It’s one thing to advocate for the full participation, inclusion, and empowerment of people who have a disability within all aspects of the community. It’s another thing to actually achieve such goals given funding challenges, staffing capacity, and community acceptance. However, that’s exactly the kind of positive effort Torchlight Services has been providing to people living with disabilities in the Guelph area.
“We just celebrated our 50th year this summer,” said Patty Cote-Duncanson, Executive Director of Torchlight Services. “We’re a non-profit charitable organization providing meaningful programs for people with disabilities.”
While programming elements have shifted over the years as government mandates changed, the primary focus of Torchlight Services has always been helping people living with disabilities enjoy active, fulfilling lives. This may include things like organizing day trips and activities as well as educational programs; it all depends on the mix of individuals who come to the program on a regular basis.
“We serve people with physical disabilities, some with mental health issues, and some with developmental disabilities,” said Cote-Duncanson, who has been with Torchlight Services for 22 years. “We’re not equipped to do high needs care. A lot of what we do is social, providing them with choices of activity whether that’s recreational, educational, or leisure based. Everything they do is their choice.”
Torchlight is serving an average of 25 people per day, although the need in the Guelph community for such services is much larger. Like many charitable organizations, capacity to deliver to meet growing need is always based on funding.
“Currently our biggest challenge is funding,” said Cote- Duncanson. “We’re a nonprofit group. We only have eight staff and many participants. We would really like to expand by getting a person who can provide one-on-one services. This would allow them to help some of our participants who would like to do more in the community, either finding meaningful employment or volunteering. We’ve been applying for grants, but nothing is confirmed.”
One of the more successful initiatives championed by Torchlight Services is the Ignite Social Enterprise program, which celebrates participant independence by engaging individuals in supervised vocational opportunities. Program participants will cultivate skills, confidence and experience while working collaboratively on projects with their peers. Profits are then shared as their projects are sold in the community.
“We’re always looking to partner with people and businesses in the community that can help with the Ignite program,” said Cote-Duncanson.
The organization is always looking for volunteers who could help staff on outings, or businesses willing to offer opportunities for employment. Cote-Duncanson said that Torchlight hasn’t received a significant change funding in years, so expansion of service to meet demand can only happen with community support. Even small things like offering discounts to local attractions would help Torchlight Services provide more activities to those individuals who attend the program.
For more information or to get involved, visit Torchlight Services online.