The following release was sent in by the Five Counties Children’s Centre.
If money talks, a generous donation speaks volumes to the value of helping give voice to more kids, while reducing wait times for pediatric treatment services in Northumberland County.
Five Counties Children’s Centre is again recognizing the Port Hope & District Health Care Foundation for its latest donation of $38,500. The money will go towards Five Counties’ Building Abilities for Life Campaign, which funds priority service needs for children, youth and families in the region.
With this latest donation and going back to 2020, the Port Hope & District Health Foundation has provided almost $90,000 for Five Counties.
The Port Hope & District Health Care Foundation’s latest donation will be used to provide speech and occupational therapies for children/youth in Northumberland County. Speech therapy and occupational therapy are now among the highest in-demand services at Five Counties. Currently, there are more than 2,600 children/youth waiting for treatment services at Five Counties in Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton. Wait times to access treatment can be as long as 18 to 24 months, depending on the service.
As Five Counties copes with long wait times, the children’s treatment centre is on track this year to support more than 6,000 kids/youth and their families in the region. This would represent the largest number of annual clients Five Counties has served in its nearly 50-year history.
“Even as we make progress to provide more speech and occupational therapies for kids, the cold, hard fact remains that too many kids are still waiting too long for services,” says Scott Pepin, CEO of Five Counties Children’s Centre. “That is why we are so indebted to the Port Hope & District Health Care Foundation for seeing this need and stepping up repeatedly to show their support for our Building Abilities for Life Campaign.”
Matt Clayton, President of the Port Hope & District Health Care Foundation, says his group is proud to help local kids get the early intervention that is key to building abilities for life.
“The Foundation is pleased to make this community investment in children and youth in Port Hope and Northumberland to ensure they get the treatment they need when they need it,” Clayton says. “Our community is a better place when kids have the support to be able to learn to communicate, be heard, move independently, and carry out everyday activities that many of us take granted but for them may be an incredible achievement.”
Bonnie is a Port Hope mother of four, whose youngest child, Lincoln, is benefitting from services, including speech, occupational and physio therapies at Five Counties Children’s Centre.
Two-and-a-half years ago when Lincoln was diagnosed with multiple care needs, Bonnie was referred to Five Counties for assistance. She is grateful for all the help Lincoln and her family gets from staff at the Five Counties location in Cobourg. Lincoln is improving, and Bonnie finds the advice she’s gets at Five Counties beneficial for supporting her other kids too.
“Lincoln is doing great,” his mom says. “He would not be where he is today without the support of Five Counties. He would still be struggling, and I’d be struggling to help him.”
Having a young child diagnosed with physical or developmental issues is devastating and leaves families “lost,” Bonnie notes. Her referral to Five Counties for Lincoln was like being thrown a lifeline when she really needed one. Bonnie is hopeful with more community support, other families in those situations can get the same kind of help for their child in a timely manner.
“Five Counties can help with so much and in so many ways,” she says. “Even if they can’t help directly. Five Counties will point you in the right direction. They will help, no matter what.”
