A message from our President

February 2024

Dear Members and Friends of OM21,

Our members have consistently ranked residential as their number one issue. Accordingly, your board members have been focused on residential issues for quite some time. We worked hard to promote our “Step-by-step” proposal, a transitional residential/respite program, however ultimately, we were unsuccessful. A new opportunity came to light several years ago, and we have been quietly working towards having people with Developmental Disabilities included in it by design. The attached document gives some details on the opportunity. Christian Horizons has been excellent to work with in the development of the ideas and working with the developer to explore the feasibility. There are no firm commitments yet, but we are headed in the right direction.

Our next key step will be to help educate the City of Mississauga on the need and the opportunity and what their role must be. At some point we may need to reach out to the general membership to help us reinforce with the municipal politicians how important this is and that now is the time for the city to step up and meet their obligations to ensure a truly inclusive city. Over the coming months we will keep you posted with our progress and where we may need assistance.

Ross MacHattie, Chair, OM21.

Read details on OM21's Housing Opportunity Here.

Who are we

The beginning

Opportunities Mississauga for 21 Plus began life in 1998, as the "925421+ Family Network." programs.

Many of OM21’s members are parents who became involved in the organization when their children with developmental disabilities moved into the adult world following the end of their school years. Faced with severely limited programs and services, they banded together to successfully advocate for the investment of more energy and resources – working with Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and local organizations like Community Living Mississauga.

An uphill battle very much continues, due mainly to population growth that outpaces increases in funding. Adults with developmental disabilities (and their families) still struggle with shortages of day activity programs and staggeringly long waiting lists for residential services.

and now..

Today, our organization represents over 200 families and have widened our scope.

Since 2004, OM21 Plus's concern for residential and other issues has led us to be particularly interactive with the Ministry of Community and Social Services. The Ministry has undertaken an intensive study of services for Ontario residents with developmental disabilities. OM21 has already been involved in several of the early stages of this study:

• submitted feedback on a preliminary memorandum that outlined key questions related to services;
• members of our Board of Directors have participated in a series of forums organized by the Ministry to consider issues like "funding options" and "family support."

Community Base Sites

These base sites have been set up in cooperation with Community Living Mississauga. Currently there are four base sites in Mississauga run by CLM. They offer varied and interesting day activities for the individuals they support. The activities vary from horseback riding, swimming, music, computers to walks around the community.

Respite Services

The need for respite services is often overlooked. We have an active committee reviewing the available services and how they can be better integrated to better serve our community.

We are building our infrastructure of committees. Specifically, Residential, Transportation, Fund raising & Public Relations. We do encourage, and welcome, interested individuals to join us.

Step By Step Initiative

Opportunities Mississauga for 21+ and Karis Disability Services (formerly Christian Horizons)  proposed the creation of a home  that will offer residential/respite services to 12 people for the cost normally associated with the provision of such services for 4 people in a traditional “group home.”

Unfortunatly, our proposal is not in line with the current ministry thinking . So Our proposal was not accepted.

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Ontario Families in Crisis.

12,000 families in Ontario need help. Does Ontario Care? Join us at om21 and support those people who need our help.

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