Article from Guelph Today:
An organization supporting people with developmental disabilities is set to open its second home this year to try to keep up with demand.
Next month Hopewell Support Services will open its 11th home for people with developmental disabilities. In April, it opened a home on Youngman Drive.
Hopewell provides residential supportive living and respite for people with developmental disabilities. It also has social and recreational programming, as well as after school activities.
Opening two homes is not typical but it is needed, said Jessica Johnston, CEO of Hopewell.
She said there are more than 850 people on the Developmental Services Ontario registry requesting supportive living in Guelph-Wellington. Of those, 170 are residents of Guelph-Wellington.
The new house on Miller Street will be home to four people in their early 20s. It is fully accessible with a wheelchair ramp, lowered counter tops, roll-in showers, and a wheelchair stair lift. The house was purchased with the accessibility features already in place.
Move-in will be in early November. For the time being Hopewell has a registry for home items people can purchase as a donation. People can also donate toward the purchase of the house and for a vehicle. Johnston said Hopewell is using reserves for the home purchase, but with support from the community things can move faster to house people with the purchase of more homes.
“We often describe it as a silent crisis because much of this is happening behind closed doors. Family and caregivers that are doing everything they can to support their loved ones, but they’re not sure how much longer they can continue to provide the care. And what often happens is things break down, and then individuals are faced with homelessness or prolonged hospital stays, or just not the best housing situations,” said Johnston.
It doesn’t need to be this way because agencies like Hopewell and Community Living Guelph-Wellington provide support but support from the community for the organizations is needed too, she said.
The plan is to open at least one home per year.
Across its homes and programs, Hopewell supports about 250 children and adults.
Along with providing housing for people with developmental disabilities they are also supported to become more independent. Independence can look like volunteering, getting a job, or other ways where they are part of the community.
“Once you move into a house, it doesn’t mean that’s your house forever and always. It’s about giving you the support so that you can be the best person that you can be,” said Johnston.
There will be an open house for the new home on Oct. 21. Those wanting to attend are asked to contact Johnston via email at jjohnston@hopewellsupport.ca.
