A Message from Executive Director, Terri Gray
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Winter is upon us, and with the changes in seasons comes bright, crisp mornings, bundling up in our favourite sweaters, and digging out the hats and mittens that were stored away over the warmer months.
We are now speeding towards the end of the year, but for CLOC the cooler months always feels like a beginning. Almost like the start of a new school year. The fall is a busy time full of activities and planning. We are gearing up for 2018, which is going to be a big year for CLOC! It's the agency's 65th year, and we are planning several fun and engaging events to help us celebrate. Keep tuning in to "Around the CLOC" and check your emails often for updates. 2018 is also going to find CLOC embarking on a new Strategic Planning process, where we will need input from all of our stakeholders in order to determine our strategic drivers for the next 4 years, and we will be renewing our Accreditation with the Council on Quality and Leadership. CQL
is a leader in working with human service organizations and systems to continuously define, measure and improve quality of life and quality of services. There will be many projects going on, over and above our usual events that go on throughout the year. We are looking forward to our 65th, and hope you will share your enthusiasm and ideas as we plan for this milestone year.
As Christmas quickly approaches, I would like to wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season.
I look forward to a busy and exciting year ahead.
Warmly,
Terri Gray
Executive Director
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CLOC Celebrates 65 Years in 2018!
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CLOC is looking forward to celebrating it's 65th ANNIVERSARY in 2018! Plans are currently being made for many events that will invite participation from people receiving services and their families, employees, volunteers, CLOC's Board of Directors and the community.
We want CLOC's 65th to be the best year yet! Help us celebrate by attending events, and by submitting your memories and reflections about CLOC in the form of photographs or stories to
Marnie Salonius
, Manager of Resource Development & Public Relations.
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Community Living Oshawa/Clarington
is thrilled to announce the
LAUNCH
of our brand new website!
Be sure to log in and check it out!
(Hit the refresh button if CLOC’s old site appears)
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2017 Annual General Meeting
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On September 20th, CLOC held it's Annual General Meeting.
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CLOC's Executive Director Terri Gray, MC Dan Walters (UOIT) and Board President Patrick Grist present a welcome message from the Honorable Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services.
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Executive Director of the John Howard Society in Bowmanville
Dianna Eastwood accepts Community Partnership Award from CLOC's Terri Gray.
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Singers from the Momentum Choir provided entertainment.
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Mark Forgette Award winner, Carol Marshall.
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Patrick Grist, Operations Manager Bev Winn and Terri Gray present Community Partnership Award to Seamless Care.
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Long time advocates Darlene, Barb and Judy were the recipients of the SPARK Award.
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The President's Award was given to the Supports for Daily Living Committee from The Clarington Project. This is a committee comprised of parents who help to direct services for their family members, and organize events and fundraising for the location. From left to right: Bev Winn (Operations Manager), Amanda Eastman (Supervisor), Monica Gulati (Coordinator, Community Relations & Volunteers), and family members Elaine, Ralph, Sylvia and Patrick Grist. Missing from the photo are: Andrea Shierson, Craig Nighbor, Marnie Salonius, and family members
Terri, Stephen, Kathy, Sandra, JC, and Lee.
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Each year CLOC holds contests to encourage our locations to decorate for the seasons and to become part of their community celebrations by sprucing up for the holidays.
Many of CLOC's locations took part in CLOC's Harvest decorating competition during October. Each location decided what category best suited their decorating style; 'Spooktacular', 'Splendor of Fall Colours' or 'Items of Nature'. 9 locations entered the competition. And the winners were.....
Wyndfield
(Spooktacular),
The Clarington Project
(Splendor of Fall Colours) and
Bessborough
(Items of Nature)
.
Please enjoy a selection of photographs below.... and check out CLOC's Facebook page for more pictures from each location that entered the competition.
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P.O.W.E.R. Group Halloween Dance
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On October 27th, the P.O.W.E.R. Group (
People's
Own
Words
Equal
Rights), CLOC's advocates, held a Halloween Dance. Over 70 people attended the event, which raised money for the advocates to put toward their goal.... taking a trip to Ottawa to meet with politicians and speak with them about life with a developmental disability. The night was lots of fun, and the group looks forward to planning more events and public speaking engagements in 2018.
