Gateway Summer

IN THIS ISSUE… President’s Report The Gateway o o ED Report o Welcome New Staff o Welcome Dolores Summer 2020 Flynn - Treasurer o Reports In times of Pandemic…our work continues and we meet virtually! o COVID - 19 NLACL 74 O’Leary Avenue St. John’s, NL A1B 2C7 Follow us on P.O. Box 8414 St. John’s, NL facebook.com/nlacl A1B 3N7 709 722-0790 twitter.com/nlacl 1 [email protected] www.nlacl.ca Contents President’s Message ....................................................................................................... 3 From the Executive Director’s Desk… ............................................................................. 6 Warm Welcome to our new Treasurer- Dolores Flynn ................................................... 8 Welcome to our Ready Willing & Able Labour Market Facilitator- Adam Power .............. 9 Update from the Development Coordinator By Fraser Piccott ...................................... 10 Update from the Engagement Coordinator By Jodi Tilley ............................................. 12 A Tribute to The Late Mrs. Nellie Caul ........................................................................... 13 Deer Lake Vera Perlin Association for Community Living ............................................. 15 Deer Lake Vera Perlin Association members enjoying activities ................................... 17 Green Bay Association for Community Living ............................................................... 18 Save the Date ................................................................................................................ 19 Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) ............................................................ 20 COVID 19- Impact on Income and Disability Supports .................................................. 22 Reduce the Spread of COVID-19 .................................................................................. 23 2 President’s Message By Dennis Gill Pandemic of Uncertainty In 2020 “social distancing” became a “do it” thing, When the coronavirus spread through Winter in to Spring, “Self-isolate” emerged as a buzz-word everywhere, From China on to Europe, ’cross the Atlantic to Times Square! Chorus COVID-19, please keep a “fathom” in between! Wash your hands right good while singing “I’se The B’y”!! In Newfoundland and Labrador, we won’t “gaffle” into you no more, We’ll just smile, and “wink and nod”, until July!!! [or whenever!] For some reason toilet tissue was more sought after than gold! Folks running to fill shopping carts was a sight to behold! No implication of that part of the anatomy! But rolls were scarce ’tween Pilley’s Island and Victoria, B.C.!! Through this Pandemic of Uncertainty, accolades must surely go To healthcare-related personnel, appreciation show, Commodity Deliverers, First Responders, Grocery Stores, Essential Workers, Home Care-givers, Volunteers all ’round our shores. Our leaders have set rules fair to help “flatten the curve”, And to protect the vulnerable, so EVERYBODY must observe, Let’s be kind, be optimistic, educated beyond school, And do our best to practice always the great Golden Rule. 3 The above song, which I composed on March 21, can be seen/heard on Facebook [RoxannDennisGill, or the Squeezebox Page, or elsewhere as it had upwards to 500 Shares]; it pretty well summarizes the first two seasons of 2020, and maybe the second two as well, with the exception of the “Toilet Tissue Phenomena”! The latter was probably the most hilarious aspect of COVID-19. Otherwise, this Pandemic has caused a lot of worry, stress, concern, loss of freedoms, and diverse other negatives for many. NLACL Engagement Coordinator/ Admin. Jodi Tilley has reached out by phone too many to hear their plights and to offer assistance. For persons with intellectual disabilities, and their families, there have been at least three major issues: Hospital Accompaniment in the event that a loved one with an intellectual challenge was admitted for any reason. Potential Access to Vital Medical Equipment if the healthcare system became overburdened by the coronavirus. During the SARS and H1N1 pandemics, people with disabilities were being triaged out of care solely on the basis of having a disability. Canadians with disabilities may be refused ventilators or life support in a moment of crisis; this discriminatory policy is of great concern. Income Support, addressed by Past President Ray McIsaac in another section of Gateway. NLACL has corresponded with Health and Community Services Minister, Dr. John Haggie, NL Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, Children-Seniors-Social Development Minister, Lisa Dempster, and Advanced Education- Skill-Labour Minister, Christopher Mitchelmore. Executive Director Hope Colbourne, Ray, and I were interviewed by VOCMs Linda Swain on her one-hour “On Target Program” on May 08, I appeared in a David Salter Story on the NTV Evening News on May 11, and Hope and Nancy Reid, ED of COD-NL, met virtually with Ministers Haggie and Dempster on May 18. Issue #1 has been resolved. 