After 25 years, 30 Rochester St. is finally going to feel a little less crowded.
The new Ottawa Rotary Home is ready to open, and with 21 beds for families requiring respite care for their physically disabled children, it’s a step up from Rochester’s mere 12.
Now located further south at 4637 Bank St., the new home is 17,000 sq. feet compared withthe just 4700 sq. feet staff had to work with at Rochester.
Gina St. Amour, executive director of the Rotary Home, says this makes it a lot easier on the 150 families they work with on a regular basis.
The old facility, still owned and maintained by the Rotary Home, is undergoing renovations and will now house eight disabled adults as a permanent residence starting in March.
Since the idea for a new respite centre began 13 years ago, the campaign has raised $6.5 million that has provided such necessities as larger washrooms and therapeutic tubs.
However St. Amour says the most important change from Rochester is that the new Rotary Home has an adult wing separate from the children’s for disabled young adults over the age of 21.
“Families refer to it as ‘the abyss,’ ” she explains. “They know at age 21 there’s pretty much nothing out there.”
Ninety-seven per cent of funding comes from the provincial government. Parents pay $10 a day to keep children at the home.
St. Amour hopes to get more corporate sponsors and community partners involved to raise further funds to expand services.