Story & photos by Darlene Day (Member of the P.O.W.E.R. Group and CLOC's Board of Directors)
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Party-goers & their amazing costumes
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Darlene & Judy selling tickets at the door
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Hippie John wins Best Costume Award from Judges Marnie & Chaydon
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Meet CLOC's new Director of Operations,
Janice Dewland
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CLOC is very pleased to welcome
Janice Dewland as our new Director, Operations. Janice has significant experience in the developmental sector. She has senior level experience in residential services from Ontario Family Guidance/Group Homes, along with extensive knowledge of community resources and service planning in her roles with Coordination Services for Children and Youth – Durham Region. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table, and we are excited to have her join our team.
Janice officially started her position on November 27. As she gets settled in, please take the time to stop by and say hello. A meet and greet will be scheduled to allow for people to come and visit get to know her better.
Please join CLOC in welcoming Janice into her new role.
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By Suzanne Nobes
The old saying 'hard work pays off' rings true for one young man. Neil has been working hard for the past 4 years to acquire his high school diploma. I remember meeting him about 5 years ago, and when we were exploring some personal goals of his, one was to get his high school diploma. We were able to connect him to continuous education where he could work at his own pace, to accomplish his dream – and he did it. I asked him what this meant
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to him and he said “I have mixed emotions and it’s hard to explain. In one way I’m happy and excited but I’m also disappointed. Disappointed this didn’t happen in 2004 when I graduated. At that time, I only got a certificate. If teachers would have taken more of an interest in helping me I could have gotten it then.” I agree Neil. Sometimes we all have to look at how we help people out – and we may need to redesign our approaches so people are successful with goals and dreams when they aren’t working out so well in the first attempt.
When he was presented his diploma on November 9, the superintendent shook his hand and told him to “keep up the good work Neil”. This meant a lot to him, and when you talk to him now about this, you can tell this has provided him with the confidence he needs to move forward in his life.
What’s next for Neil? He hopes to look for work either with technology or in a day care setting. I personally know he will accomplish whatever he sets his mind to.
Congratulations Neil for working hard these last few years towards this impressive accomplishment. As you put it so well, we are all teachers to someone in life, and keeping positive throughout the journey makes it a whole lot easier for everyone.
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Irene and Frank Complete Humanities 101
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During the Fall Semester, Irene and Frank attended the Humanities 101 course offered at Trent University.
Humanities 101 is a 10-week, not-for-credit multi-disciplinary course offering classes in humanities and social sciences. Students attend classes each week for two hours (one hour of lecture and one hour of seminar-style discussion). Each week will bring a new topic and new instructor.
The theme of Humanities 101 this semester was "Concept of Home". Students had the opportunity to participate in discussions about 'The History of Comics', 'Power, Politics, and English Grammar', learning from stories, 'Psychological perspectives on narrative identities and stories of home', 'Conflict Management' and 'Home. Public Places and Private Spaces'.
The intent of the program is to provide access to higher education to those in the Durham Region who might face barriers and also to provide the community with opportunities for lifelong learning. The courses are taught by Professors who volunteer their time and the administration is coordinated by a committee of dedicated Trent staff.
Both Frank and Irene enjoyed the classes, and are thinking of returning to Trent to participate in another round of Humanities 101.
CONGRATULATIONS FRANK AND IRENE!
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Recently there has been a lot of information on Bill 148 in the news as well as across the developmental services sector. We encourage you to learn more about Bill 148.
Bill 148
Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017,
has been passed.
The Ministry of Community and Social Services has confirmed that increased costs for the developmental services sector, related to the bill, will be
unfunded
.
