Opportunity granted

Tom Pugliese says without the help of the federal government’s Opportunities Fund For Persons with Disablities program, the region’s disabled population would have a much more difficult time finding work.

His Independent Living Resource Centre on Tuesday was the largest recipient of seven grants handed out by the country’s minister of state for seniors, Julian Fantino. Pugliese, the executive director of the organization, said the $265,661 will be used to execute their Creating Employability Options, now in its ninth year.

“What it is a direct route for persons with disabilities in the region to access funding to become more employable, through a number of different ways, whether it be wage subsidy, job development, skill development, tuition support and/or self-employment,” Pugliese said.

“This is one of the greatest investments in persons with disabilities in our region. It would be monumentally challenging for people with disabilities to find these types of supports if these types of projects didn’t exist.”

The six other projects received their funding through the New Horizons for Seniors program.

Among the recipients are the Alzheimer Society of Thunder Bay, who got $25,000 for its Seniors Leading the Way – a Senior Volunteer project; the community elder abuse prevention committee, which got $24,050; The Lakehead Social Planning Council, which got $14,985, the McCausland Hospital Auxiliary in Terrace Bay, recipients of $13,200; the PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise, given $25,000 and the Terrace Bay Superior Seniors which received $23,823 for its senior activity and garden project.

The Alzheimer’s Society’s Alison Denton said the money will help the organization stretch its resources a little more widely throughout Northwestern Ontario.

“With the rising number of Alzheimer’s Disease we’re seeing across Northwestern Ontario, being a small organization it is very, very challenging to utilize our staff to do the work,” she said.

Fantino, who couldn’t promise the funding will continue indefinitely due to budget constraints, nonetheless called the $390,000 handed out an important cog in helping people maintain better lives.

He said across the country about 7,000 projects are being funded, with the 2010 budget allocation increased by $1 million over 2009.

“We hope that these programs will continue, but right now, everything’s sort of fluid and all we can do is hope for the best,” he said.