Thornhill
May 01, 2008 11:37 PM
By: Chris Traber
A York Region supportive housing project took a big step toward completion, thanks to a $2 million provincial grant announced today.
The money goes towards the 60-unit Reena Community Residence in Thornhill, a $19-million facility in the midst of the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus scheduled for occupancy by September 2009.
The residence will be home to 83 people, more than half of whom have a developmental disability, Reena communications and marketing manager Minnie Ross said.
Those eligible to live at the facility will be drawn from the frail elderly and those with physical, developmental and mental health challenges.
“This will provide housing for those most vulnerable to social neglect — people with disabilities,” Ms Ross said. “Lack of affordable housing has prevented them from living close to family or being able to participate in this new thriving Jewish milieu.”
Reena’s Pathways program, life skills training for 21- to 35- year-old developmentally challenged adults, will occupy most of the ground floor of the four-storey building.
The space will also accommodate Reena’s Outreach program and other community initiatives. The upper three floors will each have a mix of 20 units.
The building’s future residents are in desperate need of affordable, supportive housing and will benefit from being in an embracing Jewish environment, Ms Ross said.
They will be offered in-home support services such as household cleaning and laundry, shopping and meal planning, personal care, caregiver relief, security checks, case management as well as social, recreational and cultural programming.
“It’s important for people with a developmental disability to live in their own community in a place that meets their needs,” Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur said.
The balance of project costs will come from fundraising, Ms Ross said.
For information on the project and how to contribute, visit www.reena.org or call 905-889-6484.