Eli's Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre

What Eli's Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre does

Eli's Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre is a Canadian registered charity (BN 83199 0031 RR0001) building what is positioned as Canada's first farm-based long-term residential treatment and recovery program for young adults aged 18–35 with serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and major depression. The organization was founded in 2010 by David and Deborah Cooper following the suicide death of their son Eli, and is targeting a Fall 2026 opening at Loyola House on the 600-acre Ignatius Jesuit Centre property in Guelph/Eramosa Township, Ontario. Capacity is set at 30 bedrooms (28 operational guests plus 2 respite bedrooms reserved for returning alumni).

The therapeutic model is built on three pillars — meaningful work, community living, and individualized therapeutic care — and is adapted from Gould Farm in Monterey, Massachusetts (founded 1913), which reported 81% employment 18 months post-program, 5% re-hospitalization, and 100% stable housing at 36 months. Daily programming integrates clinical therapy (individual and group), outdoor farm work (gardening, animal care, trail stewardship, woodworking), therapeutic programming (art, music, wellness), and shared community living. Length of stay is guest-driven rather than time-boxed, and built-in respite care supports transition back to independent living.

The organization is funded entirely through charitable mechanisms — individual donations, recurring giving, securities donations, bequests, workplace giving, United Way campaigns, community fundraising events (film nights, runs/walks), and prospective government funding — with no client fee model. Go-to-market is community-led via the Recovery Matters newsletter, blog content, social media, peer advisors with lived experience, and healthcare-system endorsements from leaders at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and CAMH. The addressable Ontario population of young adults with serious mental illness is cited at 160,000, against an annual Canadian economic cost of $51 billion for serious mental illness. The organization is governed by an independent board chaired by Dr. Howard Hamer and led by Executive Director Chris Joseph (appointed February 2026).

Name

Eli's Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre

Legal name

Eli’s Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre

Website

https://elisplace.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Eli's Place is a Canadian registered charity building Canada's first farm-based long-term residential treatment and transition program for young adults aged 18-35 with serious mental illness, modeled on Gould Farm and opening Fall 2026 at Loyola House on the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario, funded entirely through charitable donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Residential Mental Health Treatment

NAICS

Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities (62322), Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities (623220)

SIC

Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Residential Mental Health Treatment Centers (HLAFACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Small Residential Care Homes (RCFE/Board & Care) (HLADABAF)

Keywords

• Residential mental health treatment
• Therapeutic community programs
• Serious mental illness care
• Farm-based recovery services
• Mental health charity

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: Individual donations through one-time gifts, monthly recurring donations, and tribute gifts. Registered charity (Number 83199 0031 RR0001) issuing charitable tax receipts for donations of $10 or more.
2. Securities Donations: Donating appreciated securities or mutual funds as tax-effective giving option, avoiding capital gains tax while supporting mental health recovery care.
3. Fundraising Events: DIY Fundraising Event Toolkit for community events, annual film nights, runs/walks, and other community fundraisers.
4. Workplace Giving Programs: Employer matching donations and United Way campaigns directed to Eli's Place through workplace giving programs.
5. Bequests and Legacy Gifts: Estate planning gifts through wills to carry the work forward for future generations.
6. Government Funding (Future): Working with government representatives to build relationships for future public funding opportunities. Currently no government operational funding confirmed.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Eli's Place operates a farm-based, long-term residential treatment and transition centre for young adults aged 18-35 with serious mental illness, delivered on a 600-acre working farm at Loyola House on the Ignatius Jesuit Centre property in Guelph/Eramosa Township, Ontario. The program integrates meaningful work, community living, and individualized therapeutic care, adapted from the Gould Farm (1913) model, and is supported by clinical programming, outdoor farm work, therapeutic activities, transitional care, and respite care.

Product overview

Eli's Place is a single, unified therapeutic program — a farm-based residential treatment and transition centre for young adults aged 18-35 with serious mental illness. The program integrates four core service components: Clinical Programming (individual and group therapy, psychiatric care), Outdoor and Farm Work Programming (farming, gardening, woodworking), Therapeutic Programming (art therapy, music therapy, wellness), and Community Living (residential care, shared meals). The model is built on three pillars: meaningful work, community living, and therapeutic care. The organization also provides Transitional Care Services to support guests moving back to independent community living, and Respite Care for past participants. The program is modeled after Gould Farm (founded 1913) and is located at Loyola House on the Ignatius Jesuit Centre property in Guelph, Ontario.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farm-Based Residential Treatment Program A long-term rural residential treatment program for young adults aged 18-35 with serious mental illness, featuring therapeutic community living, meaningful farm work, and individualized clinical care based on the Gould Farm model. Delivered on a 600-acre working farm at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Ontario with 32 guest bedrooms.
• Transitional Care Services Support services provided to guests as they transition back into the community and independent living, including ongoing follow-up after the residential stay.
• Clinical Programming Individual therapy, group therapy, clinical care, and integrated care planning delivered by social workers, psychologists, and consulting psychiatrists as part of the daily program structure.
• Outdoor and Farm Work Programming Meaningful work opportunities including farming from planting to harvesting, gardening, orchard work, trail stewardship, and woodworking and maintenance on the 600-acre working farm.
• Therapeutic Programming Art therapy, music therapy, wellness and fitness, and healthy living activities integrated into the recovery model alongside clinical and outdoor programming.
• Community Living Residential care in a therapeutic community setting with shared meals, community meetings, and recreation and relaxation activities; the community living pillar of the program.
• Respite Care Built-in respite care for past participants requiring short-term follow-up support, with two respite bedrooms reserved for this purpose out of total 32 bedrooms at Loyola House.

