Wesway

Wesway’s roots go back to 1973 when there existed in Thunder Bay a group of volunteers, two church groups and a relatively small amount of money.  The name “Wesway” combines the names of Wesley and Wayside United Churches.

Starting out with $5000 of “seed money”, the groups identified that there was a real need for support and respite care for families with children with developmental disabilities. At the time, there were very few supports for persons with disabilities.

It was suggested that a home type facility would be of tremendous benefit to these families.  With that goal in mind, a proposal was presented to the Ministry of Community and Social Services and was approved in September 1978.

From September 1979 until mid-January 1981, Wesway operated a four-bed home which could offer limited support to a restricted number of families in the Thunder Bay District.

In April 1981, Wesway’s concept of parent relief and family support moved in a new direction.  Wesway developed a community-based program in which caring families would offer to “host” children with developmental disabilities in their own homes.

The benefits of this type of program were widespread, particularly the possibility of providing service to a large number of families as well as to children with a wide range of special needs.

Before long, it was evident that there were many children with other conditions and special needs whose parents also needed support.  Wesway once again evolved, this time to serve children with all types of special needs, including all types of disabilities and life threatening illnesses.

Now as children become adults, their parents grow older and continue to require support - sometimes even more than they had in earlier years.  In 1984, after two years of active political lobbying and diligent work by Wesway’s staff and board, funding was obtained to begin to provide respite care service for dependent adults with disabilities living in the city of Thunder Bay.

In 1987, Wesway was obtained funding from the Ministry of Community and Social Services to provide respite care to families caring for seniors with a range of conditions which cause them to be dependent on their families for care, such as strokes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other health conditions.

More recently, Wesway recently identified a serious lack of respite services options for seniors in the outlying communities in the District of Thunder Bay. In 2008 a pilot project was created to offer our Family Directed Respite Funding model in communities east of Thunder Bay, for caregivers who lived with a senior with a disability, chronic health condition, Alzheimer Disease or related dementia. In 2009 we created another pilot project to offer the same services in the District of Thunder Bay west of the city, as well as in the Districts of Kenora and Rainy River.

Interest from families to this service was high, and these services are no longer a pilot project and are now part of our regular services.

Wesway is now entering its 39th year, and is now helping more families than ever. Its services are available in dozens of communities throughout Northwestern Ontario, and our range of available services has grown significantly since Wesway’s inception. Wesway looks forward to continuing to grow to meet the needs of families throughout the communities we serve.