The LiveWorkPlay News: Winding Down 2018, Looking Ahead To 2019
DOUBLE YOUR DONATION WITH A HOLIDAY MATCH OPPORTUNITY!
For the second year in a row, an anonymous donor is contributing up to $10,000 to match your donations to LiveWorkPlay during the holiday season! The opportunity starts on Giving Tuesday (November 27) and lasts until December 31, or until the entire $10,000 has been matched. It’s incredibly easy: just go to our Canada Helps donation page, scroll down, choose the amount of your donation, select the “Donate to LiveWorkPlay Giving Tuesday 2018” and whatever amount you choose to donate, it will be matched! More than 10% of all donations are made in the last week of the year, follow this link to find a guide to end of year giving (tax tips and more).
JOIN US FOR MAKE A BUZZ OTTAWA: THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2018!
Our next event is the Festive Family Feast on December 7, followed by the Celebration of Inclusion Family Feast on March 29, and the the big one: Make A Buzz Ottawa 2019 on May 9! This event always sells out, so if you would like to attend, ticket sales are already open and we recommend you purchase them before the end of December.
CATCHING UP WITH TIM: EMPLOYMENT SUCCESS AT SHOPIFY
This late-breaking story about Tim Siebrasse and his third year work anniversary at Shopify has taken the internet by Storm! And with good reason.
It is said that “diversity” is to be “invited to the dance” whereas “inclusion” is “being asked to dance.” You can’t have inclusion without diversity, but how do you know when inclusion is really happening? Every situation is different, but Tim’s journey at Shopify offers plenty of insight into this important and intriguing questions!
ANNUAL BOARD RETREAT: FOCUSED!
Sometimes it is good to “get away” as a group, especially if you are at a crossroads and looking for new directions and ideas. This year’s board retreat was all about knuckling down on the work of delivering on the Strategic Directions as presented to members at AGM 2018 back in June.
With this type of laser focus in mind, the board and co-leaders put on a pot of coffee (or three), met at the office on a Saturday, and spent the day with a quick review of progress to date. Then they got to work on the Welcoming Communities and Strategic Partnershipsstreams, areas that were identified as the least developed to this point in the year. The board will have additional communications about their work early next year!
DID YOU SAY STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS?
The importance of getting involved with housing organizations and issues (beyond housing that is specific to people with intellectual disabilities) was identified back in 2017, and LiveWorkPlay is definitely seeing progress, in terms of what we are learning, as well as our own contributions to issues of access, affordability, government policy and more!
Most recently, Allison Moores (our lead in this area, pictured in the photo with Grace Hudson) attended the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation National Housing Conference and benefited from a panel discussion about affordability. “This is really the key housing issue for almost all of our members,” says Allison. “Yes, most people with intellectual disabilities are facing some barriers with respect to their daily support needs, but that doesn’t even matter if they can’t afford a place to live. This is an issue that impacts thousands of individuals and families in Ottawa and we need to address it is a community, rather than as different silos of service organizations.”
The fall season offered an overwhelming variety of quality opportunities to engage in housing issues, including events hosted by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Alliance, and the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association.
“LEADING THE WAY, NOT MANAGING THE DAY”
Volunteers are critically important to our efforts to support a more inclusive and welcoming Ottawa community, and our People Connector and Volunteer Coordinator Alex Darling is always looking to making improvements to how we invite and support volunteers. On October 24 she participated in an incredible international conference that was hosted in our area by Volunteer Management Professionals of Canada, joined by other local sites and accessible online from multiple locations.
“Essentially this experience confirmed what I already know – there is more that our volunteers can do and want to do – and I plan to take some of these ideas from the conference and make that a priority in 2019” says Alex.
A BIG SUCCESS OF 2018: “JUST ENOUGH SUPPORT” VIDEO SERIES
Interest in the Just Enough Support series has exceeded all expectations, with more than 65,000 views of the original Facebook launch, more than 30,000 views of the trailer video, over 1,500 cumulative shares from where the videos and full transcripts are hosted on our website, and we are moving in on 6,000 cumulative views on our YouTube playlist. As intended, the series is drawing interest from individuals with disabilities and their family members, as well as from agencies and organizations: many are now using the series to train staff and volunteers! We have also taken the six principles and have created signage and postcards that we give out at information fairs and other events (see below).
FROM PRESENCE TO CITIZENSHIP LEARNING EXCHANGE 2019
As a member of the From Presence to Citizenship collaborative, LiveWorkPlay can’t say enough about the work of the organizing committee with respect to this year’s incredible lineup. The From Presence to Citizenship Annual Learning Exchange 2019 will be held February 6-8, 2019, at the Holiday Inn (free shuttle from Toronto International Airport). This year’s theme is People Driving Change, and features shorter presentations and more interaction and engagement opportunities than ever before. If you want a PDF version of the full conference document go to https://bzbz.ca/peopledrivingchange and TO REGISTER https://bzbz.ca/learningexchange2019.
Please note that From Presence to Citizenship is a collaborative of Ontario developmental services agencies, with project funding from the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
The multi-year project was established specifically to support transition to person-centred approaches, practices, and outcomes by organizations delivering supports and services for people with intellectual disabilities. This means that in following our project mandate, the event is not specifically tailored to individuals with disabilities and/or their family members, however, they are WELCOME at the event.