Edgewood can stay in place until June
Toronto’s Catholic school board has given the Edgewood Connection a three month reprieve which will allow the program to stay put until June.
The drop-in child development and family support program was told in November that they needed to leave the former Corpus Christi school as of April 1. As they were preparing to move they received a phone call granting them the extension.
“So we’re just delighted,” said Susan Fletcher, executive director of Applegrove Community Complex, the organization that operates Edgewood.
The board is in negotiations to sell the site and Fletcher said she hopes the deal will be finalized before the end of June as Applegrove wants to approach the new owners for a further extension.
The school board can’t release any information about the deal until the sale is finalized, which Fletcher said she was told could be as early as June 15.
Fletcher said the reprieve couldn’t have come at a better time, given that in early April, Applegrove was busy organizing their annual meeting, 30th anniversary celebration and planning fundraisers.
“So we just sort of celebrated, thank goodness we don’t have to do anything immediately and continued work on the other immediate priorities,” she said.
In June it will be easier to move, as the program shuts down for the summer months, Fletcher said, adding Edgewood has Councillor Sandra Bussin and school board trustees Angela Kennedy and Catherine LeBlanc-Miller working on their behalf to secure the extension, and find a new home.
Run by one staff member and volunteers, the free family support program caters to approximately 90 families who attend the program monthly from September to June. To support itself Applegrove Community Complex relies on funding provided by the city’s Children Services department and donations.