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LiveWorkPlay
For People With Intellectual Disabilities
Making A Buzz In The Ottawa Area Since 1995
"SUCCESS THROUGH COMMUNITY"
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LiveWorkPlay: What's New?
Welcome to the LWP news page! Items listed here (reverse chronological order) are from July 23, 2005 - August 31, 2006. For news from last year go to the 2004-2005 news page. You can also see the news pages from 2003-2004, 2002-2003, and 2001-2002. For older news, see the archives. For a glimpse into the future, visit the calendar.
Looking for more than newsclips? Get the full story:
Do you want the latest news when it happens? Get it here:
THE LATEST NEWS
Choose from the links below, or scroll down the page
to view LWP news items in reverse chronological order:
SMILE-TOG Returns From Charleston Lake August 17, 2006
SMILE-TNG Returns From The Big Apple August 11, 2006
The End: "Best SMILE Summer Session Ever" August 4, 2006
ACES Summer Learning Begins July 10, 2006
Engines Of Success: Full Steam Ahead June 21, 2006
Pool Party Streak Continues! June 10, 2006
Looking Ahead At Visioning Day June 10, 2006
LWP Featured In Star Newspaper June 9, 2006
May Saturday Social Breaks Barriers May 13, 2006
Auction Tally Now Over $200,000 April 27, 2006
LWP Showcase At Family Fun Night March 31, 2006
Open House 2006 March 31, 2006
Celebrating At March Mini-Banquet March 29, 2006
Shining At The Saturday Social March 18, 2006
Affordable Bus Pass Is Here March 1, 2006
Triumphant Return From LA February 16, 2006
Support For The Yearbook January 20, 2006
Starting 2006 On Top January 1, 2006
NYE Party Sells Out - Again! December 15, 2005
Taking Pride In Accomplishment December 14, 2005
Holiday Family Fun December 9, 2005
Raising Funds For SMILE Trip 2006 December 3, 2005
Celebrating Day Of Disabled Persons December 2, 2005
NYE Party Doubles Up November 21, 2005
Support From Optimist Club Of Nepean November 12, 2005
Sold Out! Sold Out! November 10, 2005
Fitness Featured November 7, 2005
A Spooktacular Evening October 28, 2005
Clear Skies For LWP Fitness Room October 26, 2005
Top Honours For Wendy Mitchell October 21, 2005
LWP In CNOW United Way Edition October 10, 2005
Friday Nights Off & Running September 30, 2005
Deloitte Does the Job! September 30, 2005
Annual General Meeting In The Books September 29, 2005
Yearbook Featured For Raise A Reader Day September 29, 2005
Getting Things Started: Annual Orientation September 23, 2005
Group Expands, SMILE Starts A New Year September 6, 2005
SMILE Returns From Round Lake August 17, 2005
SMILE-TNG Returns From Montreal August 10, 2005
Staff Visioning Weekend Summary August 3, 2005
Welcoming Allison To The Team August 2, 2005
OOOT2 On Moving On July 24, 2005
Wecloming Grace To The Team July 23, 2005
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August 17, 2006
Yesterday 9 participants from SMILE-TOG returned from two nights of camping at Charleston Lake Provincial Park. This trip showed how significantly TOG participants have improved their self-management and coping skills over the years. To find out more (story, photos, movies) just click here.
August 11, 2006
The long tradition of LiveWorkPlay trips continued this August with the SMILE-TNG trip to New York City. The trip came after almost a full year of planning by SMILE-TNG participants. The planning process combined with the challenge of self-management on the trip makes for the ultimate self-advocacy experience. Find out more (story, photos, and movies) by clicking here.
August 4, 2006
SMILE (Skills and More for Independent Living and Employment) supports adults with intellectual disabilities 12 months of the year, but during the summer months the schedule takes advantage of many opportunities that are not available at other times of the year. Participants and staff were all in agreement at this was the best summer at SMILE ever! Participation was up for everything - in-house sessions, outings, and the Friday lunch club. Special thanks to the Keay/Hudak household for hosting two outings at their cottage and to the Stewart household for hosting an outings at the family farm. Much of the SMILE summer was captured in photographs. Just click here for the awesome slideshow!
