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The House of Friendship verybusyorganmuon_'fln House the edge of losing hope. ‘"Through our programs, we try to help people help themselves," savs Tonv Bender. the recreation able agency runs a wide variety of Dnrojects serving an estimated 18,000 yearly. says Tony Bender, the rect coâ€"ordinator and program tant for the organization. House of Friendship proâ€" aram assistant T ony Bender gram assistant T ony Bender prepares a food hamper for delivery. lan Kirkby photo They include: CFood hampers containing about three days of food which are distributed to lowâ€"income famiâ€" lies and individuals who are facing a financial crises; CChristmas hampers which are given out a week before Christmas; C)Family â€" support program which help families work through stressful situations; ~:nterest free loans available to lowâ€"income families who are unable to acquire loans for a major household appliance through a regular lending instituâ€" tion. There is no loan or service charge, and 93 per cent of borrowâ€" ers have paid back, The Hidden Minority Opportunity to share resources council Su;;,'things still get accomplished, and, thankfully, with more discussion than they did a few years ago (or so I am told) â€" â€" But personality conflicts and just plain stubborness are beginning to get the better of some council members. Witness the exchange over the fireâ€"service study that took place at the meeting Jan. 12 The fire‘sa.l'd.;r r)â€"';;l will remember, is the first for the city since 1982. There has been major growth in the city since then and recent reports indicate that the city may not have enough staff and vehicles to adequately respond to fires, particularly in the north end of Waterloo. Some expect the study to recommend the construction of a third fire station in that area of the city However, the report, prepared by consultant M.M Dillon, has been sent back twice for revisions. Originalâ€" ly acheduled for December release, it was delayed until Jan. 18. and now again until Feb. 1 At the meeting of Jan 12, Coun. Andrew Telegdi asked why the study is again delayed and whether councilliors will get to see the original draft. The questions were directed at Coun. John Shortreed who is the council representative on the steering committee supervising the study . _ Shortreed initially avoided the question, claiming that the three drafts of the report were "very similar", and noting that the city had already begun to respond Things have really deteriorated at Waterloo city majority of _ of Friendship Waterloo people _ helps The Kit ass1s 18 +a failed and cannot afford to p normal} service charges;, CSummer camp for children families which cannot afford send them to camp; work or housing; OCramer House UOCramer House, a home for 12 men who have had a psychiatric hospitalization or an emotional crisis and need longâ€"term housing with supportive services; CAleoho Recovery Home for men who are willing to make a real try to "kick the habit"; 067 Charles St, a halfâ€"way home for four federal male paroâ€" OKiwanis eight bed re _ CCommunity support to help people obtain housing, learn new life skills and cope with a crisis. themselves Bender sees a flip side to the work that the House of Friendâ€" ship does. He sees the organizaâ€" tion "as an agency that provides the community with an opportuâ€" nity to share its resources." Without the House of Friendâ€" ship, there would be 106 less beds for transients and people working at integration into the mainâ€" stream of society. There would be 400 less food hampers going out monthly to the needy, 12 per cent of them to the City of Waterloo. There‘d be 15 alcoholics (at the treatment program in Waterioo) who want to dry up not being helped. And so on... "I feel good about meeting people in crisis because we can provide clothing, shelter and food. But we can also work with them to help them not always be in crisis. "I like to see a person who is an alcoholic work on his problem and eventually no longer be an alcoâ€" holic.‘ As well as providing shelter to alcoholic, for instance, which is Youth Residence, an residence for "socially iged" male youth; _ a home for 51 appliances help work them seeking to fire service concerns by recently ordering a new firetruck for delivery this year. â€" o â€" Teh;gd\ pursued the matter, asking whether the initial report underwent a rewrite "with input from the Shortreed shot back that his "suspicion is that Coun Telegdi is suggesting that the committee is reâ€"writing the report. I would suggest that Dillon is too professionh al a consultant not to tender their own report.