Page 12 - CLH Foundation - Connected - Winter 2024

Now We’re

Cooking!

With the support of an Ontario Trillium Foundation
Capital Grant, CLH Developmental Support Services
(CLH DSS) is creating an inclusive, barrier-free, commercial
teaching kitchen and café enterprise to provide training, job readiness

and community connection for CLH-supported individuals.

An October 2023 Ontario Trillium Foundation Capital Grant of $150,000 will bring to
life a long-held dream at CLH DSS to create a barrier-free kitchen at 339 Olive Street
in Midland, the central location for daytime, evening, and weekend programming for
members of the Community Participation Support (CPS) program. With OTF’s support,
The Kitchen at Olive will create an inclusive, accessible, commercial kitchen and café
enterprise to benefit individuals who are supported by CLH Developmental Support
Services as well as members of our broader community. Once completed, the Kitchen at
Olive will be the first fully accessible kitchen in North Simcoe, benefiting not only CLH-
supported individuals, but also available for booking by other community organizations. “At a time when Ontario
The project’s planned outcomes are in line with the 2022 National Disability Inclusion is facing a profound
Action Plan to improve social and economic inclusion, reduce poverty, and foster a labour shortage, this
culture of inclusion for individuals with disabilities. project will help train
workers who can
Built to full accessibility throughout the design, and equipped with commercial-grade competently complete
appliances that meet public health and food service requirements, The Kitchen at the required work,
Olive will also address a broad community need for an accessible teaching kitchen, job creating a cohort of
readiness training, food service/hospitality training, and underpin a café enterprise willing, skilled workers
serving the CLH community of supported individuals, staff, volunteers and supporters. who can fill the gap.”
Revenues generated by the café and through rentals will be put back into the Kitchen.
– Dean Johnson, CLH DSS CEO
This project will expand the use of the kitchen/dining facilities from 10 hours per week
to 40 and will broaden programming capacity to include members of CLH’s Supported
Employment Program (SEP). They will benefit greatly from the provision of employment-
readiness programming: key skill development opportunities and hands-on job training
in customer service, food-prep, and environmental service work.

Current users of the kitchen, including CPS participants and residents of CLH
Supported Living Homes, will also benefit from better-quality equipment and
accessible appliances, storage, sinks, and prep/work stations to enable them to fully
participate in every aspect of kitchen activities; this improved functionality will also
increase the number of participants currently enrolled in those programs who will
be able to utilize the space. Additionally, several of CLH’s community partners have
expressed a strong desire to book space after-hours to support their programming
goals and build even stronger partnerships. Now we’re cooking!

12