The Freedom Tour

Recently Community Living Ontario held it's annual Communications Strategies Workshop. An important two day event that brings all of Ontario's Community Living agencies together to network and learn.

Wednesday night we were invited to a special screening of The Freedom Tour, a documentary about deinstitutionalization, created by People First of Canada, The National Film Board and provincial People First organizations in Manibotba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

"An institution is any place where people who have been labeled as having an intellectual disability are isolated, segregated, and / or congregated. An institution is any place in which people do not have, or are not allowed to exercise control over their lives and their day to day decisions. An institution is not defined merely by its size." People First of Canada / Canadian Association for Community Living Joint Task Force on Deinstitutionalization Definition of Institution

The idea for the film came about when the government of Manitoba announced that it would be investing $40 million dollars into re-development of the Manitoba Development Centre - one of the remaining, large - scale institutions designed to house people who have a disability.

People First organizations protested the government's decision and decided to travel across the Prairie provinces to raise awareness about the continuing institutionalization of people who have a disability.

The film documents the tour of 16 people in 4 vehicles across 3 provinces using 2 cameras with 1 goal ... Free Our People!

The film offers an emotional, heart wrenching glimpse of what life was like inside the institututions through archival pictures, video footage, and powerful first-hand accounts from survivors and their families.

The Freedom Tour provides a powerful tool to reflect on our history, to recognize the harm that people experienced and to remember those who died in institutions.

March 31st, 2009 will see the goal of closing institutions in Ontario realized. The doors of Rideau Regional Centre, Huronia Regional Centre and the Southwest Regional Centre will close, never to open again. Everyone will have left the building.

While the day will be celebrated across the province there will also be time for reflective observance in memory of those people who died while housed in an institution.

With your support of The Freedom Tour we will realize the goals of closing the remaining institutions in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Please visit The Freedom Tour and People First of Canada websites to learn more about how you can lend your support and sign the on-line petition.

For more information on Community Living agencies visit: http://www.communitylivingontario.ca/

Change 4 Change

The excitement being generated by our capital campaign "Building Dreams Together" is helping us to raise the money we will need to see our dream of having a home of our own come true.

The people Community Living Dufferin supports are eager to see building begin and have taken their own initiative to help in the fundraising efforts.

CHANGE 4 CHANGE containers were distributed to all of our CLD homes.

A couple of weeks ago the containers were collected and tallied up.

We are happy to say the $38.88 was presented to Sheryl for the "Building Dreams Together" campaign.

Glen is pictured making the presentation to Sheryl Chandler, Executive Director of CLD.

To date, with the support of our many valued donors, we have raised $470,670.51

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this great cause and bringing us ever closer to realizing our Dream!

Going Green with our Newsletters

Community Living Dufferin is going GREEN.

Were you aware that you can access past copies of Among Friends on our website?

Would you prefer to read the newsletter on your computer?

If you answered YES then please send an email with the subject line GO GREEN to karenf@communitylivingdufferin.ca

This will help us to reduce the costs associated with printing and mailing copies of the newsletter.

Of course we will happily continue to mail copies to those who prefer to receive the paper version or do not have access to online reading.

Thank you for helping us to GO GREEN.

Great Support

M went for cataract surgery in December and handled it fabulously. In order for him to recover successfully, he needed to have 24/7 support and care, which wasn't possible at his home.
So the decision was made for M to move temporarily into his neighbours' house next door. One of his neighbours, J, instantly bonded with him and took M under her wing. She put aside her own concerns to focus on M's needs and her outlook was really positive and caring.

M stayed next door for 3 weeks with constant support from J and the staff. Though M likes his privacy and his space very much, neither of those were a luxury he could afford during his recuperation. In spite of the limitations of the situation, M coped very well.

J's helping was well received and much appreciated. Staff deserve receognition too for their sensitive and respectful support. They were very observant, offering support, yet stepping back when needed. They also ensured that M was comfortable with all the help that was being offered to him.

After the 3 weeks with his neighbours, M was able to go home and be by himself. He's back to work now, having made the transition from recuperation to regular daily expectations and handling that well too.

Kudos to everyone for the tons of positive encouragement, caring support and sensitivity during a hectic and challenging time!

Congratulations to M on a successful recovery.

Superbowl celebrations 2008

The gang came together to experience Superbowl 2008 earlier this month.

Featuring cold beer, pina coladas, soda pop, prizes, games, laughter, excitement, chips, cheesies, good friends, enough pizza to shingle a roof with, and a ten foot television screen; Superbowl Sunday at Dawson made Christmas look like unnecessary roughness.

This year's game was a rollercoaster of surprises, and many partygoers left with raw throats.

The Cardinals showed real determination, and through dedicated teamwork, made the Steelers earn every yard of their championship win.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Champions of 2008!

Motivation and determination

R is a man who knows his own mind. In the past, R has preferred to stick with certain jobs he enjoys rather than move from job to job. The staff of QPAC understand his preferences and his style of communication and have only seen him perform a limited number of the available jobs, in spite of opportunities to have more variety.

Last fall QPAC experienced a slow down in customer demand and some QPAC employees were being laid off. Staff asked R to come into the office and they opened up a conversation about a layoff, being as clear as possible while sensitive that it wasn't good news.

What happened next was truly a surprise for the staff and a celebration for R. Faced with the reality of a layoff, R saw an opportunity to depart from his usual routine and offered to do a job he had never tackled before. He told staff "I can do that job", pointing to a complicated assembly job. He related to C (staff) that he once helped his dad with trailer assembly, knew how to handle a drill and could do the job. Because R was motivated, he took a chance and tried. R has proven he is very capable of doing this job well and he has been doing it ever since.

Well done R!

Thanks for reminding us to take a chance, and to let the world know our hidden talents.

C's actions remind us that when we avoid making assumptions about people's capabilities, great things can happen.