Selwyn Township parents Aaron and Julie Grant want other parents of children who have special needs to know Five Counties Children’s Centre “will be in your corner as your child’s advocate.”
That has been the case for the Grants, who have received support for their three-year-old son Jude, who has cerebral palsy and developmental delays.
That’s one reason the couple has agreed to be part of a fundraising campaign recently launched by Five Counties Children’s Centre, which serves children with developmental delays in the Kawartha Lakes and in Peterborough, Northumberland, and Haliburton counties.
“Five Counties has impacted us largely by finding ways to help Jude reach his full potential, both physically and cognitively, and has taught us those strategies to best support his development at home,” the Grants told kawarthaNOW.
The Grants were present last Tuesday (November 12) when Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith met with representatives from Five Counties Children’s Centre, as well as the kids and families involved with the program. In 2023, the centre received an 18-month $135,200 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) to implement new fundraising and communications strategies.
The OTF grant is paying off, with Five Counties being able to help more local kids and youth with physical, developmental, and communication needs get care close to home, a media release from Five Counties noted. The grant helped the centre double its fundraising total to $1.2 million in 2023-24 and “remain in a strong position to attract more donors in its current fiscal year.”
“The impact of this (OTF) funding on our work cannot be overstated,” said Five Counties CEO Scott Pepin.
“The OTF grant has helped us become more resilient and reinvigorated in our fundraising and communication efforts. This has led us to generate more donations, allowing Five Counties to enhance our publicly funded services to reduce wait times and ensure kids and families in Peterborough, Northumberland, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton/Minden get the care they need when they need it.”
The bulk of the Resilient Communities Fund grant has gone towards creating a new position at Five Counties to support and boost fundraising and communication efforts. The fund development communications assistant position was originally set to last for 18 months but is now being extended by the centre.
The money has also helped Five Counties to develop, deliver, monitor and evaluate fundraising communications activities, while introducing new, sustainable systems and technologies to better reach donors, Five Counties said.
“The investment by the (OTF) through its Resilient Communities Fund is paying off for children and families in our region,” MPP Smith said. “The OTF grant supplied by the Province of Ontario has helped Five Counties enhance its fundraising efforts and better engage with donors, meaning it can raise extra funds to support more kids’ treatment services.”
In addition, a portion of the OFT grant is designated for promotional purposes. The centre has used this to create new and enhanced digital and print-based materials for fundraising and marketing. Five Counties is also using this portion of the OTF grant to launch a multimedia advertising campaign this November and December that coincides with its annual holiday appeal for donations.
According to the Grant family, they agreed to be part of the promotional campaign “to help raise awareness of the importance of funding in the delivery of the multitude of services that Five Counties provides.”
“Limited funding is unequivocally the number one barrier to accessing these much-needed services by children with exceptionalities and their families,” the Grants said. “We are aware of the need that exists for Five Counties services across our region, and we would love to see the waitlists reduced through increased funding.”
During the past 18 months, the OTF grant has allowed Five Counties to increase the capacity of its fundraising efforts, and the multimedia campaign expands the scope and size of its annual holiday appeal across multiple new platforms, noted Lyn Giles, the centre’s director of fund development.
VIDEO: “Jude’s Story: Forever Grateful for the Care Received”
“We’re fortunate that we had Five Counties so early on,” said Julie Grant in a video that’s at the heart of the promotional campaign.
“Jude has had so many milestone accomplishments since we’ve been here in the past two years.”
Jude has been a client of Five Counties since he was four months old, and currently receives occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech therapy at the centre.
“As an organization and as individuals on our therapy team, they have provided us with a sense of community, belonging, the feeling of not being alone in this journey, and have acted as an extension of our family by supporting our fears, answering our questions, and celebrating Jude’s milestones alongside us,” the Grants told kawarthaNOW.
What would they share about the Five Counties with other parents of children who have special needs?
“We would reassure parents that Five Counties will be in your corner as your child’s advocate and will be great supporters of your journey — that the Five Counties community, from the therapists, executive, and other parents, will be your biggest resource, where you can feel confident in trusting the process.”
