Issues & Trends from the Executive Director
Our 64th General meeting was held in May. A highlight of this meeting was the annual Community Awards. Barb Schultz, CLV’s past Board President was given the Volunteer of the Year Award posthumously. Neely Hourigan of Cascadia Liquor won Employer of the Year. Educator of the Year Award went to Mark Fournier, an instructor at Camosun’s Employment, Training and Preparation Program. Pam Hosie who works at the Early Intervention Program at QA received the Making a Difference Award, as did Ken Marriette, our Foundation Board Ambassador.
We are in our third year of our strategic plan and we have accomplished many of our objectives including working towards providing more affordable housing options. We have received seed funding from CMHC to further explore the feasibility of a mixed housing development on our Cedar Hill Cross Road property. We have also received 2 units through the CRHD and have been able to build partnerships in the housing sector.
We continue to support over 50 adults in their jobs through Employment Services. An additional focus has been on youth employment. We have done some pre-employment sessions with youth and have applied for a Youth Impact Employment grant to work with youth across all 3 school districts.
Succession planning continues at both the senior management and supervisory levels. Longtime Program Manager, Julie Hickey, retired April 1st and we welcomed Lora Church, a former Home Share Coordinator to the Team. Recruitment is currently underway for the retirement of some long term supervisors at CLV.
Renovations are finally complete and the Satellite Community Inclusion program has moved into their new base on Comerford Ave. in Esquimalt. This spacious and accessible building will also be home to our Host and Home Share Coordinators.
With the people who formerly lived at McRae home now settled into their beautiful, fully accessible home on Wascana Street, we no longer had a use for this well located split level home and the board decided to sell the property. The sale completed in May and will provide the funds we needed to complete the Comerford renovation and other priorities.
Recruitment and retention continues to be a challenge for the social services sector but we anticipate some improvement as a result of the substantial Collective Agreement wage increase over the next 3 years.
We were privileged to co-host the Inclusion BC Conference in May. Over 600 people from all over BC gathered at the Victoria Conference Centre to share, learn, and network over a fantastic 3 day event. A highlight was the banquet and dance on the Friday night which featured a live band, The Bright Side, and which was enjoyed by many of the people we support.
Our 6th CARF survey will be in the spring of 2020 and we are preparing for that event. Continuous quality improvement is ongoing and we encourage you to check out the Measurable Outcomes 2018 report now on our website. This document describes the detailed process of ensuring our programs and services meet all CARF standards and how those results make a difference to the people we support.
The Vipond 8th Annual Royal Colwood Golf Classic Tournament took place on June 14th. Thank you to Bruce Brown and his team for their ongoing support of CLV.
Our Reach for the Sun direct mail and 50 50 employee campaign has raised over $7000 which will ensure that the children, youth and adults we support can enjoy some summer activities and much needed items for those living in poverty.
Our Foundation continues to support its only customer, Community Living Victoria. We are looking forward to welcoming Ria Mae to our 13th annual fundraising concert on November 15th @ the McPherson Playhouse. Tickets are on sale now!
Thank you to all our supporters and sponsors. Together we make a difference.
