Empowering People with Disabilities

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We are committed to supporting people with disabilities and their families to make the connections needed for a meaningful, self-directed life. 


From Your Family to Our Supports

50 Years of Serving Community

Empowering people with disabilities

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13 Feb, 2024
Ontario’s developmental services organizations are facing a critical challenge – providing quality services and supports to people with developmental disabilities while dealing with a 0% budget increase. “Like many families and organizations across Ontario, Alice Saddy Association is struggling with increased costs to keeping the heat and lights on, putting gas in vehicles, and buying food to feed people,” explains Executive Director, Marg McLean. “With rising inflation and skyrocketing costs, it’s getting harder to provide the support individuals with developmental disabilities deserve.” Adding to this struggle is the challenge of recruiting qualified staff. All while having funding increase. “Recognizing the escalating crisis, we’re joining developmental service agencies across the province in the #5tosurvive campaign which calls upon the Ontario government to provide an immediate 5% increase in base funding, including Passport and Special Services at Home,” says McLean. Vision vs reality Ontario’s current developmental services strategy envisions a future where individuals with developmental disabilities are supported by their communities, networks and government to lead inclusive lives. However, the organizations tasked with turning this vision into a reality are shackled by a lack of resources. The gap between the envisioned support and reality on the ground is widening, leaving developmental service organizations on the brink of crisis. “Alice Saddy Association, like many other agencies, finds ourself caught in a paradox,” McLean explains. “While demands for our services are increasing, funding remains stagnant. Rising costs, including essential services and recruiting qualified staff, are pushing developmental service organizations to our limits.” “Despite the dedication and passion of our staff, we’re concerned that a 0% budget increase means we’ll be unable to meet the growing needs of individuals with developmental disabilities.” Lend your voice We encourage community members to share their concerns by joining #5tosurvive . Contact your local MPP to ask for the immediate 5% funding increase and sign the online petition . Make your voice heard alongside ours.
05 Jan, 2024
In 2023, Alice Saddy Association celebrated its 50 th anniversary. While we enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on our past, we also took the time to plan for our future. A key part of this planning was updating our strategic plan. The pandemic brought about many changes, some challenging, some positive and others transformational in how we support people with developmental disabilities. The process of creating a strategic plan gave us space to pause, reflect and plot the future we want for our families, individuals we support, staff and community. After much consultation and vigorous discussions, we determined the following strategic priorities will guide our work from 2024 to 2028. Person-directed supports Staff engagement Responding to community Streamlined operations You’ll notice three of our priorities are internally focused. Coming out of the pandemic, we recognize the need to strengthen how we operate and support individuals. Empowering people For individuals, it’s about ensuring they’re directing decisions about the support they receive. This means strengthening their self-advocacy skills and helping them know their voice is being heard. Like many businesses and organizations, we’re dealing with labour shortages. To help retain our valued staff, and recruit new faces, we’re focusing on how we train, recognize and communicate with staff. We’re also looking for ways to streamline our operations to maximize the quality of supports provided to individuals, families and staff. Finally, we know there are many more individuals who are seeking support than our current capacity allows. That is causing stress for families. We’re committed to working with our community to find creative and flexible ways to respond to their needs. We look forward to updating you on the progress on our strategic priorities. Watch for updates in our newsletter. It’s an exciting time for change.
15 Dec, 2023
In September 2023, Alice Saddy Association celebrated an incredible milestone – our 50th anniversary. While we’ve been supporting people with developmental disabilities since 1973, some people don’t know our origin story or how we’ve evolved over time. Our organization draws its name from Alice Saddy, a woman who was well known in London for her volunteer work assisting adults with disabilities. Upon her passing, Alice Saddy Association was founded to honour her memory. We opened our first home on Wolfe Street in November 1973. Over the years, we’ve evolved from teaching daily living skills in a group-home setting to focusing on the needs of the individual. Half a century later, we now support over 170 individuals with 108 employees . Person-directed supports We’ve also changed how we support individuals, moving towards person-directed supports. This means not only empowering individuals and families to have a voice, but also providing supports that reflect what they’ve shared. It’s about truly listening to people and taking the time to understand their hopes, dreams and individualized needs. This is an important shift that ensures the people we support are taking the lead in their lives. Filling the gap While we’ve had much growth, we know there are many people with developmental disabilities who are in need of support. Whether it’s helping to find affordable housing, managing Passport funding, or providing guidance and support, we’re looking for new ways to meet their needs. Just as the challenges for support are many, so is our commitment to growing how we can support individuals and our community. We’re excited for what the next 50 years will bring for Alice Saddy Association. We’re grateful our namesake’s passion for people with disabilities as we work to meet the current and future needs of our community.
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