July 10, 2006
The ACES (Active Community Experiences in Summer) summer learning program started the first of two two-week sessions today. The program will benefit from the experience of coordinator Fran Childs, who is spending part of her summer vacation from her teaching job with LiveWorkPlay. She will be assisted by Anne-Marie Villeneuve, an Algonquin College student. This year ACES will include 5 new participants, all in the 13-14 age range. This is by far the biggest influx of new participants since the program began back in 1998. The new registrations were made possible thanks to the graduation of many participants to SMILE. You too can experience the fun and excitement of ACES...just click here to see the ACES summer in a slideshow format!
June 21, 2006
After the excitement of last year's tenth anniversary banquet there were some understandable concerns that this second annual Engines of Success banquet would be a letdown. However, thanks to a new format that saw Journeys and SMILE participants featured front and centre for most of the night, the evening was a definite smash hit.
This was also the occasion for the public release of the LWP short film "Self-Advocacy Is" and the evening concluded with a slideshow full of refreshing memories from 2005-2006. Guest speaker Alex Munter got the evening off to a terrific start with a motivating message about the importance of volunteerism and the valuable contribution that people with intellectual disabilities can and should be able to make to the Ottawa community. You can check out almost all of the materials presented and memories of the evening itself by clicking here.
June 11, 2006
After 8 years without interruption would this finally be the year that the Pool Party had to be cancelled? No! The party carried on at the Harris household on an overcast but pleasant day in Stittsville. There was less swimming than usual, but a lot more lawn chair conversations, and perhaps even more food than usual was consumed! Find out more including pictures and movies by clicking here.
June 10, 2006
Visioning Day is an important annual event where LiveWorkPlay constituents gather to consider key issues for the future. This year the theme was "self-advocacy."
The goals included examining attitudes and beliefs about self-advocacy and identifying what parents and LiveWorkPlay can do to better support self-advocacy choices and skill development for people with intellectual disabilities. It was a challenging and productive day. Find out more by clicking here.
June 9, 2006
LiveWorkPlay attended a City of Ottawa summer camp information fair, and one of the surprise outcomes was a feature article in the Orleans Star newspaper. Reporter Tina Barton worked on the piece for several weeks. You can read a copy of the article by clicking here.
May 13, 2006
The May Saturday Social events were organized by SMILE participants Lucas Rodgers and Paul Hamilton. The afternoon featured lunch and a movie, while the evening version was an outing to the Lone Star for drinks and a live band. The Saturday Social is an opportunity for participants to experience a "parent-free zone" in getting to and from the event(s) independently, and the May 13 outings had the highest rate of independent travel of the three Saturday Socials to date. You can click here to see pictures from the night time outing.
April 27, 2006
The MBNA Recipe for Success Culinary Adventure and Charity Auction for LiveWorkPlay brought in $40,000 tonight, bringing the seven-year total to just over $200,000.
The $40,000 represents the second-highest total in event history, second only to 2005, when attendance was up dramatically without the competition of playoff hockey. You can view pictures from the event and also read the story that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen.
March 31, 2006
The LWP Showcase is a new version of the March Family Fun Night, and it was like an open house extravaganza designed just for LWP parents and their relatives. SMILE participants prepared displays and practiced their public speaking while presenting at six different stations with topics from self-advocacy to travel to special events. The special events station launched the sale of tickets for the auction and more than 100 flew out the door! The LiveWorkPlayers drama group also showed off three very effective self-advocacy videos that drew rave reviews. For more about the LWP showcase including pictures and movies click here.
March 31, 2006
This year's Open House event was a much lower key affair than the one organized for the 2005 tenth anniversary celebrations, but it was nevertheless well-attended and hugely successful thanks in large measure to the efforts of participants who prepared the displays and hosted tours. Find out more by clicking here.
March 29, 2006
The second edition of the SMILE mini-banquet was an exciting evening of fine dining, good conversation, and a celebration of accomplishments. The event was attended by 95 percent of SMILE participants and early reviews from those present were overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to a survey conducted by the SMILE Special Events committee, a number of improvements were made following the inaugural November 2005 mini-banquet, and clearly all that hard work paid off! See pictures and movies from the event by clicking here
March 18, 2006
The Saturday Social events for March featured lunch and a movie in the
afternoon (hosted by John Cholmondeley) and an evening of music at
Grace O'Malleys (hosted by Amanda Manuel and Ryan McBride). The purpose of the events is to put participants in the driver's seat
for organizing a social event, and getting to and from the gatherings
on public transit. The participants have the opportunity to experience
the adult freedom of a social activity that does not have a scheduled
end time. See some pictures from the March 2006 Saturday Social by clicking here.
March 1, 2006
It's finally here! After many years of discussion and advocacy, people with intellectual disabilities (and people with other types of disabilities) who are registered with the Ontario Disability Support Program are now eligible to purchase the OC Transpo "Community Pass" which costs $28.25 (instead of $87). LiveWorkPlay participants from SMILE have been actively advocating for an affordable bus pass since 2003. Individuals at LiveWorkPlay who have already purchased the new pass are excited about the financial savings, but are also enthusiastic about the fact that their needs have been recognized. Click here to see a picture of some SMILE participants proudly showing off their new passes.
February 16, 2006
SMILE-TOG has returned safe and sound from their 6-day trip to Santa Monica and the Los Angeles area. The 16 participants were supported by the 4-member LWP staff team. Planning for the trip started last year and travel committees of SMILE-TOG participants have been working out the details since September. The trips support the LWP mission by providing participants with unique opportunities for self-advocacy and personal growth. Learn more by visiting the trip website.
January 20, 2006
The Ottawa Citizen Literacy Foundation/Raise A Reader program is once again providing $2000 in financial support for the LiveWorkPlay yearbook. The yearbook is produced by members of SMILE in consulation with their peers and members of Journeys, who contribute ideas and information for the theme, stories, and personal profiles.
January 1, 2006
What a party! 260 guests sharing a great time in the 6400 square foot penthouse of the Crowne Plaza. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and this party had it all - from a massive conga line to a marriage proposal! Find out more by clicking here.
December 15, 2005
It's really sold out now! The LiveWorkPlay New Year's Eve On Top Dance
Party was declared sold out several weeks ago, but instead the party
was doubled in size and more than 120 new tickets went on sale. Now
those are gone too, and there isn't any room left in the entire Crowne
Plaza penthouse! About 250 guests will be on hand on December 31 to say
goodbye to 2005 and say hello to 2006. It is still not clear why demand
for the party skyrocketed this year, but promotional efforts on
A-Channel Ottawa definitely had a significant impact over the last
three weeks of ticket sales.
December 14, 2005
The first ever SMILE mini-banquet was attended by 95% of participants,
and a full 100% submitted their list of accomplishments to be
recognized at the ceremony.
The mini-banquet idea emerged from
discussions in September about finding ways that participants could
share news about their individual accomplishments within the SMILE
community.
Special Events committees at SMILE worked on the banquet throughout the
fall, using email to collect feedback, ensuring everyone's ideas would
be included. The participants as a group decided on semi-formal dress
and made their own meal choices and of course their own speeches. The
banquet was held at Zak's in the Byward Market and the reaction was
overwhelmingly positive. For more information, including lots of
photos, please click here.
December 9, 2005
It was one of the most well-attended Holiday Family Fun Night events in
LiveWorkPlay history. Those present were treated to six activity
stations with holiday themes, including a photo station with "Mama
Noel" and "Mr. Claus" and a LiveWorkPlayers (drama group) presentation
of "The Night Before Fun Night." You can see all the photos as well as
the drama script and a short movie by clicking here.
December 3, 2005
Thanks to SMILE participant Angela Hanes, her monther Karen, and their many relatives, close to $900 has been raised towards the SMILE trip to the Los Angeles area in February 2006. This is the second year in a row that the Hanes household has hosted a fundraising wine and cheese party for LiveWorkPlay. Click here to see a picture from the party. You'll see Angela on the far left next to her mother. You'll see LWP co-founders Keenan Wellar and Julie Kingstone on the right. And you'll see a mystery guest in the middle.
December 2, 2005
December 3 is the International Day of Disabled Persons. The United Nations encourages commmunity organizations to participate in the Day in their own unique ways, and this year LiveWorkPlay is celebrating its new mission statement, adopted at the Annual General Meeting in September.
The mission begins by stating that "People with intellectual disabilities will progress as self-advocates and contributing citizens" and the organization has embraced this new clarified mandate with great exhuberance.
This is perhaps best demonstrated by the people with intellectual disabilities that the organization supports, and this became clear through a special night of self-advocacy activities on November 25.
One outcome from this "Feeling Groovy" event was a series of video recordings with brief statements about "What self-advocacy means to me." Visit the LiveWorkPlay International Day of Disabled Persons website to learn more and to view the videos.
November 21, 2005
It's been talked about often over the past five years, but it's finally going to happen. The New Year's Eve On Top Dance Party has been expanded to the entire penthouse of the Crowne Plaza hotel. This means the sold out party is not sold out anymore. At least not yet! Visit http://liveworkplay.ca/NYE for more information and pick up your tickets today!
November 12, 2005
For the second straight year, LiveWorkPlay has received support from the Optimist Club of Nepean thanks to the Silhouette of the Season fundraising event at the Ottawa Congress Centre. Jenny Dobson from SMILE was on hand to accept the cheque of $2500 from Optimist board member Mark Lamoureux.
November 10, 2005
The LiveWorkPlay New Year's Eve On Top Dance Party is sold out already! The November 10 sellout is the earliest in the history of this event, which dates back to 2001-2002. With very little advertising sales have been extremely brisk, and there is already a substantial waiting list in the event that tickets come available. The party has already been expanded to 150 persons (from 130) to accomodate the demand.
November 7, 2005
News about the LiveWorkPlay fitness program was featured in the Community Living Leaders newsmagazine.
October 28, 2005
There was a record turnout of more than 80 people for Halloween Family Fun Night and also a record for first day ticket sales for the New Year's Eve Party! Get the story and lots of pictures by clicking here.
October 26, 2005
Project Clear Skies is a community giving program of the Ottawa International Airport Authority, designed to fund much-needed projects in the Ottawa region.
Today co-founders Julie Kingstone and Keenan Wellar represented LWP in a ceremony with other grant recipients at the Ottawa airport. They received a ceremonial cheque as well as a real cheque in the amount of $5000 which will go towards the completion of the LiveWorkPlay fitness room, scheduled to open in January 2006.
October 21, 2005
Wendy volunteers with LiveWorkPlay as a member of the Board of Directors (she is currently serving as Chair) and also on Friday nights with the SMILE and Journeys programs. In a ceremony at her workplace at MBNA's Ottawa headwquaters on Wednesday, October 19, her outstanding volunteer service to LiveWorkPlay and several other community organizations was celebrated with the Francis X. Norton Community Service award, the company's most prestigious voluntary service award.
From some 28,000 employees worldwide there were more than 170 nominees for the award, and 10 finalists. The award ceremony was broadcast to MBNA locations in North America and Europe via videoconference.
LWP co-founder Julie Kingstone had the opportunity to take part in the ceremony with a brief speech to congratulate Wendy and make note of her many contributions to LiveWorkPlay, including her involvement in building the annual auction event.
Later in the day MBNA representatives including Mike Shriver, director of the MBNA Foundation, and Mark Feinour, Director of Support Services for MBNA America, visited LiveWorkPlay and dropped in on several SMILE sessions. You can see a picture of Wendy with MBNA Vice Chairman Lance L. Weaver, Debra Armstrong (MBNA Canada Director of Administration) and MBNA Canada CEO Joe DeSantis by clicking here.
October 10, 2005
LiveWorkPlay is featured in this year's United Way edition of Carleton Now. The story mentions the LiveWorkPlay housing projects as well as the connection between Carleton and the LWP staff team. Click here to read the article.
September 30, 2005
Eight months of weekly Friday night excitement launched tonight with the start of Journeys A, Journeys B, SMILE@NIGHT-TNG, and SMILE@NIGHT-TOG.
There have been many changes in all of the groups, especially Journeys A which has 4 new members. However, it appears the group is learning very quickly how to get the most of Journeys. At tonight's planning session they collectively contriubuted 39 ideas for Friday night activities! Find out more about Journeys A, including individual photos by clicking here.
September 30, 2005
For the second straight year a team of volunteers from Deloitte and Touche helped beautify LiveWorkPlay headquarters with a new paint job.
This time the main job at hand was to paint the SMILE room with a colour chosen by SMILE participants. The winning hue was "Dancing Butterfly" (light yellow) and it looks great!
