Fonds AFC 136 - Agape Foundation fonds

In the late 1960s, some members of the Adelaide Street Baptist Church and the Kensal Park Baptist Church were desirous of establishing a new, separate congregation. In 1968, Thelma (née Dale) Stinson offered the new congregation the use of her home at the north-east corner of Southdale and Wonderland Roads in London. The newly created Church at Westmount’s constitution was written in 1970. Mrs. Stinson sold a ten acre parcel of her land to the congregation in 1972. Despite declining membership in the church, the members of the Church at Westmount decided to take on an ambitious project based on the United Nations “Year of the Disabled” in 1981. In partnership with the Dale Human Resources Institute, the Church at Westmount established the Dale Home for Brain Damaged Adults (also known as The Dale Home) at the former Dale family homestead. One acre of land was sold in order to help finance the venture. In 1985, the Dale Home Board of Directors was formed and the Dale Home was formally opened. Because of the decline in church membership, and the need for the Dale Home’s expansion, the Church at Westmount was formally dissolved in 1988 and a new non-profit organization, the Agape Foundation of London, was formed. Since 1989, the Agape Foundation has assisted in development of the London area community through grants and special awards to non-profit, charitable groups working to improve education, the arts, recreation, social services and the environment. The Agape Foundation provides grants for start up costs and funds for organizations whose services would no longer be available to community without short-term funding. The Dale Home became Dale Head Injury Services, and later Dale Brain Injury Services. Dale Brain Injury Services continues to assist adults with acquired brain injuries in the London area.