From July, The Stop will be temporary relocating its Drop-In meal services from 1884 Davenport Road.
Read on to learn how we’re pivoting our services during this time.
Our 1884 Davenport Road drop-in meal services are being temporarily relocated to Wychwood Open Door, The Stop’s other location at 729 St Clair West. Though we already operate in the space, we are expanding our service to include more days and more meals.
This is due to renovations by our landlord at our 1884 Davenport Road site, which we are told will last between 5 – 6 months. Throughout this relocation, we are committed to ensuring that our community can still access nutritious meals in a welcoming environment. Details of our relocated services can be found below.
New Location:
Wychwood Open Door, 729 St Clair West (St. Matthews United Church)
Effective Date:
Starting July 4th, 2024
The new Drop-In meal program schedule is as below:
Wychwood Open Door schedule
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
Breakfast 9-10am |
no service |
Breakfast 9-10am |
Breakfast 9-10am |
Breakfast 9-10am |
| Lunch 12-1pm | Lunch 12-1pm |
Lunch 12-1pm |
Lunch 12-1pm |
|
|
Dinner 4-5pm |
1884 Davenport Road schedule
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
no service |
Breakfast 9-10am
|
no service |
no service |
no service |
|
Lunch 12-1pm takeaway only |
In addition to the regular schedule at Wychwood Open Door, we will also provide take-out breakfast and lunch on Tuesdays at 1884 Davenport Road at the above times.
Accessibility:
Wychwood Open Door is situated in the basement of a church but is equipped with a chair lift. The limit for this lift is 450 lbs., so very heavy motorized scooters and chairs unfortunately will exceed the limit. However, we are more than happy to pack folks in that situation takeout meals.
Why are we relocating?
This temporary move is due to unexpected renovations by our landlord, TCHC. Our Drop-In space at 1884 Davenport Road is undergoing work to increase accessibility in the space. We have been told that the construction will take somewhere between 5-6 months, but in this time we are pivoting our services to ensure that everyone in our community has access to nutritious meals. Given the specialty of what we do, we were unable to find a closer location to 1884 Davenport Road to run our Drop-In meal program from, as we required a full commercial kitchen and large dining space. Despite this, we are working to provide a seamless transition and continue offering the high-quality service you expect from The Stop.
Will the food bank still be operating?
Yes, the food bank will still run from 1884 Davenport Road on Mondays and Fridays from 10am – 2pm and will mostly be unaffected by the construction.
Will the Good Food Market still be operating?
Yes, the Good Food Market will still run from 1884 Davenport Road on Tuesdays from 12pm – 3pm.
Will all the other programs still be running?
Yes. Some of our programs such as Community Kitchens and Healthy Beginnings will be running slightly altered programs during this time, but no programs have been cancelled. Please get in touch with the respective program coordinator to learn more, or email general@thestop.org.
I can’t make it to Wychwood Open Door. How can I get my Drop-In meals?
If you have accessibility issues that prevent you from getting to Wychwood Open Door, please get in touch with us at Winsome@thestop.org or Neye@thestop.org to see how we can support you more directly.
How will you know if you’re supporting the same people in the new location?
We’re aware that for some people, moving to a new location 3km away isn’t going to work. This is why we’ve been pushing for months for a consultation with our community on the construction works, and have been trying to find alternate sites where we can do our work in our immediate Davenport neighbourhood. We haven’t been able to find a site nearby 1884 Davenport Road that meets our catering and health and safety needs in this time.
We’ll be increasing our data tracking during this period of change to ensure we can collect feedback from our community who are currently using the Drop-In and who might start using it in the future. This will inform how we pivot and adapt our work to ensure our Davenport community can still access the food, social connection and community supports they need.
How can I help during this time?
During this uncertain time we appreciate any support we can get! With very little notice we’ve had to pivot our programming, increase our staffing and pay for moving and rental costs. All in, this is estimated to cost us around $160,000. If you are able to financially contribute through a donation, or could provide in-kind support, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch at lucy@thestop.org
What happens to volunteering during this time?
We still need volunteers to support with our critical programming and nothing fundamental has changed within our volunteering program. If you can contribute your time, or have questions about volunteering at The Stop, please get in touch at helena@thestop.org.
Stay updated:
For the latest updates on our meal services and any changes to schedule or location, please visit thestop.org/blog or email us at general@thestop.org with any specific queries.
People are at the heart of everything we do. Our primary goal is to continue serving our community with minimal disruption and we are committed to delivering nutritious, delicious meals to our community. We thank our community, staff and volunteers for their support throughout this time.