ADVOCACY

Wikipedia defines  ADVOCACY   as an '  activity by an   individual   or   group   that aims to influence  decisions  within political, economic, and social systems and institutions'.

For Community Living Oshawa/Clarington, this means acting, speaking or writing to promote, protect and defend the human rights of people with a developmental disability. But how do we break this down into defined tasks?

At CLOC we undertake many different types of advocacy in order to assist the people we serve and their families to live their best lives, and to participate in a meaningful way within their community. We encourage the people we serve, themselves, to become  advocates  - to speak up and represent themselves in any situation. Family members and friends often act as  individual advocates,  ensuring people have the opportunity to live a good life, and feel safe and included in the broader community  .  Group advocacy   involves advocating for a group of people, such  as the developmental services sector or specific groups of people within  ,  Citizen advocacy   takes place when the community advocates for a person/people with a disability, over the long-term. A fine example of CLOC's involvement in this kind of work would be the organization participating with City officials and other community groups on the Durham Region Transit Accessibility Committee, in order to ensure affordable and equal access to transit for everyone, including seniors and people with visible/non-visible disabilities.  Systemic advocacy  involves working for long-term social changes to ensure the collective rights and interests of people are served through legislation, policies and practices. CLOC often works with city council, MPs and MPPs in order to make change on a larger scale, by letting them know how changes made by the government will have an effect on the population of people that we serve. We actively participate on many provincial organizations and committees to contribute on a system level. And finally,  legal advocacy   involves legal representation in the justice system, pursuing positive changes to legislation, or giving legal advice to people with disability about discrimination and human rights. There are many lawyers that practice solely in this specific area of law.  

Think about your role. How do you advocate for the people with developmental disabilities that are part of your life? CLOC's vision is for all people to be included, to participate, to succeed and flourish. Our mission speaks to empowerment. Within each of our roles, there is an advocacy function required for CLOC to meet is vision and mission. What is it you are doing to help live this mission?

The Indiana Resource Center for Autism's website posted this  interesting article  , aimed toward educating parents on what qualities to look for when seeking an advocate to assist their family. It is important for us all to consider how we advocate for others, and to ensure that we are advocating for what the person/family wants, as opposed to what our own personal beliefs tell us they should be doing. Your knowledge should be used to guide individuals and families in your life, but the final decisions always rest with them. David Hingsburger addresses this in the article,  'Allowing People to Have A Voice'  .

You, CLOC's supporters, are our best resource and the ones that can inspire the people we support and their families to be their own advocates, or you can help to advocate on their behalf. Thank you for continuing to help CLOC further its mission, by being strong advocates for the agency.

UPDATES



CLOC hasn’t received its funding contract from MCCSS as of yet, and we are now in our fifth month of the fiscal operating year. The recent provincial budget announcement indicates an overall reduction in MCCSS budget over three years of $1 billion by fiscal 21/22. The Provincial Network on Developmental Services have noted the reductions are in two main areas:

Reforms  - $720 million, including social assistance and new competitive process for employment supports

Operational efficiencies  - $510 million, including the Developmental Services sector, child welfare,

special needs, early intervention

We are not yet sure how this will impact our sector, or CLOC specifically. The times are changing and CLOC needs to be ready for the changes ahead. We are excited to be embarking on a journey to develop a culture of shared leadership to help us grow, improve and develop the skills needed to manage change and transform our services to meet the future needs of our sector.

Terri Gray

Executive Director

In September 2018, CLOC unveiled our new Strategic Priorities for 2019 - 2023, via the document to the left (click on the document to open) at the Annual General Meeting.

On May 14th, CLOC held its first employee SPA Night.... no, we weren't getting manicures and pedicures (though that does sound like fun)... SPA stands for S trategic P lanning A ction. Representatives from each front line team, along with supervisors, leadership and a few Board members came together to develop plans, actions and goals for each of the 4 strategic priorities that will be worked on over the next four years:

 

1.   Improving communications, stakeholder engagement & sectoral advocacy

2.   Enhancing service innovation and standards of excellence

3.   Modernizing organizational capacity and improving financial sustainability

4.   Use of technology across the organization to enhance quality and efficiency

 

This was also an opportunity for each employee representative to discuss the goals that their particular team has developed to work on under the Strategic Plan.

 

At the end of the evening, we came away with many ideas from each of the groups that will be summarized as part of documenting our ongoing actions for the next 4 years.

 

Thanks to our employees and keep up the great work! We encourage our stakeholders to k eep an eye on your emails and this newsletter to see how you can be involved.

