Harry E. Foster Foundation

For over 25 years, QVSS has had the good fortune of being assisted by The Harry E. Foster Foundation.

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The generosity of The Harry E. Foster Foundation has gone toward:

Lamination Department

The Harry E. Foster Foundation assists QVSS with a proactive response to provide needed enhancements necessary to supply top–notch service in a safe and productive atmosphere. Preventative maintenance, safety and public knowledge are important to QVSS participants.

The Harry E. Foster Foundation’s alliance has allowed us to maintain machinery and to provide equipment necessary to operate business safely and carve a path for new job prospects and community awareness. The generosity of The Harry E Foundation has provided many wonderful things over the years and remains a true enthusiast for our cause.

Machinery Care and Supply

• When QVSS offered vocational programs and before Bill #148, our Lamination area remained a safe and productive working atmosphere for many people.
• We completed many jobs within budgetary and time-constraints because of their help.
• QVSS felt at ease, since we averted possible costs of lost production, work for the participants, lost wages, and increasing repair costs.

The Harry E. Foster Foundation’s provision of an automatic air and sensor driven 3- hole puncher to replace the agency’s manual 3-hole punchers removed an important safety concern and increased our capacity for production.

On top of that, a work opportunity for a Quality Control Person that helped ensure contractual obligations, by monitoring and facilitating work performance, where all effective skills taught opened opportunities that were transferable to community employment.

Small Assembly & Packaging

There are many companies and organizations like or unlike QVSS , experiencing business hardships, especially during slow job growth. It had become increasingly difficult to fulfill our mandate and particularly hard for those who needed to supplement their income.

The Harry E. Foster Foundation, provided the opportunity for QVSS to advertise and promote in different media formats to reposition ourselves throughout the community in an effort to provide steady work for service-users.

With the high volume of shredding taking place in the department, people using the non-industrial machines, could not keep up with the demand of work, thus jeopardizing contracts and income.
The Harry E. Foster Foundation provided the agency an “Industrial Paper Shredder” to replace our small light shredders and was instrumental in our defense to protect shredding contracts.

Red’s Place Diner

• Lunch Subsidy Program- This subsidy allows people who are on a fixed income to continue to enjoy a nutritious meal at a reduced cost.

• Small-wares – replenishing and increasing some of our small appliances and cookware, since wear and tear, regulations and health codes, coupled with increased numbers, make it difficult to operate at our full potential. We now have; a meat slicer, colander, pots, pans, silverware, bowls, soup bowls, salad plates, muffin tins, cookie sheets, chaffing dishes, trays, plastic salad tubs and a trolley with a garbage bin.
• Tables and Chairs for Outside Dining Area – with our new building, there was space created to eat outside. However, we did not have tables and chairs. We now have adequate open-air seating to enjoy our lunches or to host outside events.

• Industrial Dishwasher – we used to lease a dishwasher, made monthly payments, and had to buy our detergents from the leaser. Now we are independent and have the equipment that can do the job as needed!
• A New Suppression Hood – QVSS feels confident that we have protection for the participants, employees and our business from a devastating fire with a well-maintained suppression system.
  

Pop Cooler – we also leased a cooler that we display and dispense our pop, juice and other items people like to purchase. The lease required QVSS to purchase all items from the leaser, which is costly and limited. With a new cooler, we can offer more items at a better price while generating greater savings. Industrial gas range – At present, we have replaced our home-type electric stoves with a six-burner industrial gas range that can now meet the needs of this growing department. Maintenance and Repeated Inspection Costs- To provide nutrition from our diner there are strict guidelines when maintaining regular equipment inspections like exhaust-hood cleaning, grease traps, suppression inspections and pest control, for example. Community Volunteer and Job Coach-The Harry E. Foster Foundation enabled QVSS to hire a Job Coach to continue momentum toward community participation and to help individuals, who are not quite job-ready, prepare and develop employable skills with work-related experiences in building. Training Tools- The Harry E. Foster Foundation provided versatile vocational training tools that we utilize for gradual amalgamation into our delivery of service. The documentaries, DVD’s, videos and books are used to teach life-replicating experiences to help develop life and friendship skills, health and safety skills, how to socialize, money skills and so much more!

The Cleaning Crew

Thanks to The Harry E. Foster Foundation, QVSS provided work skills and experience for five people who wish to work in the cleaning service industry, at our location since their provision of a new industrial cleaning trolley.

In addition, The Harry E. Foster Foundation replaced our aging non-energy efficient washing machine and dryer, with new, up-to-date equipment that can handle the demands of the diner.

Computer Lab

Our Computer Lab exists thanks to The Harry E. Foster Foundation. All QVSS programs and services are requests of our participants. They recognize that computers are essential in today’s world. Service-users have the desire to learn and develop skills to evolve with the changing times, to gain knowledge and to develop employable skills.

All Areas

The Harry E. Foster Foundation has provided:

• A Dyna-Lift System which is an adjustable lift tables/systems for industrial workbenches that provides ergonomic workstations for worker safety and comfort. These tables allow individuals in wheelchair’s easy access to their work assignments.

A fork-truck to accommodate high-volume work in a safer and more efficient way.

• A sales person to help:

1. Increase sales in our vocational programs
2. Provide consistent vocational work, work habits and work ethics
3. Maintain balance
4. To supplement incomes

• Program Cost Assistance- Everyone who attends QVSS is on a disability allowance, and we are all privy to the knowledge that basic-need expenditures increase at an alarming rate, but their disability allowance does not. This assistance allows participants to enjoy recreational activities that have a fee attached, like bowling, for example.

• Client Social Committee- Some people who attend QVSS have not traveled outside their own community and have not enjoyed day trips since they cannot afford to. The Harry E Foster foundation helps us provide equal opportunity to all who attend and wish to     participate in a day trip activity.
• Advertising all QVSS Programs and Services for Passport Recipients– Advertising to promote and display the agency, to all people receiving Passport Funding, via social media, radio, newspapers and flyers.

Education and Recreation

• Collective Kitchens- New Stove We have a group of people willing to share time, money and skills with a qualified staff to prepare healthy, appetizing and cost-saving meals. At the end of each class, they will have prepared three meals to be brought home in containers (provided by QVSS) to freeze and eat at a later time.  This program is beneficial to people who are currently living on their own who want to learn how to cook healthy, economically and safely for themselves.
• SMART board with Short Throw Projector- There are many settings at QVSS where a SMART board has assisted service-users such as, the Social Media Group, the Life Learning program, Discovery Program, Health and Safety program, First Aid, Employment Skills, virtually anything you need or want to learn.

• Portable Sound System- The portable sound system for QVSS is ideal for our Social Media Group, Group Presentations, Guest Speakers for our Educational Days, Health Unit Educators, and Abuse Recognition Speakers, Dignitaries; Variety Shows, Choirs and more..

• Shipping and Receiving Person-Service-users, under the direction of their immediate supervisor, were able to acquire new work opportunities as they develop employable skills while subsidizing their wages. This shipping/receiving person performed work at QVSS related to receiving and shipping merchandise.
• New Sewing and Embroidery Machines- This program is beneficial to anyone with an interest or need to learn to sew or to advance their skills as a sewer. Clients continuously improve their skills and are keen to learn more.

• Defibrillator- Quinte Vitality and Social Support provides supports and services to many people with varying disabilities, health issues and exceptionalities.  We feel we are at higher risk because of the people we support who are medically fragile and a defibrillator increases the survival rate of a victim of sudden cardiac arrest. Every staff member at QVSS has advanced training to use the defibrillator.