Issues & Trends from the Executive Director
Remaining Committed in Challenging Times
Community Living Victoria (CLV) remains strong and vibrant during challenging times. Our major funder, Community Living British Columbia (CLBC), has been under intense media scrutiny as families have come forward to tell their stories. We now have a new minister, the Honorable Stephanie Cadeaux, and CLBC has an acting CEO, Doug Wollard, as they have struggled to defend their service redesign efforts, including closing of group homes against an individual’s or family’s wishes, to meet their tight budgetary restrictions.
The past few months have been a whirlwind of story after story of families not being able to access the supports they require for their sons and daughters. CLBC, at the direction of government, has set up an official Client Support Team, so families who are not satisfied with the level of supports they are receiving can have that reviewed.
Individuals and families can contact the Client Support Team:
• Online at: www.gov.bc.ca
• Toll-free at: 1 877 660-2522.
• Or by email at: info@communitylivingbc.ca
In addition, CLBC has issued an interim report to Government about the crisis, which can be viewed at
www.sd.gov.bc.ca/pwd/docs/clbc-interim-report.pdf
Although, CLBC was given an additional $6 million dollars to meet the needs of families who children are turning 19, there continues to be a budget that falls significantly short of meeting the demand for service.
Supporting Youth
In September 2011, CLV expanded services to include youth with autism and their families. If families wish, they can approach CLV to coordinate their autism funding by matching them with an interventionist who will provide one –to- one support for their sons and daughters. In addition, we will be organizing weekly social groups and day camps over school breaks and summer time to assist these families in ensuring their children have fun, safe and skill-based learning experiences. We are excited to see this new program develop and welcome these new families to CLV!
We continue to be amazed by the activities and impact that Victoria Opportunities for Community Youth Leadership (VOCYL) has on our community. During the last school year, they delivered 44 presentations to 900 youth in Greater Victoria schools. This program recently received grants from both the Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children and the United Way of Greater Victoria. This has enabled them to work with middle schools to further the message of inclusion and belonging for all. For more information about VOCYL, go to www.vocyl.ca
Our Teen Community Connections program continues to receive high satisfaction levels from families. We support 32 youth from 12 schools in Greater Victoria in an after-school and summer program.
Inclusion Works! is an innovative program developed by families for their young adults who have graduated from high school. Now in its second year, this program was recognized by CLBC’s Widening Our World (WOW) award, which acknowledges individuals or groups for their efforts towards community inclusion.
We continue to explore opportunities to expand in areas which will meet the unique needs of younger families and draw them to our organization.
Our Foundation
The work of our Foundation, which raises funds for Community Living Victoria, has never been more important. Our fabulous fundraising concert on October 27, 2011, with Holly Cole was close to a sell out and it will go a long way towards providing the funds for capital needs in our homes and programs. The media campaign, “I’m Community Living” was refreshed with new advertising this past spring including an endorsement by Ryan Cochrane, Olympic Silver Medalist who is currently training for the London 2012 Olympics. Money raised through our direct mail campaigns goes directly to the people we support so they can enjoy an activity they otherwise could not afford, such as dinner and a movie, or gifts at Christmas, or needed items such as work clothes, or grocery items. We are the charity of choice for the Island Star Search competition currently underway. We are also very pleased to be the charity of choice for Royal Colwood Golf Club’s Vipond Golf Tournament on June 22, 2012.
Our staff
CLV continues to employ about 208 full time, part time and casual staff. We were pleased that a new contract was signed in September 2011 and we avoided the possibility of job action in our sector.
Appreciation
All of these positive outcomes would not be possible without the support of our CLV Board, the Foundation, staff, families, donors, sponsors and friends. To all of you, a heartfelt thank you and I wish you all the best of the season and for the New Year.