CLOC is very excited to be embarking on a Leadership Development Initiative. We are beginning this journey in an effort to support our vision to provide person centered, individualized, community focused services and to help us move forward strategically as a strong, agile, flexible, responsive service delivery agency. Our goal is to develop a culture of shared leadership in order to help us grow, improve and to enable us to make the changes needed to face the challenges ahead of us.  

 

David Chalmers, a University Professor, from NEXUS Human Capital, has been engaged to deliver the training. He will help to tap into the leadership skills across CLOC. David’s teaching concepts and methods effect full and active participation. David will deliver a year-long course, 'Enhancing Leadership Capacity'. Beginning in September, employees representing all areas of the agency will be participating in an immersive learning and development initiative with the goal to strengthen their leadership capacity and develop a leadership culture across the organization, designed specifically for the developmental services sector. Participants will acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes that are aligned with the Ministry's Core Leadership Competencies, through self-awareness, emotional intelligence and strengthening of self-efficacy, through in class training, online coaching and knowledge mapping.

 

Testimonials about how this initiative has helped to transform the culture of other developmental service agencies can be found by clicking here.

 

We look forward to keeping you up to date on how the course is progressing, and how its participants are bringing fresh new ideas to their work with CLOC.

It's not often that organizations get to acknowledge these kinds of milestones!

On May 14th, Suzanne Nobes celebrated 40 years working for CLOC! Suzanne's family, including her husband, father, daughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law, surprised her at the SPA Night BBQ, and joined in on the fun (her son unfortunately was unable to sneak away from work). Suzanne is the current supervisor of Community Services, Adult and Children’s Program, Foundations Program, Passport Program and the Associate Living Program. Suzanne's co-workers shed some light on what it is like to work with her, "Suzanne excels at remembering details of all things administrative! Her memory of all things financial….simply, astounding! Budgets?……Do not mess with her budgets! One of her famous lines is 'Let me call Craig!'". Also, Suzanne "is a walking and talking historian to all things related to CLOC. She is well aware of the good, the bad and the ugly. Of course, she mostly remembers the good! (But, if the price is right, she may reveal the dirt!)". Terri Gray, Executive Director, acknowledged Suzanne and her work with CLOC by saying, "At the heart of it, Suzanne cares very deeply about people - the people CLOC serves and the employees she works along side. She works very hard with her team to be able to respond to the growing, changing needs of people with developmental disabilities living in Durham".

 

Thank you, Suzanne, for all that you have done, and continue to do to ensure that CLOC provides the best quality services for people and families.

 

 

'Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.'

 

~ Steve Jobs 

It took a whole lot of arm twisting, but CLOC was finally able to get Mrs. Sweet to come out to an event, so we could acknowledge and thank her for doing the taxes of people in CLOC's services for many, many years..... all free of charge. Mrs. Sweet brought her grandchildren with her to the Family/Membership BBQ on June 12th, and after she told the crowd about how she enjoys doing the taxes because it "keeps her brain sharp", Executive Director Terri Gray, and Board President Patrick Grist presented her with some CLOC Swag to keep her cozy and warm on cool days.

A group at 43 Wellington, lead by Angel and Stacey, has been getting themselves in shape for the summer by participating in exercises each morning at 9am. We commend you for realizing the importance of physical health and well-being, and for inspiring others to get active!

An amazing 16 locations entered CLOC's Annual Garden Competition this year! During the week of August 12th, judges were checking out the gardens, taking lots of photos, and determining our winners! Thanks to all of CLOC's hard working gardeners.

In April, Andy, Melanie and Tracey from Wilson Road, along with their support staff Nicole and Prudence, had the extraordinary opportunity to swim with and feed the stingrays at Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto. Enjoy their photos and a short video of the experience.

Why is CLOC Launching the 'My Life. My Community. My Way.' Campaign?

As the Ministry requires CLOC to stretch its budget further each year, it becomes more important to fundraise to be able to cover unfunded expenses. CLOC continues to focus what resources we can on enriching people's lives, and would like to be able to do more of this using money from fundraising and donations.

Our previous 'Make A House A Home' Campaign raised dollars specifically for upkeep and renovations of our locations. The new Campaign, 'My Life. My Community. My Way.', has a goal to raise a minimum of $500,000 over 4 years, in order for CLOC to focus on quality of life for people, by providing them with the necessities and experiences that they need to feel fulfilled.

How will the Campaign help CLOC as a whole?

