KidsAbility’s Cambridge hub set to open
Final touches underway at all-in-one centre
KidsAbility is celebrating the opening of its new Cambridge hub next week.
“We’re pretty excited to be here,” said chief executive officer Linda Kenny.
The grand opening is next Wednesday, and people are busy this week putting the final touches on the space that will bring all the services KidsAbility Centre for Child Development offers in Cambridge together under one roof.
The fresh start is apparent out front, where the parking lot is being painted with a new symbol for the disabled parking spots. Kenny believes KidsAbility is the first organization in the region to adopt them, and she’s hoping the region and its municipalities will also start using it.
The old symbol, she said, “is a pretty stationary person in a wheelchair.”
The new one, spearheaded by the Accessible Icon Project, is dynamic.
“It’s designed to show people in wheelchairs as moving forward,” Kenny said. “They’re all set and ready to go and nothing is going to stop them.”
And that is a perfect fit for KidsAbility, which provides services and supports to children and youth with a wide range of complex special needs.
“It really epitomizes what we want to see happen for kids,”
Kenny said.
KidsAbility is making the Langs Drive building home in short order, after the opportunity to take over more space popped up in the spring. The organization had been offering services out of part of that building and the Cambridge Family YMCA on Hespeler Road.
Adding 17,000 square feet to the existing 4,000 square feet that KidsAbility occupied in the building brings everything together — the autism program, KidsAbility school, and rehabilitation — and creates new opportunities.
There’s a gym that will be shared by the school, autism centre and new youth centre. That space will also allow them to begin offering summer camps.
KidsAbility has been offering a youth program out of its Waterloo office, and now it can in Cambridge, too. A fully-accessible kitchen will help with a life and social skills class.
The community is also invited to make use of some of the new amenities.
“It’s really important to us that we’re good neighbours,” Kenny said.
There’s a family resource centre where therapy-based toys and books can be borrowed, and meeting space is also available.
A fully-accessible playground is also open to anyone, which includes a zip line type of installation with a chair to allow children of all abilities to enjoy it.
“We’re really excited about this,” Kenny said. “We want this playground to be used by the community.”
KidsAbility already had centralized hubs in Kitchener and Waterloo. And it’s been providing services in Cambridge since 1972. Last year, it served 1,600 children and youth from its two sites in Cambridge, and that grows every year.
The new hub offers a better experience for families who can now get all services in one spot, and also encourages staff collaboration.
“We want our clinicians to be working together,” Kenny said.
The total project cost is just over $1 million, and already $550,000 of the $750,000 fundraising goal has been reached. Along with donations, ATS Automation Tooling Systems sent a team of staff this week to help ready the space, including doing final painting and hanging colourful animal portraits on the hallway walls.
“We’ve had some pretty great support in the community,” Kerry said.