February 07, 2025
AJAX, ONT. – Emerging community partners Grandview Kids and Sloane’s House are celebrating their shared commitment to providing family-centred care to children and youth with communication, physical and developmental needs in Durham Region through a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Grandview Kids, Durham Region’s only Children’s Treatment Centre, provides specialized paediatric rehabilitation care and services to children and youth with communication, physical and developmental needs, as well as support to parents and caregivers. The organization, which delivers programs like the Durham Complex Care Program, has direct experience supporting children and youth with complex medical needs in accessing vital care closer to home. Through this involvement, Grandview Kids deeply understands the need to develop and enhance accessible, supportive programming for families caring for children or youth with complex medical needs.
A paediatric respite and hospice care centre to be created in the Durham Region, Sloane’s House aims to become a place where families of children up to twenty-one years old with complex medical needs can join their team of caring professionals and supportive community of parents and caregivers to receive respite, palliative and end-of-life care. Sloane’s House will demonstrate leading practices, innovation and a high level of skill, training and compassion in its care, upholding the dignity and respect of each client and their family.
Signed during a ceremony on February 4, 2025, the MOU outlines the shared objective of Grandview Kids and Sloane’s House to support children and youth with complex medical needs, along with their families, in accessing much-needed respite programming and specialized training opportunities focused on grief and bereavement supports. The MOU will enable the development of programs through the counsel of clients, caregivers and Grandview Kids staff, provide resources for families navigating the various stages of grief, facilitate therapy opportunities and events and enhance access to services dedicated to children and youth with complex medical needs and their families.
Through the generous support of donors, Sloane’s House plans to build a dedicated paediatric respite and hospice care centre in Whitby, Ontario. The agreement enables Sloane’s House staff to utilize Grandview Kids’ physical spaces to host meetings and events as they plan their next steps to fund and build a dedicated centre.
The MOU signifies both organizations’ shared commitment to increasing the availability of support for parents and caregivers and their children with high health needs. This partnership also recognizes the importance of providing respite services and grief and bereavement support to parents and caregivers who deliver care with limited access to programming and resources tailored to their needs.
Quotes
Tom McHugh, Chief Executive Officer, Grandview Kids:
“Grandview Kids and Sloane’s House are uniquely positioned to develop programs that provide not only practical care but also emotional and cultural support for families in need. This Memorandum of Understanding formalizes the next step in our shared vision. It will allow us to develop more accessible programming, offer grief and bereavement support, and, most importantly, create spaces where caregivers can recharge. By working together, we aim to help families navigate the complexities of care with dignity, compassion and the resources they need.”
Brenda Slomka, Executive Director, Sloane’s House:
“Grandview Kids is a special place within our community, and we acknowledge the incredible ways they impact so many. This MOU is an exemplary model of how collaboration is foundational to providing the highest level of care and support for our clients and families on their health journeys. The MOU portrays how organizations with varied capacities and skills, focused on the same vision, caring for the children and youth in our communities, can intentionally come together to provide this high level of care and see the most vulnerable amongst us flourishing.”
About Grandview Kids
Founded in 1953, Grandview Kids is a family-centred, independently operated non-profit organization dedicated to supporting children and youth with physical, communication and developmental needs. Through specialized programs, rehabilitation services and outpatient clinical therapies, Grandview Kids supports children and youth to live life at their full potential. Learn more at grandviewkids.ca.
About Sloane’s House
Sloane’s House will be available for those living across Durham Region and the surrounding underserved communities. A rejuvenating place for respite stays offering engaging programming for the child or youth while parents and other caregivers take a much-needed break. For those children and youth on their end-of-life journey, specialized care will be provided in an environment where quality of life will be the focus for however many days remain. Learn more at sloaneshouse.org.
Media contacts
Adrian Polidano
Acting Director of Communications and External Relations
Grandview Kids
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