For adults living with a variety of disabilities and are over the age of 21, finding a place to continue learning and development can be a struggle.
“The funding for day programs for adults in this category is very low. After they age out of the school system, there is very little for them,” said Nina Dehghani, who along with her husband founded Global Community Development Network (GCDN) in Pickering in 2023.
They operate out of space leased in an office building on McKay Road, offering day programs with a wide variety of life building activities from cooking classes, financial literacy to fitness and arts.
“Without programs like this, many adults who age out of the school system, can lag in development,” Dehghani said. “There is a need for places like ours.”
Christina Ducette, an adult who lives with a disability, was hired by GCDN to develop their programming.
“I was thrilled when this opened because I know from experience there are not enough places like this, especially here in Pickering.”
But the non-profit is facing an uncertain future. Funds are running low and it is struggling to continue paying staff to keep the doors open.
“We have so many people and corporations who want to help us financially, but they can’t donate without us getting a registered charity number.”
Dehghani said their application to receive charity status was finalized and sent into the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA), tasked with approving charities, last March.
“We were supposed to receive it by November. November got pushed down to February. Now we’re being told it’s going to be end of April or May but even that is not official.”
The delay falls short of CRA’s own “Service Standard,” which promises to try and give an answer to completed charity applications within nine months.
“A representative told me there are lots of applications and they’re short of staff, and there’s not time to go through all the applications,” Dehghani said.
A CRA spokesperson says they review applications on a first-come, first-served basis and says the CRA aims to meet their service standard but says sometimes it may take longer.
“Each application for registration is unique,” said spokesperson Kim Thiffault. “As a result, factors such as the complexity of an application, the speed with which the applicant provides information to the CRA, and volume of applications received by the CRA affect processing times.”
Thiffault said registering a charity is a comprehensive process, which includes in-depth research and analysis of an applicant organization’s structure and mode of operation. She said this process is a critical component of safeguarding the integrity of the charitable sector in Canada, which is part of the CRA’s mandate.
Deghani is hopeful GCDN can make it through the next several months as they wait for an answer to their application but says time is running out. She says charity status will not only allow them to stay afloat but open up their services to many more clients.
They currently have just two full-time clients whose families are able to pay fees for the day program, they have space to accommodate close to 20 more.
“Our hope is if we can get these corporate donations we can subsidize fees for those who want to use our services but cannot afford it. But we need that charity number first. I just hope they come through and approve our application because this place is greatly needed here in Pickering,” Dehghani said.
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