A9 - Wednesday, December 28, 1983 - North Shore News

A new year and a new start

Group
home
in WV

FOUR PHYSICALLY
handicapped adults

have a special reason to
celebrate the coming of

the first week of 1984.

That’s when they’ll move
into the fourth and latest
group home to be opened by
the North Shore Association
for the Physically
Handicapped.

Open house for the facili-
ty, located at 1590 Gordon a oe —— EXERCISE & MOVE
Avenue in West Van, was ; ‘ . ES
teld Thursday and those on 8: - “SS
hand were impressed by the sy
facility. . ; “ a 1731 Marine Drive

The two © self-contained coe “CY West Van
suites, one on the lower floor : a “ | 926-8588
and one on the second storey TSS Ws ae ck
of the building, will allow the

SUSAN SCOTT is all ready for an early January move into
Gordon House. The house will provide a home for four
physically handicapped adults.

four wheelchair-bound
residents to live more normal
lives than they have been able
to.

The first week of January
will also see the North Shore
group open another facility
for four others, located in
Lynn Valley.

After that, says adult ser-
vices co-ordinator John
Newman, they'll work on
constructing a facility for
more severely handicapped
adults.

Then it’sa case of sitting
back, evaluating what the
society has accomplished and
seeing where they go from
there.

‘‘All this has happened
over the past year,’’ says
Newman of the association’s
work for housing for han-
dicapped, explaining the need
for the break in activity.

The association traces its
beginnings back to the
establishment of a group
home for five handicapped
children who could not be
cared for by their parents.

The five parents who laun
ched the association have
now overseen the construc
tion of a senes of group
homes across the North
Shore

The soon-to-be-opened
Gordon Avenue group home
may be the most satisfying of
the facilities so far
completed

It appeared, carlier this
year, as though the projet
would not get of f the ground
Revised estimates for pur
chasing the home and revam
ping wt to allow fot wheel

chairs came in at $245,000, or
about $25,000 more than the
money granted by the
Ministry of Lands, Parks and
Housing for the project.

The association turned to
the community to make up
the difference — and the
community responded.

(As well gs the involvement
of , Parks and Hous-
itg, several other federal and
wovVincial groups are involv-
ed in financing the group
homes. As well, the provin-
cial Ministry of Health pro-

ideS Operating costs to pro-
vide for the full-time staff for
the homes.)

The opening of the Gordon
Avenue home moves the
association closer to its ob-
jective of providing an en-
vironment for more indepen-
dent living for disabled
residents of the North Shore.

The efforts won’t end here,
though. There ts a waiting
list, says Newman, of people
who want to live in the homes
for children or for adults.

“The waiting list has
dwindled,’ Newman says,
**but basically because people
don’t know about the group
homes. Some, (oo, are ap-
prehensive about moving
away from the security of a
home to a group home
situabon "'

With the success of the
programs carned out by the
North Shore Association for
the Physically Handicapped,
as displayed by the opening
ol Gordon House, that’s
hable to change

North Shore Credit Union

gives you two ways to bank
...and always will. .

As this market changes, many financial institutions are reducing,
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Hankiny But not North Shore Credit Union

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ALL CHRISTMAS GOODS

So otf your bank has reduced yous Ophons remember your ve still pot

North Shore © reddit Clinaon

roe bre slew

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DEC. 26 — DEC. 31

| N | | North Shore Community
IN Credit Union

1080). Aanne Drive, No Vancouves

(Y86 1116)

BLACK & WIT DESIGN
15 Lonsdale 988-4217

(ther ( Ut Machine branches at Lonsdale Purk Royal and lynn Valicy