Community Living North Perth held a very successful launch to its Bring Us Home campaign at the Listowel Golf Course Thursday night.
The event, called The Power of a Place to Call Home, saw nearly 100 attendees come out to support the campaign, which aims to build a new 15 unit living space for adults with developmental disabilities in Listowel on land donated from the municipality.
Tracy Wareham, Community Living's Community Engagement Lead, says fundraising for the $6 million project is off and running to make the building a reality for people who really need it.
"So in partnership with Children's Aid Society and the City of Stratford, we want to help people to be able to have a home that they can afford within their means and have a place they can feel comfortable and call their own," Wareham explained.
Community Living North Perth has supported adults with developmental disabilities for over 60 years.
The evening featured three guest speakers, including Tammy Northam, the 1st Vice Chair of Community Living North Perth's board, who shared her story about she and her son Zack, who is one of the people this new building could greatly help. Tammy also shared details on the project and why its impact will be so powerful in the community.
Following Tammy was the mother-daughter duo of Sara and Leah den Bok. Sara was born in India, and as a 3-year-old orphan, was rescued off the street by Mother Theresa at her orphanage. Sara would later be adopted by a family from Stayner, Ontario, and she remains the first and only person from the orphanage to be adopted to Canada. She remained in contact with Mother Theresa up until the saint's death in 1997, and continues to share her story.
Leah, Sara's daughter, has been running a project called Humanizing the Homeless for over 10 years. She has travelled all over the world documenting the struggles of homeless people, and showing powerful photographs and the stories of the people she meets in an effort to raise awareness and ultimately humanize those who are often ignored in society on the street. You can follow her work here: https://www.humanizingthehomeless.org/.
Following the speakers, the night involved more fundraising through games and prize draws, and Tracy Wareham noted that this is just the first of many fundraising efforts that will hopefully make the new building a reality quickly. She says there are easy ways to donate.
"You can go on our website and donate through CanadaHelps and donate online. You can also reach out to me at twareham@clnorthperth.ca and get more information, but there's many ways you can donate," Wareham noted.
Visit https://clnorthperth.ca/ for more information on Community Living's work, the Bring Us Home campaign, or to donate.
