Kenora Association For Community Living 501 Eighth Ave. S. Kenora, Ontario, P9N 3Z9 Tel. (807) 467-5225  www.kacl.ca On-line Newsletter August/September 2006

Best Start in Kenora

The Kenora Association for Community Living will be expanding its Kid's Zone Program once again. As part of the Provincial wide Best Start initiative, KACL will open up a new program in the Ste. Margurite Bourgeoys School. The Best Start program initiative was designed to increase the number of Day care spots for children in the Kenora area. The program will start up on a temporary basis at the nearby Calvary Church at 1460 Valley Drive.

This program will be open to all children 3 years to 6 years of age. The program hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The cost of the program is $30 a day. To enquire about Kenora District Services Board and Ontario Works subsidy please call their office.

Kid's Zone will also open a Before and After School Program for SMB in the St. Thomas Aquinas Annex called The Zone at the Annex. The fee for this program will be $7 a day for the morning and $8 a day for the after school. A program will be provided for PD days at a cost of $18.

KACL has vacated Lakewood School program which will be supervised by another local organization.

Community Mental Health Funding

After years of no funding increases to KACL's Community Mental Health Support Services program, in August the Ministry of Health announced funding increases totalling $174,544.

The Community Mental Health Support Services program received a base funding increase of 1.5%. While this 1.5% will not even cover the 2% salary incresaes negotiated under the current Collective agreement, it was a welcome increase over the zero % funding that this program has received over the previous 10 years.

Another $84,000 has been emarked for crisis Intervention services for adults with dual diagnosis. Dual Diagnosis is a term used to describe a person who has both a medical diagnosis of mental retardation and mental illness. This program which will provide one additional staff postion to the current Community Mental Health Support Services program.

The remaining dollars will cover rent supplement for accomodations for adults with serious mental illnesses and a half-time support staff. Such individuals in the past might well have been sent to a provincial institution at considerable greater cost to the province.

Art Partners - Creative Art Growth Program

The Kenora Association for Community Living is providing small group sized art sessions with an experienced Art Instructor. This new art program was designed to provide adults with a developmental disability the opportunity to express themselves creatively while partnered with another member of the community.

We are looking for people who are interested in grabbing a paintbrush, joining an art partner and sharing the creative journey.

Sign up for one of our groups and have fun in a relaxed comfortable setting. Use art as a tool for self exploration, while increasing your awareness and understanding of the people around you.

NO PREVIOUS ART EXPERIENCE OR SKILLS REQUIRED!

Location: The Kenora Wellness Centre, The Meeting Room,Second Floor

Dates and Time: 6 week duration!

Start Date: October 3, 2006

Finish Date: November 9, 2006

Time Slots Available:

Tuesdays: 1-3 pm

Thursdays:1-3 pm

Tuesdays: 6-8 pm

Thursdays:6-8 pm

PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

KACL Community Picnic

KACL held its community picnic on Friday, June 23, 2006. Early rain was soon replaced, first by a rainbow and then sun. Record attendance was set as friends from the Community Wellness Project joined celebrations. Gropp's catering did a wonderful job with the lunch serving, hotdogs, baked beans, two types of salads and watermelon.

The slide from Bouncin Good Times kept many of our children busy, until Susan and Kevin Schabler from Sunny Brook Farm arrived with their two beautiful horses. They did a magnificent job teaching the children (and adults) about horses and how to ride. The children enjoyed the rides. Other activities included face painting, bubbles, water table, and various other activities for the children.

Many of the adults, in addition to having a lunch, enjoyed watching the children and socializing and relaxing in the sun. The picnic was well received. Special thanks go out to the organizing committee, Jackie Fernandez, Judi Brennan, Nicole Perron and Lisa Malette. Sunny Brook Farm, Susan and Kevin Schabler and family, Jay Ernst and Ross Elder, Russell Havill, Sue McCallum, Karen Caron, Bryan Booth, Ruth Wilgress and Kim Boucher.

Inclusion and KACL

Refections by the Executive Director

I attended the recent Annual meeting of Community Living Ontario in Sioux Lookout. Attendance was considerably reduced from such meeting held in Toronro. However the committment of the community of Sioux Lookout to the conference was incredible and the community can be justly proud of its efforts and results. A part from the local efforts of the local community the items that impressed me the most at the conference were two workshops on inclusion. I hope that the continuing benefits of the conference will be the re-engagement of the Association in efforts to make Kenora an inclusive community

The first workshop entitled "Focus on Inclusion" was led by Linda Mollenhauer and Laurie Thompson. Laurie Thompson was one of three consultants who led the Association in 1993 in an examination of its dreams, desires and aspirations.

