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RCH's founding in the early 1980's is
due to the enormous efforts of two exceptional individuals:
Joyce Thompson and Vim Kochhar.
As a case manager with Deaf-Blind Services
at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Toronto,
Thompson had documented the unmet needs of her clients
living in the community; people who, because of their
disability, lived in severe isolation due to little or
no access to Intervenor Services and unsafe and inappropriate
housing.
Thompson and her clients dared to dream
the unimaginable: a better life where they were safe,
where people could communicate with them, and, most importantly,
where they would have access to an Intervenor whenever
they wanted.
The person to set the wheels in motion
was Vim Kochhar, an incredibly accomplished man with numerous
credits to his name. At a routine board meeting of the
Cheshire Homes Foundation in October 1983, Kochhar and
his fellow directors discussed how to build more accessible
housing for persons with physical disabilities.
As a member of the Toronto-Don Valley
Rotary Club, Kochhar enlisted the help of his fellow Rotarians
in organizing the first Great Valentine Gala in February
1984. Over 1,200 people attended, raising over $239,000.
Due to the tremendous success of the
Gala and the need to distribute the funds raised, Kochhar
founded the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled
Persons. CFPDP continues to organize hugely successful
events each year, providing support to persons with disabilities.
A portion of the funds raised at the
first Gala was allocated to the Rotary Club to fund the
development of housing for physically disabled persons.
Thompson heard from a colleague the Rotary Club was looking
for a group to benefit from this project. Thompson and
three of her colleagues worked through the night putting
together their presentation.
It was decided the best person to present
their proposal would be a person who is deaf-blind. Kerry
Wadman, President of the Canadian National Society of
the Deaf-Blind, and his Intervenor.
The Rotary Club unanimously agreed after
the presentation that they would support the development
of appropriate housing for persons who are deaf-blind.
This development became Rotary (Don Valley) Cheshire Homes
- its name paying tribute to the financial contribution
of the Rotary Club and the independent living philosophy
of Cheshire Homes.
Over the next seven years, RCH slowly
took shape from that first presentation to its officially
opening on May 1, 1992.
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Joyce Thompson
Vim Kochhar
Toronto-Don
Valley
Rotary Club
Canadian
Foundation
for Physically
Disabled Persons
Breaking
Ground (1991)
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Originally RCH received two streams of
funding - housing dollars from the Ministry of Municipal
Affairs and Housing and service dollars from the Ministry
of Community and Social Services.
During the late 1990's a series of funding changes
lead to RCH's current funding entirely coming from the Ministry
of Community and Social Services for all housing costs and
rent-geared-to-income subsidies, as well as services costs,
including all Intervenor and administrative staff.
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Ministy
of Community
and Social Services |
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RCH is governed by a volunteer Board of
Directors that meets bi-monthly. Members of the Board of
Directors are from the Toronto-Don Valley Rotary Club and
the community. Two tenants also sit on the Board at all
times.
RCH is an organization that participates
in the Character Business Program.
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| Mission
Statement |
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RCH's focus is to provide opportunities
for independence to allow individuals who are Deaf-Blind
to enhance their abilities, to fulfill their individual
needs and to pursue their individual goals.
To do so, they must have access to information
which facilitates their independence, integration and self-sufficiency.
This is accomplished through the provision
of Intervenor Services.
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| The
Canadian Helen Keller Centre |
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After securing funding from the Ontario
Trillium Foundation, RCH officially opened The Canadian
Helen Keller Centre, a training centre for persons who are
Deaf-Blind.
CHKC was developed to fulfill the un-met needs
of the Deaf-Blind community by providing training in independent
living skills, communication, computers, and other activities
of daily living.
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Registered
Charity Number
121266423RR0001
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Rotary
Cheshire Homes Inc.
101-422 Willowdale Avenue
North York, Ontario
M2N 5B1
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