A six-figure grant from the province of Ontario is going to help the Thames Valley Children’s Centre get a bit of a facelift.
Minister of Children and Youth Services Michael Coteau was in London on Thursday morning to announce the province has earmarked $3.8-million for improvements to 70 community agencies across Ontario, including youth centres and children’s aid societies.
"Investing in these types of facilities and making repairs to our children treatment centres, our children's aid societies and youth centres are investments in the safety and wellbeing of thousands of children and families that come through our doors every single day," said Coteau. "I believe these types of investments into our young people are the best investments we can make as taxpayers, to make sure that young people are getting the services they need to be successful."
London's Thames Valley Children’s Centre is getting $399,600 of those provincial funds, with the bulk of it going to one project.
"The primary funding, almost $350,000, is going to replace a cooling tower which basically just died after 25 years of service," said Dr. John LaPorta, CEO of the Thames Valley Children's Centre. "The rest of the funds are going to renovate our office up in Owen Sound where we just acquired a new program. So to accommodate that new program we needed to make renovations."
The centre has been in its current location on Baseline Rd. E since 1988. Every year, it serves approximately 8,000 children with special needs, including physical disabilities, communication disorders, developmental delays, and autism spectrum disorders.
Dr. LaPorta said the provincial funding allows the centre to focus on programming, rather than costly renovations.
"If this grant had not come from the minister we would have had to use some of our private funds to cover that expense," said Dr. LaPorta. "We are really focused on services and programs, that's where we want to focus our energy and now we are free from having to think about replacing our cooling tower and renovations."
Coteau also announced funding for renovation projects at Madame Vanier Children’s Services and Craigwood Youth Services.
