Update: City council did agree Monday night to send a letter of support for the maternity home.
CORNWALL – A non-profit corporation is looking to set up a maternity home in Cornwall.
The Cornwall Compassion Center has run the Heart of the Family Child Care Center for 10 years and says it’s identified a need for a maternity home in the city.
The proposed building would support 18 mothers from their second trimester until their child is nine months old. The building would have three “pods” – each pod would be a fully furnished separate home for six mothers and their children.
It would serve the City of Cornwall, SD&G and Akwesasne.
According to the Cornwall Compassion Center, 40-60 mothers in the area need this type of service every year and the need is there with a high instance of teen pregnancies.
The center will make a presentation to Cornwall city council tonight (Monday) asking for a letter of support as it lobbies the Ontario government for $195,000 for its annual operating budget.
It already has letters of support from eight other local organizations.
The balance of operations would be paid for through Ontario Works and ODSP. The building, renos and furnishing would be supported through seed money from the center and fundraising.
The Cornwall Compassion Center is run by a board of directors: Roy Stephenson of Harvest Christian Fellowship, retired Cornwall police chief Dan Parkinson, retired bookkeeper Norm Augi, systems analyst Ryan Brink and Pastor Dick D’Alessio.