As you may or may not know, Quinte Vitality and Social Supports have offered day supports for adults living with developmental and physical disabilities for over 60 years. Presently, we are operating as an emergency service for people struggling at home. We offer an abundance of recreational activities for people to enjoy in a happy, safe place. However,since COVID-19, it has not been easy to meet the necessities for services required.

The building required plumbing and safety upgrades. It was intense and very time-consuming to clean and disinfect each tap, dispenser, toilet and every additional gadget after each use on top of social distancing, masking and hand-sanitizing. We had to reduce the number of people we provide services for and reassign a staff person to sanitize the building. It was challenging (to say the least) to meet the demand for services and keep people as safe as possible.

That is until the Ontario Trillium Foundation granted Quinte Vitality Support Service $27,400 to install touchless devices such as light switches, touchless toilets, soap dispensers, hand dryers, faucets, and sanitizing stations. Since the generous contribution from OTF, the staff person has returned to direct care, enabling the agency to create another cohort, increasing our capacity to provide services to more people.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation not only helped QVSS to help others; it snowballs to include the participants and their parents and caregivers struggling at home to find care for their sons and daughters. Family homes and group homes are relieved to receive day support respite care. But most importantly, participating adults are at less risk for illness.

Without the generosity of the Ontario Trillium Foundation Resilient Community Funding, we would not be able to help the way we do. OTF enabled our agency to provide a flexible range of supports to help many people and address our diverse needs as we recover and rebuild during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These improvements and easy accessibility will last for years to come and is great news for the community that utilizes our services and for the public and friends who visit the agency.

Thank you, Ontario Trillium Foundation.
December 2021