Increasing staff to seven and having over 100 volunteers, Winkler's Central Station Community Centre has been able to address six basic needs in the community.

These needs include transportation, food, housing, services, taxes, and community and belonging, and are addressed through a variety of programs and initiatives.

Meeting these needs is only possible thanks to the community standing behind them, says Chair Frank Elias, and it's exciting to translate that support to help others.

"There are so many needs, but it feels good to have an organization that we can actually meet some of them, and it doesn't feel like we're lost. With our staff and our facility now, I think we can start to addresses some more of those needs, but the bigger ones are yet to come, which is very exciting."

Elias believes their success can be attributed to what Central Station calls the Golden Circle. The Circle describes what, how, and why of the organization.

"The point of the Circle is to know the why of what you do, and that's more important than what you do. The why is the core of an organization, and for Central Station, our why is we want people to thrive by building hope and providing support."

 As they've grown, Central Station has only hired as they've needed, says Executive Director Bev Wiebe, to avoid growing too quickly, and although this growth has had its challenges, it's been an incredible boon for the region.

Wiebe says, moving forward on their success, they have several plans for the future.

"Both our one and three-year plan will focus on housing. Doing housing better as we continue to grow and being able to provide more programs or supports for those living in our housing. I think that's a huge focus for us right now and a huge opportunity."

This was the second year Central Station has taken on the management of 90 homes through Winkler and Manitoba Affordable Housing, housing 129 adults and 108 children.

As for more hopes for the organization, Elias says they'd like a larger facility that would allow for more services and programs.

 "Daycare centres, counselling, other social agencies, and community-building programs, all these places need a facility and how great would it be if they could all be together. "