L’Arche Stratford members have a new place to call home.
The organization is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 7 to celebrate completion of the new headquarters at 426 Britannia Street.
The 15,000 sq. ft. fully accessible facility will provide eight affordable, independent living suites, activity rooms and a community kitchen to support those with developmental disabilities.
Executive Director Stephanie Calma said it’s been a nearly 10-year journey.
“We originally purchased the property back in 2017, and the goal at that point in time was to replace our existing administrative office space, we ended up tearing down the building. With the pandemic, it gave us the opportunity to re-look at things.”
She told MyStratfordNow the economy had changed as did the environment around them.
Calma said they raised $6.5 million to support construction through the ‘Be Belong Become’ capital campaign.
She said it made sense on a financial level to have a new building as they have been renting a lot of spaces over the years as an organization.
She added they’ve also outgrown their current office on Huron Street.
“For us we needed space that we can provide additional programming, we needed housing and there was a core need for us to replace our office spaces.”
She said for a lot of people within their supports, it is a dream come true.
Staff will move their offices and administration to the building in early November, with the housing and living suites to be moved in over the next couple of months.
They anticipate to be fully moved in by the new year.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony starts at 11 a.m.