Money raised through the Campaign will augment our supports and services beyond the funding received through MCCSS. Funds raised will enhance the lives of the people that CLOC serves. More one to one experiences can be provided for people. For example if a person's goal is to go to camp at a place like WindReach Farm or Nova's Ark, CLOC may be able to provide funding and supports for the experience. If a person or location needs specific items to ensure more independence and accessibility, the Campaign may be able to provide funding. In short, CLOC needs to fundraise money in order to ease the burden on everyday operating budgets and to provide even more high quality services for people with developmental disabilities.

How can you help?

Be a CLOC Champion! Getting the word out about CLOC's work, our fundraising campaign, and WHY we need to fundraise is very important to CLOC, so we are able to sustain through all of our unbudgeted expenses.

Donate! Every penny counts when it comes to providing quality of life for the people that CLOC serves. Donations can be made on a one-time or recurring basis, by individuals or companies. And you can designate where you would like your money to be spent - Quality of Life or Bricks & Mortar. If you do not designate where you would like your money to go, CLOC will use it where it is needed the most.

You can donate today by visiting: http://communitylivingoc.ca/get-involved/donate/

Fundraise! CLOC is always grateful when organizations and companies raise money on our behalf, whether through Casual Fridays, Employee Giving, Employer Matching, Bake Sales, Coffee Fund... the sky is the limit. Connect with us today to discuss how CLOC can help to support you in your fundraising efforts.

We are extremely excited to reveal further details over the next few months about the 'My Life. My Community. My Way.' Campaign!

Questions? Reach out to me at any time.... Marnie Salonius, Manager - Resource Development & Public Relations, 905-576-3011 x 304 or [email protected] .

For several years now, Allison has participated in the Walk For Alzheimers, a fundraising walk benefiting the Alzheimer Society of Durham Region.

 

In 2018, Allison set a goal of raising $50, and beat it by raising more than $100. This year, Allison blew her $100 goal out of the water by raising $227 through the support of family, friends and CLOC employees!!!!

 

Congratulations Allison! We can't wait to see what your goal is for 2020!

Many of us have had our lives touched by cancer, and each of us supports our family or friends who have received this diagnosis in our own way. CLOC front line employee, Petrina K., has come up with her own unique way to raise funds to help friends who are battling cancer, and their families, by raising pledges and shaving her head. Recently, Petrina reached out to CLOC staff to support her headshave for her friend Jeff, who is battling stage 4 prostate cancer. With the support of CLOC employees, Petrina was able to raise more than $3500 for Jeff and his family, so they can have what they need during this difficult time in their lives. Petrina YOU rock!

On May 30th, the members of the Clarington Project, along with family members and friends, met at the Cameco Capitol Arts Centre (otherwise known as the Capitol Theatre) in Port Hope for a matinee of the theatre classic, 'Guys and Dolls' .

 

Hailed as the perfect musical comedy, this award-winning classic gambles with luck and love under the bright lights of Broadway. Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City,  Guys and Dolls  is an oddball romantic comedy. Gambler, Nathan Detroit, tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend, Adelaide, laments that they’ve been engaged for fourteen years.  Guys and Dolls  takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually, everyone ends up right where they belong!

 

 The musical performance was enjoyed by all, and the group had the opportunity to meet with the actors once the show was over.

On July 22nd, Amanda, Karen, John, Rheanna and Paul got to enjoy their day at the Toronto Zoo. They got to see the penguins, ostrich, lions, tigers, polar bears, hyenas, giraffes, zebras, a snowy owl and a few others along the way. They did a wonderful job at walking the zoo and seeing all kinds of animals in such warm weather. When asked by staff, John said his favorite animals to see were the penguins. Paul enjoyed making hyena noises and lions noises throughout the park after watching them run around. When walking the Zoo, Rheanna would name majority of animals before anyone else and even educated staff and others on names of animals we had not seen before. Karen and Amanda liked the animals as they were pointing and smiling throughout the whole day at all.

On July 24th, the Summer Sizzlers program took a trip to Kingston, and it was smooth sailing ahead as Norman had the opportunity to Captain the 1000 Islands Tour Boat!

Rheanna and Andrew spent the day at the CNE on August 24th 2019. They had lunch, played games, ate funnel cake, and watched two different performances. They got to see the Canadian Forces set up, as well as the farm building and art and crafts building. Overall, the day was well spent and both Rheanna and Andrew were tired by the end of the day. ~ Submitted by Kayla H.

Enjoy this milestone birthday, Gary. We hope you enjoyed your special day!

