SYDNEY, N.S. — NANCY KING
CAPE BRETON POST
Abbey Stapleton says the Horizon Achievement Centre is more than a place to go to work, the people there are like her family.
So, no one in the room was happier than Stapleton Wednesday when Premier Stephen McNeil announced that the provincial government will contribute $2 million toward the planned $6.4 million new centre, to be constructed in the Harbourside Commercial Park.
The 32-year-old Sydney resident has worked at the Horizon Achievement Centre since 2011, in the catering and baking department.
“I used to work at the employment development centre and they said to me that I should work at the Horizon Achievement Centre, so I said sure, and I love it here.
“It’s a good place to make friends and it’s more than a job to me. I like learning new things. I wanted to learn how to bake and cook … when the new building comes, I would be thinking about working every day there. Everybody’s going to enjoy it.”
The Horizon Achievement Centre is Cape Breton’s largest provider of vocational training and employment development services. It provides meaningful employment and vocational opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities, in a number of social enterprises.
Carol Pendergast, the centre’s executive director, said with the province’s commitment the organization should be in the position to break ground on the new building sometime this year.
“Right now, having this commitment will allow us to get the additional money that we need,” she said.
The centre already launched a capital campaign for the new facility. To date, the organization has raised more than $1.3 million through efforts including a successful Chase the Act campaign, in partnership with the Ashby legion, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 138. Members of the legion were also on hand for Wednesday’s announcement.
Pendergast said the centre is continuing to work with the federal government and the community in an effort to secure additional funding.
“We’re ready to go,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming. The important thing is that we have the commitment, not in principle, but we have the commitment. Moving it to that next stage means that it’s going to happen.”
Board chair Jim Davis said the provincial commitment brings the centre closer to making the project a reality.
“As we go forward, I ask for your continued support – let’s make this happen,” he said.
Pendergast noted that much of the preparatory work – including various assessments – has been completed. While the centre serves about 135 clients, she noted that it has a waiting list of about 85, so its services are in demand. She added the community has been very supportive of all of its fundraising efforts.
“You have made a huge difference already in changing the lives of families and your clients and some of you have been here a long time,” McNeil said. “The Horizon Centre for decades has been ensuring that many members of the community feel good and a part of it and making a huge impact, not only on your lives as clients, but quite frankly on the lives of this community.”
The 2.2 hectares of land on which the new centre is to be constructed in the Harbourside Commercial Park was turned over to Horizon Achievement Centre by the former Darrell Dexter NDP government. In his remarks, Sydney-Whitney Pier MLA and cabinet minister Derek Mombourquette paid tribute to the role that the late Gordie Gosse, who previously represented the riding for the NDP, played in helping get the project off the ground.
“Gordie started it and we got it done for him,” Mombourquette said.
