Money for occupational centre
Provincial dollars to be used for renovations, new business
A non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities in the Strait area has received a financial shot in the arm that will help expand its programming.
On Monday, the provincial government announced an investment of $50,000 for the Regional Occupational Centre in Port Hawkesbury.
Executive director Diana Poirier said the much-needed cash infusion allows the centre to carry out renovations and enhancements to its MacQuarrie Drive Extension facility.
“We’re very pleased that the province has recognized the value in the services we provide,” said Poirier, who oversees the centre that was established in 1975 to deliver support services and training to clients with mental and physical disabilities.
“We provide opportunities for these individuals to learn employment skills — the whole idea is for us to work ourselves out of a job and for our clients to go out into the community and get paid employment.”
The Regional Occupational Centre presently has a client list of about 30 people who take part in a variety of programs and enterprises including a bakery that operates out of a small storefront area of the centre.
“We have the bakery and we also sell the crafts we make so this expansion is going to allow us to expand our social enterprise and allow us to have a second-hand clothing store — we’re going to incorporate all of them together,” said Poirier, who added that expanding into the used clothing business seemed a natural fit for the centre.
“It’s a job that people with disabilities are able to do on all levels, so we really wanted to give that opportunity to the folks that we support, to give them another stepping stone to employment,” she said.
The planned expansion will see the ROC’s storefront space increase from 200 square feet to more than 1,000 square feet.
The latest provincial money (the Nova Scotia government contributes more than $1 million annually to the centre) comes on the heels of a March announcement that saw the centre receive $500,000 in funding from the federal government.
The centre serves clients from Richmond, Inverness, Guysborough and Antigonish counties.