Two community and social service agencies serving Guelph and Wellington County are receiving a combined $280,000 to fund critical repairs, renovations and fire safety improvements.
Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County will be receiving $270,000 to replace the roof of the agency’s building.
Hopewell Children’s Homes Inc. is set to receive $10,000 for improvements to its Stephanie Drive location in Guelph: $5,000 for the replacement of a leaking garage roof and $5,000 to replace five door frames.
The funding is part of the $18 million the Ontario government is giving to community and social service agencies through its Partner Facility Program.
“When somebody’s doing a major renovation or building something new it’s much easier to fundraise if you need to do some fundraising to support those sorts of projects because people like to see a new room or a new building or a freshly renovated building,” said Guelph MPP Liz Sandals at the Sept. 1 funding announcement at Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington.
“When it’s the things that you can’t see, when it’s roof repairs or just fixing stuff that’s broken or doing things that you can’t see like the boiler or the HVAC system, those sorts of things, you can’t really fundraise for those because people can’t see them so this money’s really, really important to the agencies.”
Hopewell
Hopewell’s executive director Kim Rodrigues explained the not-for-profit agency is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.
It supports children, youths and adults.
At the Stephanie Road location alone Rodrigues said the agency is supporting over 40 families.
“They need to have that break, the need to be able to have that weekend, have that evening to be able to do their groceries, to be able to refresh and they need a safe location for their children to go to,” she said.
“And so it’s really essential for those families to get those breaks.
“They want to continue to support their children in their home but they need that break and we have to have a roof that’s not leaking and we have to have doors that open and close to support those kids and we’re truly delighted that we have that support from the ministry and from Liz and from others as well to be able to offer that support.”
Family and Children’s Services
Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington will be using its $270,000 allotment to replace the entire roof.
“We’ll be utilizing this infrastructure funding to address the problems inherent in maintaining a building with a flat roof. Not a great roof to have but we will make the necessary replacement and repairs of the roof membrane and ensure that the roof’s able to withstand the traffic on the roof,” said executive director Sheila Markle.
“Our staff will be very grateful that they will no longer need to have umbrella’s at their desk to prevent being rained on, or packing boxes to move their things, so that’s great.
“We want to thank you and your government for providing this funding that will allow us to address this important repair so that we can concentrate on the services we provide to children and families in Guelph and Wellington County.”
The province is providing funding for renovations and repairs to more than 140 children’s treatment centres, children’s aid societies and youth centres.