The OASIS Board of Directors (Ontario Agencies Supporting Individuals with Special Needs), on which Terri Gray is a member, has made a submission related to Bill 148, raising many concerns about its impact to the developmental services sector and our sustainability. OASIS is a Provincial association made up of over 195 member agencies that support people with developmental disabilities to live in communities across Ontario. OASIS supports, in principle, the objectives that the Government identified in undertaking the Changing Workplaces Review that underlie Bill 148, but without adequate funding it will devastate our sector. The full OASIS submission can be found at
http://oasisonline.ca/wp-content/uploads/OASIS-Bill-148-Submissions-FINAL.pdf
More voices are being raised in the sector as The Provincial Network on Developmental Services has commissioned a white paper related to the issues that Bill 148 will bring to the sector without adequate funding being invested.
They are sighting that developmental service is a sector in crisis.
The paper is currently in process.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
On November 22
nd
OASIS launched the
GO Local and SHARE #developmentalservicesmatter Campaign
. OASIS is asking people who support developmental services to reach out and speak out about the issues facing the sector, and has devised a plan for all developmental services supporters to present a united front. This is a call to action. Here is what YOU need to do to show your support to CLOC and the developmental services sector.
The
SHARE #developmentalservicesmatter
call to action will broaden the reach of the campaign and provides families, employees and people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to SHARE this awareness campaign by using social media posts that can be found on the OASIS Facebook page and OASIS Twitter account to raise provincial awareness. CLOC’s website, Facebook page, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts will be advocating to raise awareness within our own community.
The
GO Local
campaign is calling on ALL agencies to seek out meetings with their local politicians and provincial and municipal elected officials to raise awareness of the four critical issues debilitating our sector and how they relate to the 3 Pillars: Community Agencies Matter, People Matter and Collaboration Matters.
Community Living Oshawa/Clarington is in the process of reaching out to local political figures about the effect that the passing of Bill 148 will have on CLOC specifically, and developmental services within Durham Region.
Hicks Morely posts articles on this topic on their website at
https://hicksmorley.com
, as well as other interesting topics. We encourage you to stay informed.
CLOC is committed to working alongside our partners in our sector to find a way forward and fight for the sustainability of developmental services and for the high quality supports and services provided by our agencies through our amazing employees every day. We have demonstrated our resiliency over the years, however, t
here are many challenges that lay ahead of us
. We are not ignoring this issue and will continue to move our concerns forward so that they can be addressed, and so that CLOC and other developmental services agencies can continue our efforts in delivering inclusive, innovative and valuable services.
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Community Living Oshawa/Clarington is currently looking for individuals or families willing to share their home and provide respite to people who have a developmental disability.
In a respite role, you will support the person within your daily routines in your home, while providing individualized supports required by the person. You will receive a per diem (daily) rate in exchange for your support. Experience working with people who have a developmental disability would be an asset. Additional knowledge or experience in supporting people with mental health, diabetes, epilepsy or other medical conditions would also be an advantage.
Successful candidates must provide current police check for anyone over 18 living at the home, reference checks, and fire inspection by local fire department. Individuals should also hold a valid first aid/CPR certificate.
Most of the current needs are for weekend respite, but there is also the occasional weekday of full week respite needed.
If you are able to provide us with one weekend a month of support, and would like to explore this further, call us at 905-576-3261 ext 101 or email at
snobes@communitylivingoc.ca
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Exciting New Community Project
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CLOC is very excited to be a part of a community project through the Durham Systems Management Committee (DSMC), designed specifically to streamline and develop more individualized and coordinated service planning process for people in urgent need in Durham. This initiative will establish a collaborative approach to MCSS’s Multi Year Residential Planning (MYRP) by using an integrated process and network that brings together the resources across developmental services in Durham Region for planning, implementation and placement.
The DSMC was approved for a six month project for two positions as Durham Region – Multi Year Residential Planning (MYRP) Transition Coordinators to establish a centralized planning process and function. The positions will be in place from October 1, 2017 to March 31 2018. The processes and positions will be evaluated for best practices and may be replicated if annual dollars are made available. Terri Gray is CLOC’s representative as part of the steering committee that will oversee the project.
CLOC is happy to announce that Petrina Peyton, one of CLOC's long standing employees, has been seconded to one of these temporary coordinator positions, along with Rachel Coutts of Participation House Durham. We are thrilled to be a part of this collaborative, and are happy to lend Petrina’s expertise to the project.
