Red Roof 'is heaven on earth,' client tells fundraising dinner crowd

Red Roof Retreat is hoping to grow again.

It’s early days yet, just at the start of the process to allow for a rebuild, said executive director Steffanie Bjorgan, whose vision for the future includes a newer, bigger and better version of The Ranch, where she could expand Red Roof activities, programs and respite care in a space that will be completely accessible.

The current building on the Concession 6 property “is really just a little house,” she said, “and not completely accessible.” Her dream is to for a larger house to replace it, with wider doorways, wider hallways, and enlarged from 1,000 square feet to 5,700 square feet, “making more space for our clients.”

It would also mean “finally having a basement for storage that won’t flood,” she said, and a main floor for respite care and more programs, as well as space to move outdoor activities inside when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

Most of the bedrooms in the house are now shared, and the rebuild would allow for more single rooms, which are necessary for some clients, with an elevator to make all storeys accessible.

“We’d also like to have a gazebo or pavilion outside, instead of using an event tent,” said Bjorgan.

However “we’re not there yet,” she cautioned — here are many steps to get through before her plan can be put into action, including a capital campaign, but she hopes by 2025 she can move forward with seeing the concept become a reality.

Asked about how Red Roof got its name, Bjorgan explains that after their son Garrett was born with cerebral palsy and she became aware of the lack of help for families with special needs children, she would invite others to her home, and tell them to look for the house with the red roof.

There were many more steps to arrive at where Red Roof is today, including the purchase of the Concession 6 Ranch in 2004 and the licence obtained the next year to operate the programs she was able to offer.

Kevan’s House on Concession 2 followed, offering respite programs and emergency residential care. The house is named after the late Kevan O’Connor, a well-known Niagara-on-the-Lake realtor, and key supporter of Red Roof Retreat from its inception.

As Red Roof has grown, so has the annual fundraiser that helps fund its programs.

Bjorgan made her announcement about the much-needed expansion during Red Roof’s recent pasta dinner, its largest fundraiser, and one that has been growing along with the organization.

The first was 23 years ago, in St. Vincent de Paul Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was put together quickly and attracted enough interest that people were lining up for food and taking it outside to eat. It raised $1,500, said Ken Hendriks, who became involved with Red Roof in its earlier days.

It is now an annual sold-out event at the John Michael's Banquet & Event Centre in Thorold, where they can host 350 people. The banquet hall has also been generous with its support for the event, said Hendriks, who has taken on the organization of the event. The total raised has increased every year since that first one at the church, with the exception of the pandemic cancellations, and raised $103,000 in 2023.

This year, Hendriks opened the event by stating his goal was to top that, and if they were able to raise more than $100,000, it would bring the total amount raised by the annual event to $1 million.

Bjorgan was able to announce this week that the recent pasta dinner, with donations from very generous individuals and businesses for raffle prizes, along with silent and live auction items, totalled $124,000, topping the goal of more than $1 million raised from pasta dinners.

At the dinner, Bjorgan told those present that about 17 per cent of Canadians will claim they’ve made a charitable donation, “so those of you who are here are in the minority.” The pasta dinner, she said, “shows a lot about what you can do as a minority.”

The total raised also says a lot about “this charity and about this community,” said Hendriks in his opening remarks at the pasta dinner.

When Red Roof client Ashlee Dagenais took over to talk about how much the programs and activities means to her, it would have been difficutl to find a dry eye in the dinner crowd, and sniffles could be heard around the room.

Thanking the Bjorgans for seeing a need and helping so many individuals and families, including herself, she said, “I’m not sure what I would do if I hadn’t discovered Red Roof nine years ago.”

She had heard about it from a friend in B.C., and became a client when she moved to Niagara. 

“Some people look forward to Fridays. I look forward to Wednesdays, as that's the day I go to day program,” she said. The program staff have been amazing, and "always up for a drive to Starbucks, or swimming,” her favourite outings, or to the library, doing crafts “or just socializing with people that get it.”

"Easter Seals camp and Red Roof are heaven on earth if you ask me. There’s no stares or stairs, (well maybe stairs at The Ranch),” she added.

To the amazing staff that care for us both at program, and at respite, "thank you so much."

"Some of us didn’t get a chance to have sleepovers," she added, "and you are making  that happen, I know some days it’s not the easiest job. Know I appreciate everything you guys do, as do my friends."

When Dagenais became too emotional to speak, she had to ask Red Roof’s Christa Rawsthorne to continue for her, and Rawsthorne too was having difficulty talking around the tears.

Dagenais, who lost her mother at an early age, referred to Bjorgan, Hawsthorne and other staff members as "amazing humans. My mom would be so happy to know I found such a supportive group of mom-like figures."

She thanked Red Roof staff for “being a message away, whether it be a question about where to buy certain things, advice, and (for) just being amazing.”

“To our generous donors, thank you. If it weren’t for your support none of these amazing programs would be running. I so appreciate it”

Hendriks told The Local that despite many individuals and businesses “still feeling the pinch of COVID, they still hold Red Roof in their hearts, and they still support us with donations or prizes.”

As Red Roof finds it’s serving more clients from across the region, they also see its name become more well-known in the region for the work they do, and their financial support growing outside of NOTL, he said.

As for the pasta dinner and its popularity, “we’re constantly looking at ways to fine-tune it. We’ve done phenomenally well for many years, but we can’t just sit on our laurels and do the same thing even year.”

There is a core group of people who attend every year, and always some new faces as well, said Hendriks. ‘We’ve seen young children who were here at the beginning, and now they are the next generation getting their children involved. Retaining that family aspect is important to us.”

With about 40 volunteers led by Hendriks for this year’s event, his plan for the future is to develop committees to take over certain roles. “I’ve come to realize there are a lot of very talented people, with skills, enthusiasm and passion for Red Roof," he said, noting it's time to get them more involved.

He talks too about his own learning curve, from the early days when his wife Carrie would care for special needs kids on weekends to give their parents some respite. That was an eye-opener for him, he said.

“I’ve had a successful career, and I wanted to find ways to give back. This has become my passion.”

And a very successful one at that, each year reaching a new goal to top the last one, and now watching that $1 million-mark continue to climb and support Red Roof as it too continues to grow.