The Association Renaissance des Appalaches recently acquired the former building of the Resto-Pub La Virée and the Casa Bianca restaurant in the Black Lake sector in Thetford Mines. This will allow the organization to better group its services under the same roof.
His premises on rue Simoneau had also been put up for sale a few weeks ago. “We wanted to centralize our services, so instead of having three centers, we will have just one or two at most. We have already been open since Tuesday,” explained the director of the Renaissance Association, Jessika Lacombe.
The organization is also evaluating costs to bring accommodation to Black Lake. It is currently located on 9th Street in Thetford Mines. As for Kaffé’yé on Notre-Dame Street, it will remain there, but another similar service could emerge in the former Black Lake restaurant at different times. The advantage of the latter according to Ms. Lacombe is its location on the boulevard.
The size is another feature that appealed to the organization. “It’s huge and the building was recently completely renovated. We could start the café right away. The very large lot could also allow us to build on it.”
The sale of the Simoneau Street hub will provide the opportunity to invest in renovations in Black Lake over the coming years. The size of the building will also allow the Renaissance Association to better serve its growing clientele. The organization currently has 245 members, but welcomes approximately 160 per week.
“We will have a better capacity to receive people. We have almost doubled our services in one year since we obtained a subsidy from the CISSS to go from one to three groups in day activities. So we were short of space. At our two other locations, we could not expand since we had almost no land,” said Ms. Lacombe.
Let us recall that the Association Renaissance des Appalaches offers services to people living with an intellectual disability or living with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These include reception, information and referral, promotion and defense of their rights and interests, support in various procedures, residential animation, a day respite service and respite-accommodation for natural families and family-type resources as well as educational, social and occupational activities.
