Services

Direct Support Services in Simcoe County provides children and adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities the resources required to find the supports they need to live actively and participate in community activities independently.

Coordinators
The Coordinator in your area will work with agencies, families and/or individuals and direct support providers to develop creative options for people requiring support.  They will assist to identify the current resources and needs within the system, and to act as an information resource.  The Coordinators will also process registrations for direct support providers to enable them to advertise through the site and become connected to people looking utilize their services.  The direct support providers are referred to as CHAP (Community Helpers for Active Participation) in this program.  The Simcoe County Coordinators are:

Carolyn Harris, Empower Simcoe (Barrie, Bradford, Innisfil, Angus)
Angie Bridekirk, Catulpa Community Support Services (Collingwood, Midland, Orillia, Alliston).

CHAP Program

The CHAP (Community Helpers for Active Participation) Program is an integral part of supportyourway.ca/respiteservices.com. This Program was developed through a partnership of Geneva Centre for Autism and Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre in 2001and was launched as respiteservices.com to assist families seeking respite providers.  The program aims to offer a robust registry of people interested in providing meaningful respite/direct support opportunities through in-home or community based options. The program offers a web-based connection by providing profiles of registered CHAP to the families/individual who register. 

CHAP are not employees of supportyourway.ca/respiteservices.com, Catulpa Community Support Services, or Empower Simcoe.  Payment for services of the CHAP are paid directly by the family who selected the CHAP.  It is the responsibility of the family and the CHAP to determine if they are entering an employer/employee relationship or a contracted service arrangement. 

Information & Resources
Supportyourway.ca offers information and resources for people seeking direct supports in Simcoe County.  Listings of local service agencies, funding options and other resources will be available to ensure people are well connected to the supports and services they are seeking.

Provincial Connection
Supportyourway.ca is a provincial site that allows local Simcoe users the ability to search supports and services all across Ontario.  Whether you are travelling, moving or have friends and family seeking direct support, we will keep you informed with the services you need in Ontario.

Respite
Respite care is a family support service that provides temporary relief from the physical and emotional demands involved in caring for a family member who has a disability. Respite creates greater opportunities for all family members to live actively and participate in community activities and allows parents/guardians time for themselves.  Respite services is offered through supportyourway.ca.  Families seeking respite information, options and the respite CHAP program in Simcoe County may choose the respiteservices.com tab at the top of the page and you will be re-routed to a full site dedicated to your respite needs.