These presenters presnted a draft document called "A Focus on Inclusion". The purpose of the document is document "to encourage and help those organizations supporting people with an intellectual disability to build a culture, policies, systems and practices that lead to inclusion both within the organization and in the community".

A significant premisis of A Focus on Inclusion is the notion that an organization must first be inclusive of its internal stakeholders before it can build an inclusive community: "If an organization is not a role model for inclusion, it can’t expect the community to embrace "inclusion". The document identifies "critical success factors" that the presenters beleive beleive must be in place within the organization in order to be inclusive and to build inclusive communities. These factors relate to culture, policies/systems and practices of the organization.

The presenters talked about the vision of an "Inclusion-focused" Organization. In an inclusive organization:
~Inclusion is seen as an integral part of everything the organization does, not an activity or a one-time theme; it is seen as a vital priority
~There is a shared determination to be inclusive
~There is a commitment to being a learning organization
~The Board and management team walk the talk of inclusion
~The organization is structured to support people, not deliver service
~Staff have a conviction, knowledge and passion about inclusion; enthusiastically embrace it
~They Value dignity, fairness, trust and cooperation
~Actively discourage, prevent and refrain from participating in discrimination
~there is an atmosphere of acceptance and responsiveness
~Everyone feels a responsibility to create and promote unbiased attitudes
~There is a culture of participation
~Inclusion is not seen as something outside of what they do or ‘extra work’ but at the heart of their work
~ People are treated with respect, People are treated equitably
~Barriers to inclusion are eliminated or reduced
~Everyone’s gifts and experiences are being utilized
~People who are not inclusive are challenged
~Staff, the people supported and their families are exercising their rights
~Key stakeholders are participating in governance
~Everyone supports one another, there are no silos
~There is a willingness to reflect, challenge and change
~The views of stakeholders clearly make a difference to what happens, Stakeholders are made to feel welcome and are valued, Stakeholder views and contribution are respected and valued
~The organization is seen as transparent to all stakeholders
~Never hear ‘staff knows best’ Grow and adapt to the changing needs of its stakeholders
~There is little separation between staff, those supported and their families is because of a sense of shared goals and a commitment to inclusion;
~staff, people with an intellectual disability and their families work closely together to bring about personalized outcomes

In an inclusive community:
~People with an intellectual disability are participating in community planning and decision-making
~Community contact with the organization is positive and reflects the inclusion philosophy
~Community partners view the organization as highly transparent
~The organization has a high profile in the community
~The organization is seen as a role model for inclusive practices
~The organization participants in and creates community wide events
~Meaningful partnerships are in place with a wide diversity of organizations in community
~The organization has committed to a long-term sustained effort

Perhaps by this definition there are, in Ontario, neither Inclusive organizations nor inclusive communities.

But there are more inclusive organizations and more inclusive communities. During the coming year I hope that KACL will once again reafirm its desire, dream and aspiration of becoming a more significantly inclusive organization and in a significantly inclusive community.

Selected Contributions From the Journal on Developmental Disabilities

I have a very hectic pace of life as Executive Director of a relatively large and complex Assocaition for Community Living. One of the challenges is to stay up on my reading of what is going on in the field and up to date research. More and more I have turned to the internet to get material.

One site that I would highly recommend to persons interested in the disabilities sector is the Ontario Association on Devlopmental Disabilies website at http://www.oadd.org.

Go to http://oadd.org, Choose Tab "Publication" at the top of the page and then Tab "Published Issues" on the left. Choose the specific issue that you wish to read.

For example at the moment one can download the 20th Anniversary issue of the Journal on Developmental Disabilies. I especially enjoyed the following articles
"From Charity and Exclusion to Emerging Independence: An Introduction to the History of Disabilities (1995)" by Gary Woodill and Dominique Velche - an interesting review of the history of attitudes towards people with disabilities, including developmental disabilities.
"The Conceptualization and Measurement of Quality of Life: Current Status and Future Considerations (1997)", by Dr. Schalock
"Social Competence and Peer Relations in Children with Mental Retardation: Models of the Development of Peer Relations (1998)" by James Bebko and colleagues
and Shabana Kausar, Ronna Jevne and Dick Sobsey's paper, "Hope in Families of Children With Developmental Disabilities (2003)."

The articles can be downloaded from the website in pdf format.