After 25 years of providing a vital service to the community, Red Roof Retreat is celebrating.
“All You Need is Love” is what founder and executive director Steffanie Borjan is labelling the local charity’s “awareness campaign,” to highlight the respite care and recreation programs the service offers for children and young adults with special needs in the Niagara Region.
In the coming weeks, she plans to present regular features “that tell the stories about the special people and families we support, and the next chapter of our story….a future expansion that will help us grow and support more people under our roof!”
There are more details to come later, once the project has final council approval, but what she is able to share at the moment is that, after years of discussions, Red Roof is hoping to move forward with what has been a dream for a long time — building a larger house on the Concession 6 Ranch property “that is truly accessible,” she says. It will have an elevator to a second storey, and more open space for programs — in fact, considerably more space overall.
The Ranch is currently 1,100 square feet, while the new one that is being planned will be 5,700 square feet.
It will have bigger and better halls, doorways and bathrooms for accessibility, with five bedrooms — two more than they have now. Four of them will be singles, with one double room “because we have some families who have siblings with special needs,” she says.
The plan also includes upgrading the property and barn, and includes a year-round covered pavilion considerably larger than the covered area on the property now, to provide more outdoor program options, especially during inclement weather, Bjorgan says.
Her hope is to begin building this fall, with new doors open in 2026.
One important point she stresses is that during the construction period, “we are not closing.”
Red Roof has two other locations, Kevan’s House on Concession 2 and space at Cornerstone Church on Hunter Road, where adult day programs and summer camps are held, and at both of those locations capacity has been underused to save space for respite care and programs to continue during the new build. “We will be moving clients over from The Ranch, so won’t have to discontinue services to our current clients.”
Once it is completed and open, Bjorgan says, in addition to so much more space on Concession 2, they will be able to increase capacity at the other two sites.
Bjorgan says there was a time when they looked at building on a larger property, but realized they didn’t have the resources for that size and investment.
But more important, she says, is that “for many reasons, I know now is the time to do this, and to do this right here at home. We want to keep Red Roof at home, where it all began, here in Niagara-on-the-Lake.”
There is something about this town and its residents that have been so supportive, she says, “I don’t think we could have done this anywhere else.”
The board has been putting money aside in a “quiet phase of fundraising,” especially as donations continued to come in during COVID when their services were on hold, getting them already halfway to their goal for the new build. Once the fundraising campaign is launched, it will be headed by board member Richard Wall.
What the goal of the campaign will be, Bjorgan is not ready to share. “Stay tuned,” she says, with more information to come, including a “big reveal” of what it will look like as well as how much it will cost. One aspect that will not change, she promises, is “it will definitely have a red roof,” just more of it.
And watch social media for some upcoming special events, including Mad Mondays, Who’s Who Wednesdays, and Fun Fact Fridays, all opportunities for Red Roof to engage the public by sharing stories and information about its programs and people, going back to its earliest days 25 years ago.
“Follow us on social media outlets, or send an email to [email protected] to be added to our email list,” she asks in a news release, and to learn more about Red Roof plans, including seeing the drawings for the new build, attend a skating event Tuesday Feb. 25 at the Meridian Credit Union Arena in Virgil, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to enjoy a free skate time, hot chocolate and the unveiling of the design.
“We would love for you to bring a friend or family member to help build the awareness is sponsored by the Goettler Family Foundation,” she says.