Helping the community welcome people with intellectual
disabilities to live, work, and play as valued citizens.
Ontario Trillium Foundation Support
The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Government of Ontario, is providing LiveWorkPlay with $62,000 over one year "to enhance the organization's capacity to secure meaningful employment suited to the interests and abilities of persons with an intellectual disability. Members of service clubs, professional associations and corporations in Ottawa will be recruited to assist with outreach to prospective employers. It is expected that twenty new employers will have agreed to hire a person with an intellectual disability."
The work begins immediately! In related news, LiveWorkPlay is pleased to announce that summer staff member Paul Leduc will be staying on with a one year contract where he will work with the Employment Supports team of Jen Bosworth and Ali Sochasky. With the addition of Paul and the return of Grace Hudson from maternity leave, the staff team is currently at an all time high of 12 full-time members. Grace returns to the Community Connector team and Alex Darling is now full-time as Volunteer Coordinator.
Coming Events: Golf & AGM!
The LiveWorkPlay golf tournament in partnership with Rotary Club of West Ottawa and Cystic Fibrosis Canada (Ottawa Chapter) is 95% sold out, with just a few spots remaining. However, LiveWorkPlay is still looking for sponsors of one of our volunteer-managed contest holes! If you'd like to help out, please click here.
The Welcome Back Family Feast & Annual General Meeting takes place on September 27 and registration is now available. If your idea of an AGM is falling asleep on a pile of papers, don't try that with LiveWorkPlay or you might fall into your soup! We'll be enjoying a four course meal throughout, and it's actually a lot of fun. Register now!
VOscar Nomination
For the second year in a row, LiveWorkPlay is a finalist for a VOscar award, hosted by Volunteer Ottawa. The VOscars is more than an awards ceremony, it's a great way to recognize those who raise awareness of volunteering and encourage volunteerism in our community. We are in terrific company with the other finalists for Best Non-Profit Volunteer Program: congratulations to Hospice at May Court and Ottawa Community Housing.
The Right To Decide
The goal of the this year's Inclusion International The Right To Decide campaign is to advance the rights articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Article 12 so as to: 1) support families and others to understand the implications of legal capacity for people with intellectual disabilities and 2) support people with intellectual disabilities to make their own decisions.
At our AGM in 2011 LiveWorkPlay members unanimously adopted new vision, mission, and values statements that reflect not only our own history and goals, but closely resemble the wording and spirit of the UN Convention. Decision-making and the rights associated with decision-making are often denied to people with intellectual disabilities, which is not in accordance with our value that "people with intellectual disabilities have the right to the removal of barriers preventing them from experiencing the community on an equal basis with other citizens."
It is important to understand that this is about the right to SUPPORTED decision-making: understanding that many people with intellectual disabilities need and want help with some of the decisions in their life. The Right To Decide is not about removing help - it is about making sure that help is provided in the right way - so the individual is in charge. Watch the Inclusion International video and learn more on their campaign website.
Please Stay In Touch!
Keeping up to date with LiveWorkPlay is easy. You can watch our news page at LiveWorkPlay.ca, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn! Looking to donate? Look no further!
|
|
