About Us

Pinnacle Community Services provides a wide range of services to the residents of the Niagara region. Our services assist people at every stage of the life cycle: expectant parents to parenting the young child; family help during the teen years; and help for youth and adults dealing with mental health or other chronic illness, domestic violence, or the everyday stress of life.

Healthier individuals. Healthier communities.

We define “family” as those people who—whether by birth, by choice, or by circumstance—we are connected to by culture, tradition, shared experiences, emotional commitment, or mutual support. Each of us is molded by those around us.

As a family service agency, we recognize that help and healing for each individual occurs within this personal network of relationships.

Our job is to help people help themselves. We provide a positive relationship with a caring professional to help people strengthen connections to others and repair what is damaged, leading to a healthier life for the individual and a healthier community.

Our Mission

Side by Side, Step by Step… we strengthen our community by supporting and empowering individuals and families on their journey.

Our Values

Integrity
Accountability
Respect
Compassion

Board of Directors

  • Bernadette Franjoine

    CHAIRPERSON

  • Open

    1st VICE CHAIR

  • Dana Radatz

    2nd VICE CHAIR

  • Ken Tirohn

    SECRETARY

  • Steven Sinclair

    TREASURER

  • Michael Piette

    AT LARGE

  • Amanda Aversa

    MEMBER

  • Najja Bouldin

    MEMBER

  • Steven Carmina

    MEMBER

  • Ryan Erwin

    MEMBER

  • Sue Jacobi Franjoine

    MEMBER

  • Karri Gebhart

    MEMBER

  • Sharon Lomison

    MEMBER

  • Karen Lyle

    MEMBER

  • Nicolette Mazzarella

    MEMBER

  • Pastor Craig Pridgen

    MEMBER

  • Holly Shaw

    MEMBER

  • Thomas Sy

    MEMBER

  • Peter Wiltenburg

    MEMBER

  • Ronald Zenon Piaseczny

    MEMBER

Management Team

Our History

Pinnacle Community Services has met the ever-changing needs of our community for more than a century by providing the residents of the Niagara region with a wide range of community and social work services. On June 1, 1895, sixteen women met to form the Charity Organization Society with $156 in the treasury. The rest is history.

  • In the early years, the work of the organization was carried out by the unpaid, volunteer efforts of the members themselves. As the needs of the community became more complex, the need for trained staff became evident.

    • The organization held its 18th annual meeting in their new building at 826 Chilton Avenue in January 1913. All but one room in the new building was rented out to pay for expenses. The agency remained on Chilton Avenue until April of 2010, when the new Family Center on Main Street was completed.

    • The first paid staff was hired as a General Secretary of the agency in 1917; the first telephone was installed.

    • With the onset of the flu epidemic in 1918, a district nurse was hired to coordinate a staff of 17 volunteer nurses, a sliding fee scale was established and 24-hour service was provided.

    • Since December 1925, the agency has operated with a staff of paid professional social workers.

    Over the years our name has changed and our services have been modified to meet the needs of the community in the 21st century, but our work of helping people help themselves has remained. Thousands of children, adults, and families have turned to the agency for compassionate, affordable, and professional help to meet their needs.

    Pinnacle Community Services is truly a “family” service agency providing a mosaic of inter-related services for the benefit of the entire family, from infants to adults.

Annual Report

Download our most recent Annual Report to the Community.

Funding Sources

Learn more about our funding sources and affiliations.