WHEN A LITTLE HELP GOES A VERY LONG WAY

When drugs stole Bobbi Law's hope for a picture-perfect family life, she
turned to the only place she thought could help.

She went down the street, walked by a black iron fence and through the
welcoming doors of the Preston Heights Community Group.

She sat down and spilled out her story.

Her boyfriend was addicted to drugs. Her children were getting old enough to
understand things just weren't right. Her life with him was going nowhere.

"I had nothing," Law, 26, said, remembering that day two years ago when she
left her boyfriend and turned her life around.

She couldn't have done it, she said, without the help of the community
group. "They made me feel like it wasn't my fault," she said.

The group, established in the home of a local resident in 1987, is a
playground, a pre-school and a counselling service wrapped up in one.

It's now at 350 Linden Dr. in Cambridge and serves about 1,100 households in
the Preston Heights area.

It's also one of many agencies that receives funding from the United Way of
Cambridge and North Dumfries.

"Hopefully, we respond to whatever the community is needing or wanting at
the time," community development worker Sandy Roxborough said. "Hopefully,
we are sort of a bit of everything."

The centre offers several different services, including recreation, family
drop-in and pre-school programs, parenting workshops and social support.

Without funding from the United Way, Roxborough said, it is unlikely the
group would survive. That's why she's encouraging people to donate to the
United Way, so services like hers can continue to make a difference.

The Cambridge and North Dumfries United Way group is taking donations for a
fall fundraising campaign now. So far, about $500,000 of the $2.48-million
goal has been raised.

"Your money makes a difference for a community," Roxborough said. "It's an
opportunity for the community to empower itself. It's an investment that
pays off."

Just look at Bobbi Law and her three energetic girls and you'll have proof.

As the girls -- Jasmin, 6, Kristy, 4, and Briana, 1 -- ran around the centre
and played on the slide and swings, Law talked about how much their lives
have changed because of Roxborough.

Law had just moved to Cambridge from Mississauga when she left the girls'
father. She'd had enough of his drug addiction and wanted out. But after she
left, she found herself without money for food and diapers and without
friends or family to talk to.

"They helped me find the right places and the right resources," she said.

She started coming to the centre more often, made friends and now
volunteers. She's even considering taking courses at Conestoga College to
become an outreach worker.

The centre "made me more independent," she said. "It gave me the strength to
say I want to go back to school. A place like this, you can come in and not
feel like they are going to judge you."

Jacki Langlois, interim manager of marketing and development for the United
Way, said donating to member agencies such as the Preston Heights centre
helps communities thrive.

"Preston Heights Community Group is a fantastic example of how our community
is tied together to offer support and assistance," she said.

Law knows it's tough to measure her progress in numbers but she'll be the
first to tell you that her life and the life of her children is a lot
brighter thanks to United Way donations.

"It's so important that people give," she said. "Even if they can't see it,
it means the world to somebody."