Community Living North Perth gave a presentation to North Perth Council on April 15 regarding future housing needs for the organization.
Executive Director Jennifer Croft says Community Living is a not-for-profit organization that assists people with developmental disabilities in North Perth. She says they work with them as adults to help get them more involved in their community.
"So that might be through helping them find and keep employment, or participating in community activities. You'll always see a group of people that we support cheering on the Listowel Cyclones. We also help people who live in their own apartment keep their apartment and manage their grocery shopping and budget and so on," Croft explained.
Croft says that they are in need of more housing options for those that don't necessarily need 24/7 care but need a housing setup with staff available. That was what the presentation was about for council.
"What we are looking at doing is expanding our housing so that we can support 8-10 individuals who need that housing that gives them their own living space, their own living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, but also some shared common spaces, where they can learn how to cook, or plan their meals for the week or plan their budget, and have staff available as they need it," said Croft.
Part of the presentation to council was to ask the council for some help to get started.
"One of our first steps is looking for some land and we were asking the Municipality of North Perth to consider taking a look at any land they could donate or give at a more affordable range for our organization to be able to start with," Croft shared. "Council was very supportive and we'll be working with the staff of the municipality over the coming weeks, to take a look at some opportunities and what would fit our needs so that we can figure out what that partnership can look like. Then obviously the next step is raising money for the build."
Croft says they hope to raise roughly $500,000 this year, with an eventual total goal of about $4 million. The $500,000 would be to help pay off a house the organization purchased that houses and assists some of their people who require more intensive 24/7 assistance, and that property can then be leveraged for the new build.
Anyone who wants to donate or learn more can visit CLNorthPerth.ca. You can also Call 1-519-291-1350 or email info@clnorthperth.ca.