NHCIA is a vibrant and responsive organization committed to the highest standards of professional service. Incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1965 NHCIA serves approximately 150 children, youth and adults with an intellectual disability in North Hastings and their families. The supports we offer are continually evolving in response to family, individual and community needs.

Our Programs, Supports, and services

Supported Living

  • 24 hour, individualized supports to enable people to live safely and as independently as possible in the community

  • Links to life-long learning opportunities for life skills, rights and responsibilities, community resources, etc.

  • Assistance to budget, shop, get to appointments, and access community activities and services.

  • Coordinating out of town transportation for appointments and leisure activities

Child and Family Support - Supporting children, from birth to age 14, and their families at 113 Hastings Street Rock Edge Centre

  • Support for funding applications (Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities, Special Services at Home, Out of Home Respite, Autism Respite etc.)

  • Assistance to apply for Disability Tax Credit and  Registered Disability Savings Plans

  • Transition to school planning and support

  • Information, support and advocacy for school meetings

  • Support to access other resources and supports in the community 

  • Assistance to access recreation and social programs in the community

  • Parent / Caregiver Support Group

Youth in Transition - Supporting youth ages 14 to 25 at 113 Hastings Street Rock Edge Centre

  • Support for funding applications (Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities, Special Services at Home, Passport, Adult respite etc.)

  • Information and support to apply for Developmental Services Ontario,  Ontario Disability Support Program, Disability Tax Credit and  Registered Disability Savings Plans

  • Short and long term planning

  • Support and advocacy for transition into high school and school meetings 

  • Assistance to access post-secondary programs, employment supports and recreational opportunities in the community

  • Referrals to other community resources

  • Parent / Caregiver Support Group

Adult Respite

  • Assistance with funding applications

  • Planning and support for families to set goals and budget funds

  • Purchase of service staffing for respite and skill development

  • Support to use respiteservices.com (a web portal for finding private respite workers)

  • Self-contained apartment that may be booked for life-skills education, overnight respite, and emergency shelter needs

  • Respite Apartment located at 41 Sherbourne Street - Please contact us for more information and bookings

Community Participation

  • Self-Advocate and Ambassador Committee

  • Support to enroll in and attend local and out of town community recreational and social programming opportunities 

  • Classes for meal preparation to be replicated at home

  • Support to attend workshops and training

  • Integrated bus trips out of town, open to all members of the community - Check our calendar to see upcoming trips

  • Support to meet individual goals

  • Support to obtain volunteer and employment opportunities

  • Support to develop and foster natural and unpaid supports and connections

The Hub

  • Tuesday and Thursday cooking class for training on meal prep and hosting/social etiquette skills

Person Directed Planning

Person directed planning involves getting to know the person in terms of their experiences, relationships, their history and their story. It involves understanding their dreams both short term and long term. Once there is a clear understanding about who the person is and what they want, an action plan is created determining what resources, connections and creative approaches will help to turn the vision into reality.

Person directed planning provides the opportunity for a person to try new activities, gain new experiences, explore resources in their community and make new connections or strengthen the ones they have. Person directed supports are built around each individual’s goals and helps people get better lives not just better plans.

At NHCIA we offer support for person directed planning to those in our supported living and community participation programs and to those receiving adult respite and passport funding. Our Planning Facilitators support the self advocate through the planning process involving their network in the process as the self advocate chooses, including family, friends, and support staff.

Our goal is to use a variety of strategies to embed Person-Centered Practices into our workplace culture as well as into our service delivery. We use person-centered thinking tools developed by Helen Sanderson Associates. We also use approaches and PATH and MAPS from Inclusion Press. The person-centered tools help give structure to conversations and capture important information. The tools enhance understanding, communication and relationships.