CELEBRATING OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY 1982 - 2007 It’s 1982 and... Pierre Elliott Trudeau is Prime Minister The Canada Act and Constitution Act are enacted into law Cats opens on Broadway First artificial heart is implanted in Barney Clark Boeing 747 is introduced On television we are watching 60 Minutes, Dallas and M*A*S*H Mayors are. Claudette Millar, Cambridge Morley Rosenberg, Kitchener Marjorie Carroll, Waterloo A mysterious disease is reported - AIDS Computers reach 1.5 million homes, fives times the number in 1980 E.T. and Tootsie are tops at the box office The Kitchener Rangers win their first Memorial Cup after playing against Hull in the finals Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region is established! ANNUAL REPORT 2006 | 2007 milestones of the past 25 years 1981 Henry Enns works with local leaders Brice Balmer, Clare Shantz and Ray Schlegel to establish the first Independent Living Centre in Canada 1982 Opening of the Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region at Erb Street Mennonite Church in Waterloo Start of the United Nations’ International Decade of the Disabled ILCWR takes over the Kids on the Block program from Rotaract (young adults chartered with Rotary International) 1983 Mooregate Supportive Housing Project is started In Home Respite Program begins 1985 Outreach Program is started Head office moves to 235 King Street East in Kitchener 1986 Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (CAILC) is established as a national organization that currently supports 28 centres across the country 1987 ILCWR incorporates as a non profit organization responsible for offering the independent living programs of Peer Support, Individual Advocacy, Information and Referral and Community Awareness 1988 The University of Waterloo begins providing attendant services to five students with disabilities to enable them to live in residence 1989 Head office moves to 266A Marsland Drive in Waterloo 1990 Shamrock Supportive Housing Project homes opens 1990 – ILCWR produces a bi-annual event (ACCESS shows) showcasing products, 1998 services and technology for persons with disabilities 1995 Head office moves to ‘the house’ at Freeport Hospital in Kitchener 1996 Students leaving the University of Waterloo residence program establish a supportive housing location on Albert Street in Waterloo 1999 Kiwanis Village Supportive Housing Project is opened First Independent Living Awards are held 2001 Head office moves ‘into’ Freeport Hospital in Kitchener 2004 ILCWR moves its head office to a permanent location on Victoria Street in Kitchener 2006 Albert Street project is closed 2007 ILCWR celebrates its 25th Anniversary CELEBRATING OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY 1982 - 2007 report from the President and Executive Director The Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region (ILCWR) has been serving our community for 25 years! It all began in 1982 as a small program of the Mennonite Central Committee (Ontario), and five years later it became an independent non-profit charity. ILCWR was the first independent living centre in Canada, and Kitchener was the birthplace of the Canadian independent living movement. We do have some historical credence! During the first two decades the organization suffered through many moves and its main Sue Morgan Fred Kinsie office was housed in five different locations. In October 2004 ILCWR acquired a long-term lease at 127 Victoria Street South, an open, welcoming, newly renovated space on the second floor of an old shoe factory ... and one of the funkiest office spaces in the region! ILCWR is a great place to work. Of our current 250 staff members, 66 have worked for ILCWR for more than five years, 24 for more than ten, 16 for more than 15, and four for more than 20. That speaks volumes about the positive culture of the organization and particularly about its core values of justice, dignity and team work. We are very proud of our staff and our board of directors for their dedication and commitment to ILCWR and the individuals we serve. As one looks back over a quarter century, the impulse is also to look at the future: what’s in store for the next 25 years? After tremendous growth during the second decade, funding flat-lined in the new millennium. Our main funder, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care made sweeping changes in an attempt to control the growing costs of the health care system. Part of their strategy is a move away from institutional care and toward (more affordable) community-based services. This will likely translate into potential growth opportunities for ILCWR. Integration is a key piece of health system transformation and that will mean more collaboration, partnerships, and networking to ensure the system is working as efficiently as possible. We will be held increasingly accountable to funders to show what impact we are making with the money with which we have been entrusted. Program-wise, we’re doing many of the same things we were doing in the early years. There have been