BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Twenty-four-year-old Jamie Holmes loves working at Sudbury?s Independent Living Resource Centre.
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Social development co-ordinator Jamie Holmes and client Craig Gee hang out at the Independent Living Resource Centre. |
Holmes, who has spina bifida hydracephalus, enjoys helping other people like himself learn and grow. He is a graduate of the social services worker program at Cambrian College.
The Elm Street drop-in centre provides social support, employment and living skills training, and access to computers for people with physical,
intellectual, and learning disabilities, as well as those with mental health issues.
?It?s a place for people to come in and learn different skills, to improve on skills, and to work through issues they may be having,? he says. ?It?s just a great place to come. It?s basically like a family atmosphere.?
But if the centre, which opened three years ago, doesn?t receive a stable source of funding soon, Holmes and his five colleagues could be out of a job, and their 250 clients left with nowhere to go.
The centre has been relying on fundraising money and one-time grants from agencies like the Ontario Trillium Foundation, as well as small amounts of funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Human Resources Development Canada.
To make the money stretch, the three most senior staff members at the Independent Living Resource Centre are currently working without pay. They have enough money to pay their three junior staff members until the end of March.
The centre?s staff say they want the federal Ministry of Social Development to provide them with stable, long-term funding. So far, 1,500 people have signed letters and petitions in support of the centre, which they are planning on sending to the ministry.
?It sucks...It is very difficult knowing that at any point that you could be gone because of not being able to afford it. Where would people go? We?ve been open for quite a while now. People become accustomed to having a place to go and socializing and learning different things...they would be pushed to wherever, and I don?t know where wherever would be,? says Holmes.
The president of the centre?s board of directgors, Earl Black, says they aren?t asking the federal government for much. It costs just $200,000 to pay salaries and provide the centre?s social programs for one year.
?I think the government would be hard pressed not to look at us. They are a minority government. They are under pressure. It doesn?t take much to take down a minority government,? he says, adding he?s received verbal support from local Liberal MPs Ray Bonin and Diane Marleau. ?The next step would be going to the opposition and taking it right to the leaders like Jack Layton with the NDP.?
The centre is important because it alleviates the isolation that disabled people sometimes face, says Black.
?People don?t have a place to go, especially in the wintertime...They feel very comfortable here because they know they?re not judged,? says Black.
Executive Director Norma Shaw is so dedicated to the centre?s mandate that she is willing to go without a salary to see it continue. She enjoys creating opportunities for people who have a difficult time negotiating their way through life.
?There are three of us (working without pay), and yes, it is very difficult. We?re like everybody else. We have car payments and personal commitments...but it is worth it. I think we do a tremendous job here,? she said.
For more information about the centre, or to find out about the petitions and form letters, phone 675-2121 or go to ilrcsudbury.ca.
