It was a full house at the Steinbach Adult Teen Challenge Men’s Centre Sunday afternoon, as they held a dedication ceremony which several hundred community members came out for. The ATC Open House meant the public could check out the building and meet its staff and students.
Steinbach Community Office Ministry Manager, Amy Marasco says, "I'm just super excited to be a part of Adult Teen Challenge here in Steinbach, and to be a part of this community."
Back in October 2021, Southland Church announced that they would be donating the building to Adult Teen Challenge, which took ownership on January 1, 2022.
Since January the facility has seen a few changes, including connecting the first and second levels with a staircase.
Marasco says the original building had separate entrances to access the two-storey facility. "We connected the two floors with a stairwell so you can get to the other floor from inside the building."
She says students in the ATC 4-tier program began moving in at the beginning of January.
"We have moved some students in there for the last, I would say month and a half, and we're slowly adding students as we're growing our capacity in the community and in the centre."
The Men’s Centre can house 30 students with 24-hour staff on-site to help with anything that is needed.
"A lot of the students are coming from the Steinbach area, which is really nice to see, but we will take students from other places. There are people coming that grew up in Steinbach that moved on but are coming back to take advantage of this facility in their hometown."
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Daniel Emond, CEO of Adult Teen Challenge of Central Canada said their urgent needs are a passenger van for the residents. They will also be renovating the kitchen and dining area to make sure that their students can enjoy sit-down meals together. Emond also asked for 10 sofas.
Adult Teen Challenge Canada is a faith-based non-profit organization that has been helping men and women of all ages. They believe that by working with and bringing communities together, they can effectively 'Put Hope Within Reach' in the lives of those affected by a wide variety of life-controlling issues.
Steinbach’s ATC Men’s Centre is located at 73 Westview Drive. It is a 4-Tier Discipleship program providing a structured environment that includes individual and group mentoring, counselling, spiritual disciplines, life-skills training, employable skills certification and on-the-job training. Structured and intense, this in-house discipleship program takes about 12 months to complete.
The Program Director at the Steinbach Men’s Centre is Pastor Danny McVeigh.
