Reaching out to those in need

By Kellsie King
Posted 8/23/18

By KELLSIE KING There have been questions. Why is a Providence organization opening a storefront next to Don's Pizza on Warwick Avenue? But the new Peace and Providence Community Outreach Center - founded by Justin Perreault - isn't from the city of

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Reaching out to those in need

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There have been questions.

Why is a Providence organization opening a storefront next to Don’s Pizza on Warwick Avenue?

But the new Peace and Providence Community Outreach Center – founded by Justin Perreault – isn’t from the city of Providence. As he explains, it is a “divine appointment” for people in need.

A grand opening is set this Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. It opens for services on Monday.

The outreach center will provide haircuts, groceries, addiction recovery, computer training, veterans’ services and a kids’ area. Located at 2107 Warwick Avenue, the center will have services available to anyone, no matter their income.

Peace and Providence started nine years ago, “as a way to reach out to people and let them know that they matter,” said Perreault. He was inspired to work for the community after he had a “desire to help people, and share God’s love.”

“People matter to us,” he said, “even if you’re not religious, we will still help you.”

The idea of serving people came to Perreault as an adult. Before he started Peace and Providence, he said he was a very selfish and self-centered person who only wanted to benefit himself. He made some bad choices and ended up in jail. It was then that he realized that “everything I had, I looked around and saw something inside of me that was missing.” When reality set in, he turned to his faith.

“I let Jesus into my heart and from that point on I never was the same,” he said,

Perreault’s mother gave him up nine days after birth and the family that fostered him legally adopted him when he was 4 years old. Raised in West Warwick, Perreault said his family always went to church, so he grew up with religion. He wasn’t too interested in it because religion tells people what they can and cannot do. He still doesn’t consider himself religious, rather a person deep in his faith with God and invested in the bond he has with Him. Perreault said once he put himself in his faith, it was a “transformation”.

“No matter how much I messed up in my past, God still uses me,” he said, “God still helps.”

Although Peace and Providence is a faith-based organization, the staff and volunteers will not push their beliefs onto anyone else who comes into the center. He is strong in his faith and says that “God tells us to love people”. He and his family are not “shy” about their beliefs.

“Doesn’t matter if they believe what we believe, doesn’t matter what their lifestyle is, we don’t care about that,” he said. The center is open to everybody, and is a “divine appointment” for people, as in the word Providence.

Perreault works part time at Home Depot, while his wife, Kimberli, works at a business she has been with for over 20 years. This allows them to serve the community. Their children are also heavily involved in the organization. In addition, Maria and Jerry Tatarian are involved. She is the director of the “Revive” hair salon at the center and he is the vice president of the organization. Both families help out with the outreach center as much as possible. The Perreaults’ children and the Tatarians’ children spent their whole summer volunteering by painting and sanding.

“They enjoy it. My youngest is 7, the oldest, Maria’s son is the oldest, is 15. To ask four kids to give up their summer and to come and volunteer, and then willingly or wanting to, is amazing,” said Perreault.

Once every 6 weeks, he and his family will visit Providence Independent Living and cook veterans a meal in their kitchen, and also give them haircuts. He said the kids help serve food, too.

Why did he choose Warwick to be the location of the outreach center?

Perreault lives in Governor Francis Farms and sees a need for the center here. Perreault calls the former hair and nail salon a perfect fit. It is 2,200 square feet and on a busy street. It is next to a well-known business, Don’s Pizza.

Prior to leasing space, the organization hosted an annual festival in Kennedy Plaza downtown, where about 10,000 people would come out each year for food, games, music, and more for the family. The organization operates completely on volunteers and donations.

The organization also partners with We Share Hope, a program based in Warren, that distributes food and other items to those in need across the state. We Share Hope has a warehouse and trucks, according to Perreault. They deliver the food and supplies to the center and also receive a portion of the money given from donations.

The new outreach center includes a general store, which offers a variety of groceries from non-perishable to perishable items. When shopping at the general store, an individual must buy reusable bags. Once they donate 3 for a bag they can use it for future visits. Meats like bacon and hamburger will be in large freezers, and will be available to buy in bulk for a certain donation amount from $2 to $5. Personal hygiene items will be available too, and a person can get any 6 items for a donation of $5. Some items will be priced, however, such as hot and cold compresses.

“By helping people stretch their means when it comes to groceries or hygiene items, it helps them to be able to go out and pay for medication for the elderly, if that’s their case…or just have a little bit more extra money when it comes to paying other bills,” Perreault said.

The general store will be open Mondays from 2 to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition to the store, the outreach center will also offer free haircuts to anyone, no matter their income Monday through Friday, but Saturdays are appointment only. The outreach’s salon not only offers haircuts, but also hair coloring and perms for a $10 donation. Perms for women 65 or older are free.

Maria Tatarian is a licensed hairstylist. She has lined up 4 or 5 committed stylists to volunteer twice a week, according to Perreault. Tatarian also does a lot with special needs children, so the salon will have ways to work with them. For example, children with sensory issues cannot sit still for a long time, and the stylists will have toys and allow them to get up and walk around after a few minutes to keep busy. Additionally, when the school year starts, the center will reach out to the schools to inform them of the services.

There will also be a kids’ area at the outreach center. The space will have activities for children to do such as books, crayons, and crafts. Crafts will be available twice a month, with Home Depot sponsoring a workshop once a month and the center sponsoring another. Crafts will be on Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon. The center website provides details on dates. Perreault also hopes to start a youth program with a movie, pizza and foosball – “someplace where the kids can just come and be.”

For those looking to find a job or get help with technology involved in that process, computer training will be available to those who need it. The training will help with job searches, building resumes, and interview preparation. Classes will be available one night per week. Jerry Tatarian will be overseeing the computer training aspect.

An addiction recovery program is planned for every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. once the center is fully operational.

Perreault also wants to work with veterans. He said one night a week would dedicated to them, whether the center hires caterers or rents a restaurant to host an event. These events will most likely happen in October, according to Perreault.

“We’ll see if there’s any services we can help them with, or point them in the right direction,” Perreault said.

Sometime in the future, he plans on beginning a nine-month program for families called “Liberty’s House” – named after his oldest daughter. They will be able to live there and work, and if they’re not working they will be provided with assistance to find a job and save money. At the end of the program, they will get help in finding an apartment. He says that the program will “give people the liberty to get on their feet.”

There will also be holiday drives during Thanksgiving and Christmas. During Thanksgiving, Perrault aims to fill 300 to 500 food baskets and deliver them to families who signed up to receive them. During Christmas, the organization hosts a toy drive where they receive about 1,800 toys donated. There is a “toy workshop” where parents can pick toys based on their children’s age and wrap them up. They do a toy drive like this every year in the Chad Brown section of Providence.

The organization is always looking for volunteers and donations. Volunteers will get a BCI check done in order to be with the organization. In terms of donations, Perreault said, “We believe that no donation is too big, and no donation is too small.” They accept both monthly and one-time donations, and all are tax deductible.

“Over the years, people have been very generous, and I have no doubt that, that is going to continue, especially when we open up. I think people want to support good organizations,” he said.

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