Quantifiable outcome

• 81% employment rate 18 months after program participation (Gould Farm model)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Preston Human Capital GroupminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 February 2026Executive search firm engaged to lead the Executive Director search process from December 2025 to February 2026. PHC contacted 126 targeted candidates and interviewed 20, with four shortlisted. The process resulted in the selection of Chris Joseph as Executive Director.
• Ignatius Jesuit Centre (IJC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEli's Place operates from Loyola House on the grounds of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, a 600-acre working farm and conservation property. The IJC is a longstanding charitable organization with deep roots in land stewardship, conservation and community agriculture. Eli'fs Place is a nonreligious program; the relationship with IJC is purely operational with no religious component. Property has been in continuous operation for over 100 years.
• Gould FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGould Farm in Monterey, Massachusetts (founded 1913) is the model inspiration for Eli'fs Place. After conducting an in-depth global review of 33 centres, Eli'fs Place chose this proven effective model. Employment rates of Gould Farm participants went from 14% at departure to 81% 18 months after participation, with only 5% re-hospitalization and 100% in stable housing 36 months post-program.
• Kyrie FarmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTherapeutic farm in County Kildare, Ireland modeled on Gould Farm, founded by John Mckeon following the loss of his son Kieran to suicide. Both organizations share similar missions and challenges. Collaborative discussions held around admissions criteria, design decisions, research partnerships, and shared challenges with stigma and government funding.
• Maynooth UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIrish university with research partnership established by Kyrie Farm. Eli'fs Place learned about the scope of this partnership during collaborative discussions and may explore similar academic partnerships.
• Sli EileminorOthersEstablished therapeutic farm in County Cork, Ireland mentioned as similar organization Kyrie Farm has connections with.
• Urtica de VijfsprongminorOthersTherapeutic farm in The Netherlands mentioned as similar organization Kyrie Farm has connections with.
• Cooper RiisminorOthersTherapeutic farm in North Carolina mentioned during discussions between Eli'fs Place and Kyrie Farm as another similar organization.
• CanadaHelpsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party service provider used for online donations. Referenced in Privacy Policy as collecting donor information alongside Eventbrite.
• EventbriteminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party service provider used for event registration. Referenced in Privacy Policy alongside CanadaHelps as collecting visitor information.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sli Eile: Established therapeutic farm in County Cork, Ireland, identified as part of the international therapeutic farm community. Similar farm-based residential recovery model for mental health populations, providing a relevant peer for cross-jurisdictional benchmarking.
• Cooper Riis: Therapeutic farm community in North Carolina serving people with mental health challenges. Mentioned as a peer in the international therapeutic farm network that Eli's Place and Kyrie Farm collaborate within; offers residential recovery programs on a working farm similar to Eli's Place model.
• Gould Farm: Therapeutic farm community in Monterey, Massachusetts (founded 1913) that is the direct model for Eli's Place. Provides residential mental health recovery through meaningful work, community living, and clinical care. Eli's Place explicitly adopted the Gould Farm model after a global review of 33 centers and references its outcome data (81% employment, 5% rehospitalization).
• Urtica de Vijfsprong: Therapeutic farm in the Netherlands mentioned in the international therapeutic farm network. Comparable farm-based residential mental health program that supports the same evidence base for the farm-based therapeutic model Eli's Place is deploying.
• Kyrie Farm: Therapeutic farm in County Kildare, Ireland, also modeled on Gould Farm and founded following a suicide loss. Eli's Place engages in collaborative discussions with Kyrie Farm on admissions criteria, design decisions, and government funding challenges, making it the closest international peer.

Broad incumbents

• Homewood Health: One of Canada's largest mental health and addiction treatment providers offering residential and outpatient programs. While broader in scope and shorter-term than Eli's Place, Homewood is a relevant Canadian incumbent that addresses similar populations through a more traditional clinical model.
• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre - Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program: Major Toronto academic hospital whose senior clinicians (Dr. Anthony Levitt, Dr. Ari Zaretsky) have publicly endorsed Eli's Place. As a broad incumbent in psychiatric care, Sunnybrook represents the institutional ecosystem that would refer patients to Eli's Place for long-term residential treatment not available within its own service line.
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH): Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital and research center. While CAMH primarily provides acute, outpatient, and short-term inpatient services, it is a key referral source and clinical partner for Eli's Place and represents the broader Canadian mental health system Eli's Place complements rather than competes with.
• Edgewood Health Network: Canadian provider of residential mental health, addiction, and eating disorder treatment with multiple sites. Operates as a broad incumbent offering short-term residential mental health programming that overlaps with the population Eli's Place serves, though without the farm-based long-term recovery focus.

Emerging players

• Pine River Institute: Canadian residential treatment program for youth and young adults with mental health and addiction challenges that incorporates outdoor and experiential components. Though its primary focus is adolescents rather than the 18-35 demographic, it offers a comparable long-term residential model with experiential therapy in a Canadian context.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/elis_place
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@elisplacecanada
• Facebookfacebook.com/ElisPlaceCanada
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elisplacecanada
• Instagraminstagram.com/elisplacecanada

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eli's Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre