Local non-profit hoping for help housing people with developmental disabilities

A local group is fundraising to build a badly needed house for people with disabilities in west Edmonton. CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa reports.

A local non-profit is asking Edmontonians for help on a new project it said will help change the lives of people with developmental disabilities.

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The volunteer-run Care Housing Society has been providing housing for people with severe developmental disabilities since 1991. It runs three homes in Edmonton, but is hoping to expand with a fourth.

The society has already secured a piece of land in west Edmonton but it needs some help reaching the $700,000 or so needed to build the home. While residents do pay rent, the society pays to maintain and operate the homes.

“Fundraising is a continual thing for us here,” said Dell Yaghi, who has been with Care Housing Society for almost five years.

“Each house, we have to take care of the maintenance and the operations around the house. So it’s going to need money.”

Colin Wright is a member of the society and his 38-year-old daughter Kelly has lived in a Care home for two decades. He said she loves it and so does he, as it offers peace of mind.

“It’s wonderful to know that my child is being well taken care of and my child is happy,” Wright said. “The other thing it takes off is the pressure off the family … if I wanted to go on a holiday to Hawaii or Mexico or something, I don’t worry.

“I know she’s taken care of.”

Wright explained that adults with severe developmental delays can become too big or too much work for some families to handle on their own. He said it’s “immensely” important for those families to have somewhere they know their loved one will be cared for.

“You want to know your child is safe, and you want to know that when her nose needs wiping, it gets wiped. You want to know when her diaper, in this case, needs changing, it gets changed. Her clothes are clean, her food is good, her medicine is being given to her on time.”

The non-profit’s next fundraiser is March 5 at Century Casino Edmonton. More information can be found on Care Housing’s website.

Two others are planned for March and October, with details to be released at a later date.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa