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| Kardel's mission is to help people with developmental disabilities have a good life and to respect their personal choices
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Kardel Newsletter, Events & Programs
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Thoughts From a Father...
I have a son. I've never played catch with him. I didn't help him learn to ride a bicycle. I've never taken him fishing. I've never gotten on his case about getting better grades in school, or showed him how to change a tire, or talked to him about what it means to be a man.
When he was just over one year old, something went awry in his development. Over the next six months, he declined into epilepsy and autism. He almost lost his ability to walk. He has never been able to express himself with words. My ideas about what it would mean to be a father to a son didn't have a chance.
If by now you're feeling sorry for me, don't. He has taught me more about the emotional richness of being a man than anyone else in my life.
One of the first things I learned about from him was love. I learned that I am capable of loving unconditionally. I learned that love can bring with it immense pain. I learned about how it feels to be utterly helpless to protect someone I love.
I also learned about courage: his, mine, my family's. My son in particular amazed me with his courage. Early on, when he was around the age of two, staying on his feet was a struggle for him. He was having 50 or more seizures a day, and though they were not often grand mal seizures, he would often fall because of them. Electroencephalographs showed a continuous electrical storm in his brain, and for him to continue to stay upright in that state demonstrated immense courage and tenacity. Later on in life, and more recently, he still demonstrates that same courage even as he is confined to wheelchair.
He also taught me about my capacity to experience pain and continue to function. I did not learn to be grateful for that pain except in retrospect, but I did learn that I could set it aside when I need to. In my life as a man, I needed to, or I felt that I needed to, set aside the pain when I went to my place of work. My colleagues did not know about my son for two years after he first was affected.
I also learned about my capacity for tenderness, as well as my capacity for being callous. I learned about my own anger, and that underneath that anger was fear and a deep sense of unfairness. I learned how to channel my anger into good work, and how beneficial physical activity could be as a release.
My journey continues. At this point in my life, I have learned to accept his path as well as my own. One of the greatest gifts of my experience with him has been to be able, finally, to bring that emotional intensity forward, to recognize that have felt and will continue to feel genuinely, intensely, and deeply. I have also learned that in order to be a whole man, I must not only acknowledge and face these emotions, but also explore, claim, and teach from them.
The lessons that I have been given through my son have enriched me and empowered what I offer to the world.
Written by Wes Gietz
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Paskin News
Greg enjoyed heading to the CRD Square to enjoy the Victoria Busker Festival. This team was called the Unicycling Unicorns from Minnesota. They were really funny and entertaining. The guy at one point was juggling a sword, a flaming torch, and his cell phone on a selfie stick all while riding a 12 foot tall unicycle!! Greg loved the Busker Festival!
Kylie and Chantal attended the free event of crafting fresh floral crowns. They had so much fun they plan on attending the next 2 as well!
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Cowichan Adaptive Sailing Program
On July 3rd the Cowichan Adaptive Sailing Program launched their Adaptive Sailing Program in Ladysmith. You can either call them at
250-466-4773 or email
[email protected] for more details.
On July 15th they were in Duncan Day's Parade and enjoyed all the people that came on down, had some fun, and enjoyed the festivities.
August 12th will be their BBQ on the Dock; a chance to get together with all their Members and Volunteers to have some fun, so they welcome you to come on down and see them at the Dock.
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Office Birthday Bash
On July 20 the Managers and Admin staff got together to celebrate everyone's birthdays and had a white elephant gift exchange. The potluck food and cupcakes were delicious, and the crowd got a little boisterous but everyone had a great time!
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Ken had a busy month; a day trip to Parksville where he shopped at the large S.O.S. outlet for treasures. Ken loves to explore all thrift shops but this was the largest outlet Ken he's ever been to and he was shopping up a storm! Ken also attended the Gay Pride Parade and met lots of the fellow participants from his "Good Neighbors" day program as well as making lots of new friends. Ken celebrated his 74th birthday on July 18th by enjoying a special day trip to down town Victoria with Anna and had a birthday celebration at Patterson house with his favorite cuisine Chinese food and chocolate cake on the menu.
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Special Woodstock Music Festival
Special Woodstock will be held on Sunday, August 20th at the beautiful Providence Farm site in Duncan, BC. They are excited to be celebrating 16 years of fun and music with people from all over Vancouver Island and beyond. This festival is not just for people in the special needs communities to enjoy; they invite everyone to bring their families to this heartwarming, uplifting and enlightening event.
Click here to access the Special Woodstock website.
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Val and Alex enjoyed a date to visit Butchart Gardens on a sunny afternoon.
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Henry House news
Steve enjoyed hosting a Hawaiian-themed luau and pub night. Friends from Amelia House stopped in to enjoy in the fun.