4 Issue #2 has received much heightened awareness and attention nationwide and is still being addressed/finalized; should have been done “long, long ago”. Issue # 3, being worked on with government departments by Ray, is still under review. Since C-19 kicked in around the “Ides of March” in Newfoundland and Labrador, NLACL has been very busy. Prior to that, during the “Winter of Snowmaggedon”, NALCL was also very busy. Nothing new!! On January 08, NLACL Development Coordinator Fraser Piccott, Hope, and I met with Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brian Warr, and his officials, on “The Education Action Plan”. The subsequent morning, Human Resources Chair, Marg Pike, and I attended a NLACL Staff Meeting. That evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning, the Executive held “marathon meetings” on a litany of issues which resulted in 27 Actions Items! After assembling with Minister Mitchelmore and his team on February 18, we ramped up the activities the following day: meeting with Author, Dr. Ainsley Hawthorne, meeting with “First Light” of the Indigenous Community, Funeral Home Visitation to pay respects to Noel Browne who was once NLACLs ED, meeting with Minister Dempster, and, last but by no means least, meeting with Minister Haggie. During the afternoon of the 20th, we held discussions with Executive Director Carey Majid of the NL Human Rights Commission, and that evening participated in, along with approximately 150 others, a session entitled “The Equal Right to Decide in Newfoundland and Labrador” at the Capital Hotel, spearheaded by Fraser, featuring Dr. Michael Bach of the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society headquartered in Toronto. All day Friday, Michael lead a follow-up gathering discussing “the way forward”. On March 03, I travelled to Grand Falls-Windsor and had a very productive meeting with Scott Simms, MP Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame, on a range of items at the federal level affecting persons with intellectual disabilities. Add to the afore-mentioned, 5 Executive meetings via ZOOM, numerous telephone conversations, and hundreds of e- mails!!! This Spring, NLACL welcomed two new faces: Adam Power as Labourer Market Facilitator with Ready, Willing & Able, and Dolores Flynn, who was a former NLACL ED, as Treasurer. We wish them both rewarding, productive, enjoyable, and educational experiences with our non-profit, family-lead, volunteer association, currently in Year 64. In closing, I express sincere thanks and appreciation to anyone who has helped NLACL in any way. Take care. Stay safe. Have a pleasant, but probably different, Summer 2020. From the Executive Director’s Desk… By Hope Colbourne Well, here we are at the beginning of Summer 2020. Who would have thought that the world would be in such a state of flux? Never could one have imagined that we would be living the way we are. However, such times and experiences have a way of grounding us and while, the situation is bad, there are things we can learn and take away. For me, the time to work from home without the commute has been very good. The first weeks were actually very traumatic, as I tried to find my way and make meaning of what was happening. I found myself gravitating to the TV at 2:00 p.m. as though I were in a trance, hanging on to every word being shared by the devoted team that was leading the charge. Over time, this has changed and I no longer watch the updates. I just listen to hear if we’ve stayed at zero cases. I loved working at home, however, I still prepared for work as though I were actually going to the office. My husband would chuckle at me, and remind me I didn’t have to impress him. I felt that it was important for me to keep my routine so that when we did return to a “new normal” I would still be on my “A” game. The work actually increased for me. I felt a tremendous responsibility to ensure that NLACL didn’t loose it’s momentum on the files and projects we were working on. I appreciate the dedication of Executive Board of Directors and their willingness to be available at the drop of a hat, especially Marg Pike. Conversations with Marg were many. Thank you, Marg for your devotion to NLACL. You are a true inspiration! Staff members rallied together to ensure that work was kept upon. Our staff connections via Zoom were productive and a great 6 way to stay in touch. Our work continued on the Legal Capacity Solutions Lab with weekly Zoom meetings with a team of dedicated agencies. We also continue to plan for Phase 2 of in Our Home…In Our Community for the Fall 2020 led by Fraser. That may or may not happen the way were are envisioning, but it is always good to be ready to go should we be able to. It was a strange time to have a new staff person join our team. Adam came on the Monday, then worked from home from Tuesday onward. He was so resourceful that he didn’t miss a step. With daily connections with his RWA National Team, led by Frank Fagan, Adam was able to complete his orientation and onboarding and fell right into the swing of things with ease. He is a tremendous asset to our team.

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