Share Your Home provides opportunity for adults, youth, and children with developmental disabilities to:
• explore alternative living options
• be a member of a caring household
• build friendships and trust with people
• increase involvement in their community
• live fulfilling, autonomous lives
What is Share Your Home?
As the name says, Share Your Home is opening your door and welcoming someone into your home and your family’s life:
• sharing your space
• spending time together
• enjoying day-to-day activities
Who can be a part of Share Your Home?
Individuals, couples or families living in St. Marys or the surrounding communities.
What is expected of families who participate?
To provide a welcoming, nurturing, and safe environment for the person supported.
To spend time together and share life experiences.
To build strong, lasting relationships.
Who supports families who are sharing their homes?
Don Dingwall, Community Living’s Coordinator Home Share, guides families and individuals being supported throughout their journey.
This includes regular check-ins and advice if contingencies arise.
When will families be with supported individuals?
Time spent together is flexible and determined on a case-by-case basis. It can range from occasional visits to full-time home-sharing.
The needs of the supported individual and the availability of the family are explored during the matching process.
What are the benefits of being a Share Your Home family?
Share Your Home provides a number of unique opportunities to participating families, such as the ability to:
• engage with your community
• make a positive impact in someone’s life
• build strong, meaningful bonds
• expand your family’s awareness of human difference
• reimbursement for support provided
• make friends and have fun
What is it like to Share Your Home for a day?
No day is the same when you share your home. Families and individuals will spend their days doing what all families normally do.
This could be grocery shopping, running errands, visiting local shops, cooking meals, catching the local game, going for walks, or visiting friends.
Whatever you do, we want families to enjoy spending time with a new person who has new perspectives and experiences to share.
What are the requirements to Share Your Home?
Community Living is dedicated to ensuring that all individuals feel safe and comfortable in the home, sharing their lives together.
Individuals interested in becoming a Share Your Home family will be guided through a comprehensive screening and matching process to ensure the best possible experience for everyone involved.
Requirements for eligible families include criminal record checks, first aid training, drivers’ extracts, and providing references.
Who can be contacted for more information about Share Your Home?
Don Dingwall, Coordinator Home Share
Office: 519-284-1400, ex. 223
Cell: 519-852-4249
Email: ddingwall@clstmarys.ca
Someone who lives close by and agrees to provide “neighbourly” help. This could be some shared meals, checking in on the person or remote monitoring overnight or other times of the day.
Some people and their families choose to manage hiring self-employed workers to provide some or all of their support. Community Living St. Marys and Area has resources available that can be helpful such as sample agreements for workers, screening checks and forms. The Community Resource Coordinator can also support people and families in various ways such as helping with development of a support plan etc.
For more information on any of the above Alternative Support Options, contact the Community Resource Coordinator
Use of Passport funds/individualized funding can range anywhere from full self-administration to accessing some assistance including administration, bookkeeping and payroll for example. Some families also choose to use CLSMA employees and supervision entirely. A tailor made approach can be developed based on each person’s needs.
For more information on Passport Funding: www.cscn.on.ca