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We are very excited about the purchase of a new home at 1186 King Street in Oshawa. The purchase of this new location allows CLOC to create capacity by expanding its already well- established residential infrastructure to deliver much needed residential supports to six people identified through the 'inappropriately placed lists' and the 'community priority list'.
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Through this initiative we hope to be able to respond to the unique needs of people who have been prioritized as individuals that are housed in hospital, treatment, criminal justice settings or otherwise homeless and allow them to transition into the community in the course of the Multi Year Residential Planning Process through the Ministry of Community and Social Services.
This project will also better meet the changing needs and personal goals of people currently receiving services from CLOC, and respond to organizational pressures. Through a creative living planning process, CLOC has been able to establish a residential restructuring that will address the changing needs of people internally into the new home that expands services to six people who are in urgent need for residential supports.
This project allows us to:
- Provide community-based residential supports to six people with urgent needs in Durham Region
- Better meet the changing needs and personal goals of the people who have developmental disabilities within CLOC’s residential services
- Create an opportunity to ensure full citizenship and meaningful community participation
- Increase service capacity, create efficiencies within the existing residential service system, and maintain an individualized approach to delivering services
- Create capacity by ensuring people have the opportunity to move out of treatment beds and transitional housing, inappropriate placements and respond to homelessness into their communities with long term support
- Free up expensive hospital beds, treatment beds and other inappropriate placements and provide long term sustainable residential supports to our community’s most vulnerable people
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The Holidays Are Upon Us!
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It's beginning to look a lot like the holiday season at CLOC! Many of our locations have been busy decorating for the holidays, both inside and out. Check out some of the beautiful and whimsical displays.
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When shopping for gifts this year, please keep Community Living Oshawa/Clarington in mind. There may be people on your list that would appreciate a donation being made in their name to CLOC, rather than receiving a tangible gift. A donation to CLOC is a wonderful idea for someone who has 'everything', or whose life has been impacted in some way by a developmental disability, as CLOC has been providing services to people with developmental disabilities and their families for almost 65 years.
Making a donation to CLOC is a great way to show your friends, family members, co-workers and customers that you are thinking about them, and that you are mindful of the community's needs during this holiday season. Whether you make a donation instead of a tangible gift, or add the donation to that box under the tree, this is a wonderful opportunity to spread the spirit of charitable giving during this season.
Giving to CLOC is easy, and can be done in four ways:
Mail your cheque, payable to
Community Living Oshawa/Clarington, to 39 Wellington Avenue East Oshawa L1H 3Y1.
Visit CLOC offices in person to make your donation, up until noon on Friday December 22, 2017, at 39 Wellington Avenue East in Oshawa.
Call your donation in to CLOC at 905-576-3011 and have your Visa or Mastercard ready.
Online donations can be made by going to www.communitylivingoc.ca and clicking on the
DONATE button.
Thank you for continuing to support Community Living Oshawa/Clarington during this holiday season!
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CLOC is busy putting together a calendar of events that will be of interest to everyone within the community. Here is what we have coming up.... be sure to save the dates so you don't miss out!
Wednesday January 24th
65th Anniversary Pub Night Kickoff (by invitation) Kedron Dells GC
Tuesday March 20th
CLOC Family & Membership Meeting 39 Wellington Avenue East (lower)
Thursday May 10th
65th Anniversary Celebration Kedron Dells GC
Tuesday June 19th
CLOC Family & Membership Meeting 39 Wellington Avenue East (lower)
Saturday August 11th
CLOC Family Picnic hosted by Oshawa West Lions Windreach Farm
Tuesday September 18th
CLOC's Annual General Meeting Kedron Dells GC
Wednesday September 26th
CLOC's Annual Fall Golf Classic Kedron Dells GC
Saturday November 3rd
Clarington Project Gala Garnet B Rickard Arena
Tuesday November 20th
CLOC Family & Membership Meeting 39 Wellington Avenue East (lower)
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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, LinkedIn and YouTube profiles, along with CLOC's website.
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STAY CONNECTED with SOCIAL MEDIA
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