of Haliburton, now commonly known as SIRCH, became incorporated. Their first program was the Parent Support Services Program, designed to offer mental health services and support to parents with children up to 18 years old. “We had started with a social action committee in the area,” said Robertson, “and that was about what was needed in the county. The mandate really has always been to look at where the gaps are.”

Robertson noted that while it’s important to face forward and look at the future of SIRCH, sometimes looking back serves an important purpose as well. “We brought in adult mental health services, community hospice, victim support services, a lot of things,” she said. 

Many of these programs have since been divested to Haliburton Highlands Health Services, or other community partners to take the lead, leaving room for SIRCH to move onto the next gap that needs to be filled. 

Some of their other programs include but are not limited to: a women’s emergency house to escape domestic violence, pregnancy support programs, nutrition and food security initiatives, bereavement groups, and employment training to name a few. 

One of the programs that Robertson is most proud of is the School’s Cool program, which she describes as “leveling the playing field” for kids approaching school age. “If you enter kindergarten and you are significantly behind, it’s been proven that your trajectory is always going to be behind,” she noted. 

The program is able to prepare kids – in both an academic and social manner – for their upcoming school experience, in just a matter of weeks. 

The need for the program became apparent as kids continued to grow and thrive, and before long, SIRCH was offering training at schools not only across the local county, but across the country, to ensure that all kids had a fair chance at starting out. 

Robertson came up with the idea for School’s Cool from her own upbringing here in Haliburton County. She recalled that when she was young, growing up in a rural community without access to transportation could be isolating, making the transition to school even more difficult. 

After calling Haliburton County home for many years, Robertson moved out west, where she was “bitten by the community development bug,” she said. She settled in a series of small communities across the country, where she offered support services to the rural populations, before returning to Haliburton as an adult. 

Upon her arrival back in the community, she took on a position with Children’s Aid Services (CAS), and was the only worker for the organization in the county. “I always said I’d never stay at a job for longer than five years, though,” she laughed, as she cut the cake celebrating 35 years with SIRCH. 

While Robertson started SIRCH in October 1989 and has been guiding the ship for years, she noted that there are many who make it run smoothly, Over the past 35 years, SIRCH has employed over 300 staff, and even more volunteers. “We don’t do this by ourselves,” said Robertson. “We always do this with partners. Donors, volunteers, local businesses, or other service clubs. It really speaks to the community we have here.” 

Over the past ten years, SIRCH has received 5.8 million worth of in-kind donations, including goods, services, time, and expertise. “This is an incredibly generous community,’ said Robertson. 

While community support and funding has been welcome, Robertson noted that there were many times over the years that SIRCH needed to get “innovative” when it came to raising funds. “Sometimes there was funding available, and sometimes there wasn’t. That’s when we got into social enterprise.” 

SIRCH works in collaboration with the Thrift Warehouse, located at Mallard Road in Haliburton. This booming business is well known to both locals and visitors alike, and has a steady stream of changing items that keeps interest piqued year-round. A portion of the proceeds from the warehouse are donated directly back to SIRCH and their programming. “When people shop at the Warehouse, it impacts us directly,” said Robertson. “Every little bit helps.”