Present: Suzanne Jackettdarlene Boyeskimberley Matthews

CAN Recreation

Thursday June 13, 2013

9:00am-11:00am

Present: Suzanne JackettDarlene BoyesKimberley Matthews

Anna GarciaLinda TanigamiDeborah Johnston

Joel Houston

Regrets: Umashanie ReddyBlythe GunnAdrian Bohach

1. / Welcome and Introductions
Joel Houston is the new representative of the Autism Asperger’s Friendship Society / ACTION:
2. / Review of previous meeting minutes
There was some difficulty in locating the minutes from April / Kimberley will send link directly to the minutes as opposed to the website, and will ensure that minutes are properly loaded
3. / Calgary Ability Network
Poverty Reduction – Continuing work on strategic plan, to be completed for September 2013. Topics currently being considered include: Food Security, Indexing AISH to LICO, the interaction between income, transportation, employment, recreation, housing and leisure and the role poverty plays in each
There may be interest in the development of a disability initiative with the United Way of Calgary and Area
Government of Alberta has released a first draft of the Employment First Strategy (on the GOA website)
Transportation – Have new representative from Access Calgary on this committee. The next 6-8 months will be focused on addressing issues with Access Calgary service. Access Calgary has been cooperative and invested in developing a working relationship and is open to having a dialogue around recurrent issues and concerns
Access Calgary is currently going through an audit. The report will be completed by June 30th and will hopefully be available to the public after it is presented to Council for review. Included in the discussion is the 1KM policy.
Some organizations are being told the policy doesn’t exist (Access is denying it when they call to inquire) / Is Camp Bonaventure impacted by the 1KM rule?
4. / One Stop Access Update
Dana’s Presentation:

• Barriers to information about available programming. Would a web-based database be useful. A confirmation and validation of what we thought was necessary
• Committee has not met since the last meeting. Would like to create a draft of what the site would look like and create a project plan. Would need to look at potential funders, their requirements etc. Hopeful that the survey results would be helpful in identifying the funders.
• Need to get link up on website, ACDS, facebook and community partners
• Looking into either having another student (Uof C) or Vecova assist in continuing the research and development of this project
• Cities in Australia have been successful in having a resource to share this type of information, it is important for Calgary to have the same sort of resource
• Data reflects that the majority would be interested in having a one stop access

5. / PDD/MRU

• PDD – likely the cuts will go forward, just delayed
• Look at the Employment First Strategy, there doesn’t seem to be a clear idea of what this is going to look like
• Community Capacity – buzz word, but will not replace current needed supports,
• Support Employment however, not at the expense of the persons who cannot work or without a realistic implementation plan; cuts seem to have been done backwards
• Would PDD be interested in a Community Kitchen Employment Program (Food Security)
• We start to place value on employment overall, and need to create a culture where we value the whole person, not only their ability to sustain employment
• Suzanne is meeting with Brenda Lee Doyle; if there is communication that you want reflected share with her before her meeting on June 26th

6.
7. / Increasing Customer Engagement with Persons with Disabilities: Update

• PDD has shared its mandate to move to a shared support model (natural, community supports). City of Calgary Rec and Telus Spark are examples of community groups that are working collaboratively to create supports in the community
• As resources are shifting, we will need to work to enhance and increase natural supports in an effort to fill the (potential) gap
• Recreation Table will consider meeting with the Calgary Service Provider Council (Fall 2013), in order to gain feedback from the SPC about how best to build the natural supports, what is needed. The committee could ask for feedback about how to engage the community, what is needed and where we should be looking for this support.
• Should we provide an educational piece for community service providers to build supports that exist in the community at venues that would alleviate the pressure on organizations
• Would the committee (SPC) be interested in working together to develop a plan to increase natural supports? Telus Spark has a program that allows organizations to have free membership; they want to develop learning stations that would allow support staff and persons with disabilities to take part in programming together. – How will this work if Access Calgary considers Telus Spark to be outside of their service area?
• Some suggestions:
• Participant does janitorial work for a rec centre and gets a pass in exchange for work
• Flyer routes through day supports
• Parents on self-managed care are particularly frustrated because PDD programs seem to be in a holding pattern and many are not accepting new applications (even to their waitlists). There is a sense of just needing to find a space. They have been left on their own to find placements or jobs, which may impact the choices they have when looking for supports
• There is almost a disincentive to taking on new staff because organizations often have to subsidize what PDD pays support staff. Due to the concerns about PDD contracts some organizations have put hiring on hold which impacts programming.

City of Calgary – Village Square Leisure Centre

• Offered Boxercise, water polo, Zumba (adapted) and card making – some classes were very full and others, although there seemed to be interest, it didn’t translate into participation.
• Advertised by word of mouth,
• Developed information for caregivers and letter was created (by the City) that outlines the expectations of support workers. There was some push back in some cases but most organizations and workers have embraced the policy. Programs are 9 weeks long, $52.60 (approx.) for the session and are varied in length. The workers are expected to participate.
• Some instructors are reluctant to enforce the policy, so there has been some support from both the city and the facility workers to help remind support workers about the policy. Once the policy is explained it seems to be well embraced.
• Appears to be less people who are coming in and just hanging out for the day. The library is still working on developing programs to build on what the Leisure Centre is doing. There will be some free, some drop in and some registered programming. Programs cover a broad range of needs and are being adapted as needs arise or are identified.
• Have made some accommodations to keep workers on location if they are not needed with their client.

City Facility perspective –

• Village Square tends to be a hub for the community, which is why the concern was greater. Many of the agencies are also based out of the NE which naturally lends to Village Square being a hub. As many organizations don’t have a space to meet or gather they use the community spaces such as Village Square as a place to gather. (This could be reflected in the SPC presentation) How will this need be met in the community if the PDD cuts go ahead?

• Please continue to assist in passing information about the programs along, Linda will be sending out the fall lineup in the next month or so.

Other Business

• Moving to balance again between adults and children; we have been very focused on adults (perhaps in part because of the unrest with PDD)
• Recreation Inclusion Coordinators (Between the Friends) City of Calgary, Airdrie, Okotoks, Zoo, YMCA’s…and more are all partners; providing inclusion staff in the community who will ensure that children are part of the programs in the community and able to fully access programs and venues, without support aides. The concept is to education the community provider about how to provide inclusive programs and services.
• At these programs, how are we cross promoting programs so that they are aware of programs that exist for them (IE Camp Bonaventure, Camp Horizon, Accessing programs at the Leisure Centres etc) how do we ensure that we are getting information to families about programs available?

IDPD
Planning is underway for International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2013
The committee is planning two events on December 3rd, both at the Jack Singer Concert Hall (Lobby)
The first is over the lunch hour and will be a PetchuKucha powered event in partnership with the Calgary Public Library
The second will be a reception style showcase event that takes place from 2:30 -5:30. In the next few weeks you will be receiving information about these events and the committee will be seeking your support in developing our showcases. We are looking for citizens with disabilities who are involved in the arts, volunteerism, athletics, business etc to showcase at the event. A professional photographer will be working with the selected participants to create a showcase about what they do in the community. Our goal is highlight ordinary citizens who are involved in their community who have disabilities in an effort to build community awareness and capacity and most importantly celebrate who lives in our community. More detailed information will be included in the mailout, so please keep an eye on your inbox for that somewhere before July 1st!
Next Meeting – September 19th 9am Location TBA / Suzanne and Deborah would present
Inclusion counselors will have Recreation Discovery so they can share that information with their clients and families in the community.