PUSLINCH - Council has approved $8,566 of funding grant to Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre for their expansion project.
“We are embarking on working on a pretty significant project and wanted to ask council for funding and support,” said Peter Cummins, chair of the steering committee, in an interview with GuelphToday.
“We’re expanding on the kind of impact Sunrise has on those that need support for those with disabilities. The township has been helpful in terms of providing us with some guidance with respect to zoning issues and site plan preparations.”
Sunrise provides a program of therapy, recreation, sport and life skills training for children and adults with special needs.
This year, they applied to get some support for the planning and execution of construction of a new facility they are trying to build.
Sunrise is planning to create residential and respite services, expand horse-based programs, and serve more individuals with special needs.
Cummins also spoke as a delegate at the operating budget council meeting on Wednesday.
“The need we’re trying to address with the current projects is number one, a huge demand for current services, so there’s unmet needs there. Currently, there's a five year wait list for respite care and we need to address that for those who need it,” said Cummins during the meeting.
“We need private therapy space to increase horse space therapy that is more of a medical support and we need to expand facilities to accommodate demand for recreational and therapeutic guiding for the general population.”
Cummins also noted that Sunrise needs more space dedicated for life-skill training for those who need to be able to manage being in a public setting and in the community.
“The big part of this project is satisfying the unmet needs of residential and respite support for young adults with special needs for their families. We want to expand residence for respite, expand the arena and creative arts building,” he said during the meeting.
A residence and respite building is being proposed, which will be 25,000 square feet in size with 14 studio suites, six respite beds, therapy facilities, life skills program, space program, and residence offices.
Much like last year, Sunrise applied for the whole $25,000 – the money Puslinch council has set aside for grants.
Last year, they received $12,500.
This year, however, they only received $8,566 of funding as five other organizations also applied for grants and the council needed to divide the funding fairly.
“We’re grateful for any support the township has given us even if it’s not the whole money we requested for. We know that other organizations also need this money as much as we do,” said Cummins to GuelphToday.
“We did apply for some of the affordable housing application grants the county has as we are trying to build this residence as a way to provide attainable housing for young adults with special needs.”
The township council divided up the $25,000 among other organizations such as Aberfoyle Agricultural Society and Aberfoyle Farmers’ Market, which respectively received $3,000; Puslinch Lake Conservation Association, which received $4,283; $3,000 for Friends of Mill Creek – Grand River; and $180 for Wellington County Plowmen’s Association.
