Our second grant request came on behalf of a young man who is transitioning from the Children’s Aid Society to Adult services. 18 year old Bernardo has a developmental disability and lives with his Aunt and Uncle in London. He attends a local high school and is enrolled in the developmental education program. His Aunt and Uncle are his primary caregivers and they speak primarily Spanish (They came to Canada 10 years ago from Columbia), with very little English. Bernardo is non-verbal and relies on his Aunt and Uncle to speak on his behalf.
Bernardo has complex support needs and therefore Regional Support Associates, is involved to help with the difficult transition to adult services. Amanda Mulder is assisting with navigation and facilitating various meetings, goal setting, making referrals etc…All of this work requires an Interpreter and this service costs $50/hour. The Cross Cultural Learner Centre will not cover this cost and knows of no other resource that will. The Woodstock General Hospital (where Regional Support Associates is housed) covers this cost in some instances, one-time emergencies, but not this type of on-going situation. The request is for $400 – 8 hours of Interpreter services over a 4-6 week period x $50/hour. We were one of several organizations that were asked to contribute to this cost. We were happy to help out with this and wish the boy well as he enters adulthood.