Shalem’s main office in Hamilton has experienced exciting growth over the last eight years! Our office in the Medical Arts building at 1 Young Street in Hamilton has been an excellent location for our Counselling Clinic, WrapAround Program, and the administrative base for all the other programs Shalem offers.

Our services have been based in this location for over 20 years. We were rapidly outgrowing the space when in 2010, the suite next to our location became available, and we doubled our number of offices! In addition to the administrative offices, we now have three counselling offices, which are being shared by 7 psychotherapists over the week.

WrapAround participants, volunteers and students are also familiar faces in this office space and the central location makes this accessible for many people. It also helps that the office is located in downtown Hamilton close to public transit and a local hospital.

Staff from our other programs, such as our Restorative Practice program, also use the meeting space and offices. The use of laptops and cell phones ensure many of our staff are mobile and flexible to work in different available offices each time they are here. This is the location of our monthly staff meetings, and our board room is rapidly becoming too small! There are some days of office juggling when we feel we are quickly outgrowing our current space—again!

There was a time when the clinic received only one intake per week—that ­is certainly not the case anymore! In addition to the requests for counselling in the Hamilton office, we also receive the intake calls for all of the counselling offered through the Congregation Assistance Plan (CAP) participants. With the number of CAP churches and schools increasing to 45 across Ontario, the number of intake calls keeps our intake staff busy.

The expansion of the counselling services means that our administrative work has also grown. Even our Canada Post delivery person has remarked about how we used to be a “light” client, but now they are experiencing our increased activity!

The expansion to the adjoining suite in 2010 included the addition of a small bathroom and a kitchenette. This allows us to offer clients and participants coffee, tea and water while they are here, creating a more hospitable atmosphere.

All this expansion of space, activity, and staff is encouraging as we continue to offer services that aim to restore hope to many.