Katherine Loveys is in the studio to talk about Parents for Community Living and the Stand Up for PCL fundraiser to build affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities.
Free tickets are still available! Just go to our Listen Live page and type in the chat box “I’d like to win tickets to Stand Up for PCL” (with your contact info).
Katherine Loveys tells us about Parents for Community Living. It started 1986, now there are 13 locations in Waterloo Region providing accomodation for individuals with intellectual disabilities. There are no longer provincial institutions, these individuals are now living in their own home communities. Katherine tells us about her own journey into PCL, and how it has changed over the years. Katherine talks about the various services provided at the homes, including respite programs .
14m08s
Katherine introduces the Stand Up For PCL fundraiser. The goal is raising funds to build additional affordable housing. Katherine explains some of the previous work done to provide housing at the Bridgeport and Lancaster facility. St. Paul’s church wanted to repurpose their building, which was torn down and replaced with a 48 unit apartment building, of which PCL has ten units. There is also a commercial kitchen for community events. The other 38 units are available to people on the Region of Waterloo affordable housing program, but there are still some 6,000 people on the wait list, not including the 700 people with developmental disabilities on PCL‘s wait list. Katherine supplies more details on the comedy night.
21m29s
Partners for Community Living is offering two free tickets to the comedy fundraiser to the first person to put their name in the Chat Box on our Listen Live page! Be sure to write in that you want the tickets to the Stand Up for PCL comedy show.
Talking about fundraising, and how community living works, giving some more info about the Bridgeport/Lancaster residence. There are cooking classes, and PCL has a partnership with Second Harvest, which provides food for their community kitchen. The community hub is available for use community groups. Contact PCL at info@pclkw.org.
30m22s
Katherine thanks the many sponsors of the Stand Up for PCL comedy night. There are still sponsorships opportunities, and they’re still accepting items for the silent auction. Katherine explains how the silent auction works.
32m48s
Katherine discusses the privatization of health care, and how PCL is regulated in the sector. Private firms offering these services are not regulated as well. Katherine says that Developmental Services Ontario is where people can access care-giving services. But there’s a waiting list, 700 people in Waterloo Region; the waiting list across Ontario is 19,000 people. One of the challenges is finding affordable housing; another is finding employees. The pandemic made it more difficult to find people in health care and education. There are many specialty professions required, but there’s always room for volunteers.
Talking about the different awards that Parents for Community Living has received. And there are health and wellness activities for both staff and the community, such as last year’s “Hot Tub Time Machine.” The employees are very engaged with the people they support, to help them fulfill their dreams and goals. Katherine thanks all the employees for what can be a thankless job. The work can be emotionally taxing, but it is very rewarding work. PCL is a major employer in Waterloo Region, and also a major consumer at grocery stores, and even purchasing real estate. There is some employee turnover, but many people have worked there for years. Katherine lists some of the requirements for employment at PCL.
50m17s
Katherine summarizes the Stand Up for PCL one more time.
https://pclkw.org/
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