‘" _ He continued, "I‘m not sure the consultants would like the initial draft of a report made public‘‘ The corrections are mainly "arithmetical" said Shortreed Noting that ‘"fire safety is a sensitive issue in this community," Coun. Lynne Woolstencroft said, "it behooves us to at least let the council see the initial draft. I don‘t think it‘s deep, dark and mysterious." Woolstencroft held up the three drafts of the parks and recreation master plan as examples of an instance where council was kept informed. _ The eâ€"xvcih;;lgér raises some legitimtit«e questions about the report. Is it going to be highly critical of the city, as Telegdi has suggested in the past to the Chronicle? If in the end, Shortreed agreed to allow Telegdi to view in private the first draft of the study. ‘ so, has the report been reâ€"submitted to the consultants to put a more "positive spin‘"‘ on it? After all, it is an election year, and the city has received rather negative reports on its cultural and recreational facilities this term. These are questions this newspaper, and the citizens help for in o wl a % F : L *&â€"_. O . wak * e f 4 ko . ies is â€" . e s T ,‘g E. o is :: A > .. is w2 e P 2 " mm â€" _ F : C &25‘ e A n.. x: 6 t B l e 75 6 E* 3 y3 YA l Pss 6. 3 a w£4 F * P * 4 F & . e *3 A | § d j yaf l * M C e e S w _ 3 2 B & M V% C § :2 w ie & Cg e P " B . e t " ; . e m i i ominl I; f wfl % C 1 6. § S 9 sA 7 w f W * #. 7 s‘ # k C ; . f\é ‘ S i4 & >‘ * 4 f * w $ Eo ,\ â€" l ks ? e . tz R k s fi"‘»xfl i â€" P sA & 4 The city planning department is preparing an application for up to $400,000 in provincial grants to carry out improvements in three older Waterloo areas designated for community improvement. The "Central" area including Uptown, "Colnm bia". and "Conestoga" were recommended for improvement in a report prepared by the Starr Group for council at a cost of $16,500. teneod do l e ae es The recommendations were adopted as amendâ€" ments to the city‘s official plan at the Jan. 11 meeting of council In a presena:{\;m to council, consultant Edward Starr suggested that improvements to the Uptown Ed Procyk has vowed from eating jello after he 3:( his fill Monday during the jello ealir‘;g contest which klcked-o?f Wilfrid Laurier University‘s winter carnival. Blindfoldedâ€"partner Amber Davies got the job of shovelling the slippery red gelatin into Procyk‘s mouth, right, that is of course, until he had all he could hold. he carnival continues all this week. isobe! Lawson photo Uptown should be priority WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20, 1 HELLO JELLO of the community would be most anxious to have answered. This reporter‘s questions are not alleviated at all, by the recent council decision to increase its fire depart ment by three dispatchers (thereby freeing other staff to fight fires) and to purchase a truck . That could be the behavior of an administration wanting to be able to reassure its voters that steps were taken to improve fire service even before the report was completed But perhaps the most important questions raised by this exchange concern procedure on council. Why did Telegdi not approach Shortreed privately and ask to see the initial draft? If Shortreed had refused, then it should have been raised at council. Similarly, if the initial draft confirmed Telegdi‘s suspicions, then the matter of tampering with a report could and should have been raised at council At the council meeting, why did Shortreed initially refuse the legitimate rights of a councillor to see a report éommissioned by council? Shortreed is not the gateâ€"keeper to the report, he is a council representa tive. In a less busy city, the entire council would be involved in such an important matter The public in this city have a right to open government. They have a right to an adversarial relationship between councillors over ISSUES being debated at council. * “'!-'I;;a;'-d_(; not need what appears to be persofiality conflicts, posturing, and attempts to make political hay out of an issue as serious as fire protection with lan Kirkby area "should rank as first priority." The three areas form a northâ€"south corridor through the centre of the city and encompass many of the older buildings and services in Waterloo. The Starr report will be used along with the 1987 Arcop study of the Uptown area in seeking provinâ€" cial funding for improvements. o ‘"We are very fortunate in that the Arcop study can be implemented throuh a community improveâ€" ment plan," said Planning commissioner Tom Slomke. _The éit_v's grant application will be submitted by the end of February, said Slomke