On June 29th Paul and Andrew went to Canada’s Wonderland. As staff arrived to the house, Paul was sitting, looking out the front window and Andrew was downstairs making sure he had everything ready to go. At approx 9:30 our adventure began. We traveled our way to Canada’s wonderland with Paul in the back of the van excited as he repeated “rides” and “coasters” most of the way, along with Andrew giving staff the run down of each ride he likes and dislikes. The minute Paul saw Wonderland he was eager and ready to get out of the van and get on the coasters! Paul showed staff he was a true ride warrior as he had an exhilarating time on Dragon Flyer, Wild Beast, The Bat, Vortex, The Fly, Thunder Run, Great Canadian Mind Buster, and BEHEMOTH stating “WOO!”, “Great ride, fun ride” with both hands in the air after each. Andrew joined Paul on some of the roller coasters, and enjoyed himself swimming in the wave pool. Both guys were sad to leave at the end of the day, and Paul did his best to get staff to go on one more ride and Andrew suggested we go back to ride some more during our drive home. Both Paul and Andrew had a great day, and would like to go back again soon.

On June 26th, Christina celebrated her final day at Dewey's Cafe, CLOC's employment training coffee shop inside the Bowmanville Public Library, before she moved on to new adventures. Thank you for all of your hard work, Christina. You will be missed!

Pictured left to right: Christina, Erin (Employment Services supervisor) & Claire (Employment Services)

Darren, Mark, Crissy, Chad, Jenny and Rob were all smiles at Pinecrest while decked out in their red and white gear for Canada Day!

On Canada Day, Josh, Chris S., David, Chris G, and Doug had the opportunity to watch the fireworks that were on display in the Town of Whitby, with their staff Olivia and Wendy. The atmosphere in the house was very happy and excited with anticipation for the fireworks. So, with blankets, sparklers, bug spray and chips, off everyone went in the van. It took lots of encouragement and smiles from Olivia and Wendy, but Chris S. decided to go to the fireworks with his roomates. Once at Iroquois Park, Chris was able to hold the sparklers with some staff assistance. He smiled when the sounds of the fireworks were going off, such as the ‘boom’ type noises or explosions of colours. He really enjoyed being out and watching people. Josh, David, Chris G. and Wendy sat on the blankets munching on chips.

When Wendy asked the housemates what their favourite part of the fireworks was, Chris G said “all the colours of the rainbows”. Josh said “the red coloured fireworks and spending my time with friends”. He also took many pictures and a 13-minute video. All we heard for about 30 minutes was Josh saying “oohhh…ahhhh”. Doug also came with us and had a great time, especially holding the sparklers. It was a long night but a fabulous one!

Submitted by Wendy Grindrod

SNAPd Oshawa joined the day program recently to capture photos of their BBQ & Summer Fun Day. Everyone had a blast taking part in outdoor games, singing and dancing, and a delicious BBQ. The day was topped off with a water balloon toss at the brave staff members who volunteered to be the targets!

To see more photos, click on the picture, which will take you to the SNAPd website.

From Sandy Stemp, Chief Operations Officer - Reena

It is very exciting that for the first time Canada has a Dementia Strategy and it includes people with developmental/intellectual disabilities!

 

In the past year, Dr. Nancy Jokinen (Associate Professor, UNBC), Leslie Udell (L. Udell Consulting in Winnipeg), and Sandy Stemp (Chief Operations Officer, Reena), created the NTG-Canadian Consortium on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia. One of the key actions of this group is to work with our U.S. partner, The National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia (NTG). They created a dementia capable training curriculum and our goal was to adapt it to the Canadian perspective and create a Canadian version, and deliver this across Canada. This past year we piloted 3 sessions in Canada – Thornhill Ontario, Winnipeg Manitoba, and Victoria British Columbia. As a result of these three sessions, we now have a group of connected NTG-Canada Provincial Trainer leaders, providing a growing network of support and learning.

 

Dr. Nancy Jokinen and myself took part in the National Dementia conference in 2018 and were able to help provide information to the participants and members of the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia on the unique issues and needs of those with dementia and developmental/intellectual disabilities. After the conference, we were approached to provide the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences with information as it pertains to people with developmental / intellectual disabilities. They had little information on this and were working on a comprehensive report to inform the development of the national strategy on dementia.  See the formal report by clicking here.

 

We believe that these actions and the advocacy of all those connected to the NTG-Canadian Consortium helped to ensure the inclusion of those with developmental/intellectual disabilities in Canada’s National Strategy on Dementia. 

Don't forget that you can connect and get the latest in news from CLOC by checking out our Social Media pages. Please encourage the people who receive services, their families, and anyone else you know to connect with CLOC via social media, as well. Click below to transport to CLOC's Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and YouTube profiles, along with CLOC's brand new website.

www.communitylivingoc.ca