Pilot program offering more respite opportunities launches in Windsor

A new program is merging respite services with hospitality.

“We are joining together with the hospitality industry to make opportunities available for families,” said Catherine Shanahan, executive director of Family Respite Services.

A pilot project is called 'Respitality' launched Wednesday in Windsor.

“It is a way to bring a caring community together to support families who have extra challenges,” Shanahan said.

The program is a global one, and Shanahan says the aim is to offer a short break or period of respite to families with children living with special needs and at the same time helping boost the hospitality sector.

“Dinner. It might be a yoga class, it might be a membership at Good Life Fitness. It could be any number of things. It kind of depends on what a family might have of interest,” she explained.

Opportunities that Megan Ballrigden appreciates having.

“Those are very tiny things but when a lot of government programs have been downshifted onto parents it is a lot of work on us,” she said.

Parents like Ballrigden can take a minute for themselves thanks to support from three local sponsors: Caesars Windsor Cares, the Windsor-Essex Community Foundation and Bluewater Pools and Spa.

“Honestly. A dinner makes you want to cry so that's where we're at unfortunately as a society,” said Ballrigden.

A mother of two children with Autism, Ballrigden likens Wednesday's announcement to a Christmas gift out of nowhere.

“Every day is a grind. For dad that means working a job and being a special parent as well so these programs they're not just for moms, not just for dads. This is for people who need that little regeneration break,” she said.

Shanahan is hoping more businesses join the program.

“We trust that business will come back to them as we do that,” she said.

The program is available free of charge to caregivers who are part of Family Respite Services.

“What these groups are doing for us as families will make a very tangible difference in how we care,” Ballrigden said.