United Way Welcomes Community to New Halton Office Space

Halton & Hamilton, ON – June 28th, 2017 – United Way Halton & Hamilton hosted an open house on Wednesday, June 28th at their new Halton office space, located at 4210 South Service Road, Burlington.
Community members and dignitaries joined United Way Halton & Hamilton staff to celebrate the official launch and new office space in Halton. The morning consisted of opening remarks, networking and a ribbon cutting ceremony for which Jeff Vallentin, CEO United Way Halton & Hamilton, Gary Carr, Regional Chair Halton Region, Mayor Goldring of the City of Burlington and Mayor Burton of the Town of Oakville did the honours of officially opening the new space.
The theme of the gathering was the concept of “home”, as United Way was opening the doors to their new home in the Halton Region. Jeff Vallentin, newly appointed CEO United Way Halton & Hamilton, began with a quote from T.S. Eliot “Home is where one starts from.” He went on to say, “as we start the mission of the new United Way Halton & Hamilton, we are building on the impressive legacies of four different and successful United Ways, with the concept of “home” placed right at the heart of everything we do. Home is our starting point, our path forward and, really our destination as well.”
Anne Bermingham, United Way Halton & Hamilton Board Chair brought remarks on behalf all Board Members. Anne explained that as a child her family moved around a lot and as a result of that, many different places became home. Because of this, she quickly came to realize that the types of issues that are prevalent in our communities actually cross geographical boundaries. Although there are some local differences, it’s nice to see us all working together for the same cause.
Also in attendance was Mayor Rick Goldring who brought greetings on behalf of the City of Burlington. He proudly stated “United Way Halton and Hamilton made this amalgamation look easy and everyone should be proud of the work they have done… this amalgamation truly shows how we are stronger when working together.”
Vallentin concluded the presentation by announcing that, “All dollars raised locally will continue to be invested in those local communities. We are better positioned to address social issues that cross municipal boundaries… our new organization is able to invest more effort in measuring and communicating impact… and in the end we’re going to have greater impact on the communities we serve.”
The event was attended by approximately 80 community members and dignitaries.