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In picture: John Huigenbos (left), chair of the Participation Support Services board of directors, executive director Sherry Kerr and Phil Race, 2018-2019 President of the Rotary Club of Brantford – Sunrise with Andrew and Amanda Neilsen, who will be moving into Stedman House in the spring.
“Stedman House is a perfect, comfortable small home that suits the needs of individuals who require supportive housing,” said Sherry Kerr, executive director of Participation Support Services, which offers residential services at its site at 10 Bell Lane.
“This will allow us to have more space at the Bell Lane site for our transitional care bed program and emergency housing needs in the community for individuals with a physical disability or complex care needs,” she said. “This is a great win all the way around.”
To find our major project, we requested community proposals for funding. We received 10 proposals from organizations in Brantford and Brant County and then met with five of the proponents to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of their organization. All proposals were exceptionally well done and showed our members how many legitimate needs there are to fill in our community. It was definitely a difficult decision to make, however; the club’s major projects committee felt the Participation Support Services proposal 'merged nicely with the mandates, goals and values of our club and of Rotary International.'
Stedman House is the site of the Stedman Community Hospice, which opened in 2004. It has not been used as a residence since Hankinson House, the new home of the hospice, opened in September 2014 and is at St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre. Once renovations are complete, Participation Support Services will lease the space as a permanent residence.
For Participation Support Services, the move is a continuation of an effort to move people from the agency’s Bell Lane site to small group homes in the community. The agency is working to re-purpose the Bell Lane facility to a transitional bed program. At present, there are 23 people living in the Bell Lane facility, which is dated and looks more like an institution than a home.
A non-profit charitable organization, Participation Support Services helps more than 350 people with either a physical disability, a complex health care need or who are senior citizens.
