The LAMP Community Health Centre is in the Lakeshore Village on Fifth St. and is a short roll from my apartment. LAMP has several health and youth oriented programs. They are looking to expand their programs but the current location is too small. So they held a meeting on Wednesday to get ideas from the community about what they should do. Of course I was there.
The main topic of discussion was about the physical location of LAMP. Of course some folks are very attached to the convenience of the location and don't want to lose it. But LAMP has already expanded to a soon to be opened satellite office in Mississauga. There is a movement afoot to expand LAMP's area coverage. Not surprisingly, some folks don't like that but it is inevitable. Some suggest that the solution is to build an addition to the current location. The more likely solution is to find a larger building elsewhere and use this building as a branch. Obviously some people believe LAMP will move and abandon this location. I don't think they'll do that and building an addition on the current facility is cost prohibitive.
The reason I attended this meeting was to initiate discussion about services for the disabled. Many folks were surprised that there are no services for the disabled in the west end of Toronto. Obviously it's a big project and I would like to include special gym equipment for the disabled along with medical staff and physiotherapists. This could not be done in the current facility but it's something that could be included in a new location. I hope to meet with LAMP shortly and I plan to bring in experts to advise about required equipment.
The other thing we discussed was to start a satellite program for kids in the co-ops in this area. Now that I am a member of LAMP, I will receive all info about programs and meetings. So I will follow up on these things. The expansion report will be issued in the spring.
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