The Children’s Treatment Centre (CTC) of Chatham-Kent is a step closer to its fundraising goal after a donation from the Rotary Club of Chatham.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Rotary Club presented the CTC with a check for $20,000. The money will go towards the centre's Butterfly Building Campaign, a fundraising effort to have a new facility built that will accommodate new programs, caseload growth, strong demand and changing client needs.
Jennifer Hill, president of the Rotary Club of Chatham, said the organization is looking forward to seeing the new building and happy to be a part of it.
"It's an awesome opportunity for us to donate to this wonderful treatment centre," she said. "It's expanding and we wanted to be a part of it."
The new facility will be 50,000 square feet and will move the centre from its current location at 355 Lark St. in Chatham to a new and expanded site on McNaughton Avenue West.
Mike Genge, executive director of the CTC, said donations, like the one from the Rotary Club, will help the centre be able to treat more children.
"This money will go towards helping us reduce wait times, getting more kids into the centre and building a larger facility so we have that," he explained.
No construction or opening date has been set in stone yet, however, Genge said construction plans are moving ahead.
"We're moving forward," he said. "We're looking at getting our government funding and we're looking forward to finishing our capital campaign."
The CTC has been advocating for provincial funding to help with building the new facility. There's been no final word on if they will receive it but Genge said he is "excited" to move forward with the campaign. He added that he is in constant communications with MPPs Monte McNaughton and Lisa MacLeod regarding the funding
"We're looking forward to having them come down here," Genge said. "I believe in May they're going to be coming down and they're going to do another site visit...Once they do that then we'll be able to say 'hey, you know what guys, when do we get our money?'"
The CTC estimated that by 2020 it will serve 4,500 clients in the area.
