Libro Credit Union donates $100,000 to help L’Arche Stratford build new home

Thanks to a $100,000 donation from Libro Credit Union, L’Arche Stratford is one step closer to building a brand new home for the adults with intellectual disabilities it serves in Stratford.

Representatives from the Stratford credit union branch presented the donation Monday to L’Arche Stratford officials outside of 426 Britannia St., the property previously purchased by L’Arche.

“We bought this building back at the end of 2017 with a vision to transform it into a center for the community,” said L’Arche Stratford board and campaign chair Elaine Clark-Siberry. “We are in desperate need of space for our offices and activity space where we can welcome more folks to come together and enjoy our day program, and also it gives us an opportunity to increase our housing.”

The charitable organization had originally planned to renovate the former Stratford Montessori school building on the property into a new center for the people its serves by raising the necessary funds through its Be Belong Become campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the local board of directors realized the organization’s needs had changed so decided to take steps toward demolishing the existing Britannia Street building and have a brand new L’Arche Stratford community center built in its place.

“With the changes in the cost of materials … and the uncertainty of renovating an old building, we decided the best way forward was to bring it down and start anew. … The new design allows us to have more independent support and independent living. Along the front, that’s where the living quarters are going to be. It’s going to be one storey so we don’t have to worry about accessibility with elevators and stuff, and then the activity space and office space will be towards the rear of the building,” Clark-Siberry said.

With plans for a new building comes a new price tag – roughly $5.5 million. So far, Clark-Siberry said donations from the community, including Libro Credit Union’s most recent gift, have brought the amount raised to about $1.5 million.

“Within Libro, housing is one of our four pillars,” said Libro Credit Union Huron-Perth regional manager Marty Rops. “We have different levels (of support) that people can apply to, and this falls under our impact partnership level where basically, for higher dollar amounts, we support projects where we can make more of an impact and hopefully look at longer partnerships going forward .”

Rops said Libro Credit Union in Stratford has a longstanding relationship with L’Arche Stratford, having provided financial services and education for the organization’s clients, their caregivers and support workers for years.

“The joy these people bring when they come into the branch really adds something special to our days,” Rops said.

With several million dollars to go before L’Arche Stratford achieves its fundraising goal, Clark-Siberry said the organization also recently received a commitment from an anonymous local donor who said they’d match every donation from the community up to almost $1 million until the end of December.

“So every donation until nearly the end of December will be doubled,” she said.

For more information and to donate to the Be Belong Become campaign, visit www.larchestratford.ca/index.php?page=Campaign&&page_id=37&&id=37.

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