program tweaks and new initiatives — including youth in transition and sensitivity training, and the morphing of access shows into awards events — but the core programs are much the same. It might be time to diversify, to branch out a little, to try some new things. ANNUAL REPORT 2006 | 2007 That, of course, will require more money. Since 2006, we have ramped up our fundraising expertise through some generous funding from our national association, the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres. We’ve put an extra push on this year with a 25th anniversary Circle of Friends campaign. We are very pleased at our board’s response — the members targeted the Silver Circle (the highest category) and collectively easily achieved it. We are also very grateful to all the individuals and organizations that have joined our Circle of Friends. An opportunity facing us in the next 25 years is multiculturalism. Our community is much more diverse than it was in 1982 and projections are for that to continue. Throughout our history, we have promoted the inclusion of persons with disabilities as full citizens; we now need to expand that inclusion to our neighbours of other faiths, backgrounds and traditions. Philosophically, we’ve changed very little (a good thing!). Our core values today are the same core values as those of the founding members; our mission and philosophy also mirror what was imagined 25 years ago. We’ve recently restated our mission, philosophy and values as a brief statement of corporate culture. Eleven words now inform each one of us and ensure that our unique way of delivering services will continue for years to come. We both are very hopeful and excited about the future of ILCWR. We remain confident that our services will continue to meet the needs of persons with disabilities as they strive to achieve their preferred level of independence in our community. Sue Morgan, President Fred Kinsie, Executive Director ILCWR Culture “ ustice J Te y am it w n o ig r D umer Ch k ns oi In all my interactions with ILCWR I o ce C have been affirmed as an individual Helping people with unique problems and aspirations. with disabilities achieve I celebrate the work that ILCWR independence performs on a daily basis. JIM WEBER, PAST BOARD MEMBER, “CURRENT CONSUMER CELEBRATING OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY 1982 - 2007 report from the President and Executive Director VISION ILCWR BOARD OF DIRECTORS Together, freedom through access and choice Sue Morgan, President MISSION Deb Bergey, Vice President Ian Ardill The purpose of ILCWR is to support persons with Taposhi Batabyal disabilities by Judy Bruyn • Facilitating individual growth towards greater Wanda Cox independence Patti Duke • Creating opportunities to make informed choices John J. Griggs James Hunsberger • Assisting in the removal of barriers to full Peter Naus participation in the community Bev Reuter Stephanie von Schilling • Improving the capacity of care givers to assist and Clare Snider support them Joanne Tam • Helping to increase the community’s acceptance Elizabeth Templin and integration of them VALUES Justice • Dignity • Teamwork Independence is “ something most of us take for granted. For others, the ILCWR is a bridge that helps take them there. “KEN SEILING, REGIONAL CHAIR ILCWR STAFF — 2007 ANNUAL REPORT 2006 | 2007 attendant services Attendant Services at ILCWR are a unique set of programs that are designed to assist adults with physical disabilities to live more independently in their own homes. Under the consumers’ direction, attendants assist with personal support and homemaking activities of daily living. The Outreach program assists over 100 people, for up to three hours a day, while the Supportive Housing program offers an enhanced level of support to 35 individuals in three separate locations. At the Mooregate, Shamrock and Kiwanis sites, consumers receive the same type of pre-scheduled visits for personal support and homemaking, but they also have access to attendants on call 24 hours a day both to meet urgent needs and to support them in living a more flexible lifestyle. Through our Respite program, ILCWR assists approximately 100 individuals and families each year by providing flexible caregiver relief in the consumers’ homes to give the primary caregivers a break. This past year was very challenging as the decision was made, in April 2006, to close the Albert Street supportive housing site – a move intended to address increasing financial pressures. By January we had assisted all ten consumers to transition to our remaining sites or to other programs. This move enabled us to transfer money back into the Outreach program and subsequently release 325 hours of service per week to more than 30 consumers on our waiting list. ILCWR continued to work in successful partnerships. Through participation in the Attendant Service Network, a collective of the four agencies that provide Attendant Services in the Waterloo-Wellington area, we have worked to streamline the intake and assessment process, improving service and access to consumers.