A new pilot project at Family Respite Services in Windsor.
The organization has teamed up with Caesars Windsor Cares, the WindsorEssex Community Foundation and Bluewater Pools and Spas to launch "Respitality."
The Respitality Pilot Program is a one year respite and hospitality initiative that gives family caregivers a short break or a period of respite while supporting the hospitality sector in the region.
Executive Director Catherine Shanahan says the program is a way to bring a caring community together to support families who have extra challenges in their every day lives.
"It might be as simple as a gift certificate to a dinner," says Shanahan. "It might be a yoga class, it might be a membership at Good Life Fitness. It could be any number of things, it kind of depends on what a family might have of interest and how our hospitality industry comes together to support us in that."
She says they will work with the community to make possibilities available to families.
"We've heard from some families that what they would really like is a family activity," she says. "So we might be helping them go to a Spitfires game, we might have some families come to Adventure Bay. For others they want to get out with a friend and go for coffee. It really depends on what's going to be the best thing for an individual family."
Shanahan says they're hoping more businesses come forward to support the program.
"We trust that business will come back to them as we do that so we're going to be investing in some of those hospitality opportunities and hoping that our hospitality partners come together as well, as other donors and businesses and know that, that will come together and everybody will benefit from that process," says Shanahan.
"Respitality" is a global program and Windsor-Essex is now apart of the Global Respitality Network.
Family Respite Services assists 1,200 area families caring for children with disabilities.