Group homes in Barrie and Orillia to be closed amid funding shortfall

A Simcoe County organization that provides care and support for adults living with physical and intellectual disabilities is closing two of its locations, citing a lack of provincial funding.

On Friday, Empower Simcoe, a non-profit organization, said group homes on Anne Street in Barrie and Nottawasaga Street in Orillia are closing.

The decision impacts eight families who will be relocated to one of the 44 other Empower Simcoe locations.

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In November 2023, the organization partnered with other provincial agencies to launch a #5toSurvive campaign calling on the government to provide a five per cent funding bump.

Empower Simcoe receives $40 million of funding annually from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to support roughly 2,600 individuals and various programs.

"From 2020 to 2023, the Bank of Canada reported an inflation rate of 16 per cent. This is equivalent to a $6.4 million funding cut, or 183,000 hours of support," Empower noted in the November news release.

The organization said it had been "offsetting revenue through fundraising and one-time grants" but added that wasn't enough to sustain operations.

On Friday, Empower called the situation an "erosion of funding and services."

"Every penny we get is being eroded every day because it can't buy us as much as we were able to buy just even yesterday."

The group home closures will not impact employee jobs; however, the organization noted that without change, there would be "a lot more program closures within our development services agencies."