The volunteers were participating in the annual Deloitte and Touche Community Impact Day. In addition to the two coats of Dancing Butterfly, they also put primer on all of the LiveWorkPlay doors. SMILE participants will be voting on the colour for the doors in the coming week.
September 29, 2005
The Annual General Meeting was once again a marvel of efficiency. There was a solid turnout and plenty of good news to share in the review of 2004-2005 and the look ahead to 2005-2006. Click here for details.
September 29, 2005
The LiveWorkPlay yearbook was featured today in the Ottawa Citizen as part of the celebration of Raise A Reader day. The yearbook is written and produced by SMILE participants in cooperating with Journeys participants who complete surveys and contribute artwork for the project. The yearbook is funded in part by the Ottawa Citizen Literacy Foundation. Click here to see the article.
September 23, 2005
The annual program orientation tonight was a whirlwind of activity. The main meeting room at MBNA was jammed full of participants, family members, volunteers, and staff excited to be together and launching a new year of Journeys A, Journeys B, SMILE (TNG/TOG), and SMILE@NIGHT (TNG/TOG). Click here to learn more about the annual orientation.
September 6, 2005
It's the start of a new year of SMILE, and there's a fresh excitement in the air with the addition of five new faces. That's not all that is new. LiveWorkPlay headquarters has undergone renovations to create to new smaller meeting rooms to help accomodate everyone, and the computer room has expanded to 16 workstations. To see a picture of some SMILE participants and learn more about the program click here.
August 17, 2005
The eight SMILE participants who took part in the Bonnechere Provincial Park trip have returned from their first ever experience of tent camping. They spent 3 days and 2 nights on the shores of Round Lake and the Bonnechere River. Read up on their adventure in stories and photos by clicking here.
August 10, 2005
The five members of SMILE: The Next Generation have just returned from their first ever LWP trip. They spent 3 days and 2 nights in Montreal, travelling by train, metro, bus, and foot all over the city. Read up on their adventures in stories and photos by clicking here.
August 3, 2005
The new staff team of Allison, Grace, Julie and Keenan spent 3 days and 3 nights together planning for the new season of programs in September, and also looking ahead to the rest of the year and beyond. A summary of the weekend's activities and some of the outcomes is available here.
August 2, 2005
LiveWorkPlay is pleased to announce the addition of Allison Moores to the staff team. Allison will be working at LWP on a part-time basis while she pursues graduate studies in Social Work at Carleton University.
Allison has been involved with the LiveWorkPlay community for the past two years in several capacities, most recently working with Fran Childs to support the ACES summer learning program. She has also been a volunteer on Friday nights and completed a successful academic placement that included supporting SMILE and involvement in LWP special events like the MBNA Recipe for Success charity auction and the Law Day Fun Run/Walk.
Allison begins her new role effective immediately, and will be supporting the SMILE camping trip as well as the SMILE-TNG trip to Montreal.
July 24, 2005
Today the CBC television program Moving On featured a 20-minute segment about the LiveWorkPlay On Our Own Together II housing project. The story focused on the experience of participant Rachel Wexler, including conversations with her mother Alex Wexler. Other participants including Lucas Rodgers were also interviewed. LPW co-founder Keenan Wellar and participants Laura Stewart and Cooper Gage did a special follow-up for the story by visiting a potential site for building a permanent housing solution.
July 23, 2005
LiveWorkPlay is pleased to announce the addition of Grace Hudson to the full-time staff team. Grace is a well-known figure in the LiveWorkPlay community. She completed a successful student placement for her Social Work program in 2002-2003 and then accepted a position with the ACES summer learning program in 2003. For the past three years Grace has been volunteering on Friday nights in support of JOURNEYS and SMILE@NIGHT.
Ms. Hudson comes to LiveWorkPlay after a year with the Ottawa-Carleton Independent Living Centre as Empowerment and Skills Development Facilitator. She has a Social Work degree from Carleton University as well as a BA in Psychology from St. Thomas University.
Grace will be participating in staff visioning activities in August, and will start her new role at LiveWorkPlay in the first week of September with the resumption of the SMILE program. Welcome aboard!
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153 Chapel Street, Suite 300 | Ottawa, Ontario | K1N 1H5 | 613-235-9550
info@liveworkplay.ca | www.liveworkplay.ca
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