Doug purchased a crabbing license and has been sharing the harvest with his housemates.
Jackie and Steven enjoyed the Canada Day Parade in Sidney
Doug practices his badminton skills at the
tournament Robbie hosted.
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Amelia House News
Amelia House has been home to a few fabulous birthday parties the last few weeks. Cory celebrated his birthday on June 4th in typical Cory fashion...good friends, family, BBQ burgers, cheezies and of course...CAKE!!
Canada's 150th birthday was celebrated by all including all sporting Canada T-Shirts, watching the dancers in Sidney on the Friday night and participating in events in Sidney on Canada's birthday. Jennifer celebrated her birthday on July 4th with family and friends coming to Amelia for lunch and then yesterday (July 13th), we celebrated Kate's birthday with a BBQ lunch as well. We couldn't have asked for better weather!!
Everyone has been enjoying the Thursday night Sidney market. Listening to music, shopping for those one of a kind treasures, tasting some of the local goodies and of course, meeting up with friends. We are so fortunate to live so close.
Everyone has been getting out a lot and enjoying what summer has to offer.
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West Coast REACH! Association - Canada Day Performance
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On Friday, June 30th, the West Coast REACH! Association performed at the Sidney Days Celebrations
to kick off Canada Day.
INSIDE, each of us is much the same.
OUTWARDLY
we're all different.
Together with
REACH!
- we celebrate
our similarities and our differences.
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One Day Celebration
This year One Day will take place on Saturday, September 16th! One Day is Victoria's kick off to community living month with FREE entertainment, activities, kids zone, and more! One Day also features a low cost BBQ and a marketplace for local artisans!
Save the date so you can join in the fun!
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Home Share News
On Sunday, July 9 Meredith, Barb and Trevor celebrated Pride Week by participating in the parade and waving from the official Pride Parade Float. They loved the energy generated by the large crowd and had the chance to practice their baton-twirling and marching skills!
Tim lives in Home Share in Brentwood Bay and LOVES insects-spiders in particular. This is what drew him to Butterfly Gardens to visit the Insect-arium where creepy-crawlies abound, including a big, hairy tarantula! To his surprise, however, this "eclectus parrot" named "Little E" took a shining to him while he visited the rest of the gardens. Tim put this photo on his Facebook page and got lots of "likes" as let's face it- "Little E" is so much cuter to look at than a hairy tarantula!
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The BC Lions and Pacific Autism Family Network are creating a first in the Canadian Football League. The two organizations have joined forces to take steps at providing fans on the Autism Spectrum a more comfortable experience by creating the GAMECHANGERS program. Together, they aim to ensure that families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder can attend, have a better experience, and cheer on their CFL team at all home games at BC Place.
The program gives families who are a part of the Pacific Autism Family Network the opportunity to request tickets and be seated in a thoughtfully selected reserved area, as well as receive Toolkits for each individual attending with Autism or a related disorder. The Toolkits contain items to make the game more user friendly and include noise cancelling headphones, earplugs, sensory toys, and a visual schedule for game day.
To learn more and take part in the GAMECHANGERS program join the Pacific Autism Family Network here:
http://bit.ly/2urpcHv
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Lakes House News
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| Everyone from Sentinel made the trip north of the Malahat to join in the Zumba party at Lakes House. They had a great time with friends and enjoyed the amazing food & dance. |
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AccessNow Accessibility App
AccessNow is all about sharing accessibility information around the world. Our goal is to map as many places as we possibly can, and we invite you to help us! A worldwide community, passionate about change, together we can empower each other to have access now.
As we pin-point the accessibility status of locations, we can start looking at how to turn all the red pins, not accessible, to green pins, accessible. We want to find ways to create access where there currently is none. If you are someone working to remove barriers...we want to hear from you!
We use crowdsourcing to pin-point the accessibility status of locations on an interactive map. Search for specific places or browse to see what is nearby with the accessibility features you need. If info isn't already on our map, you can add it yourself and contribute to our worldwide community.
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Futures Club News
The Futures photography club has been busy taking photos of our favorite spots around Victoria, highlighting this beautiful city we live in.
We have great news; for the month of August we are having an exhibition at the Spiral Café located at 418 Craigflower Rd. Please come down for a coffee and view our gallery. All proceeds from the sale of our photos will go towards The Rainbow Kitchen, a local community program that offers support, services and hot meals to people in need.
Here is a sneak peak.....
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When Charlie Helped to Call out Shifts
Kim A. was on her way to work one day in July when she noticed a little poodle dangerously wandering on a busy road. She opened her car door, the dog jumped in and settled into her lap while she attempted to find the owner. After checking with all the neighbours, Kim realized the dog's owner wasn't nearby. She had to head into work so the pup came along with her!
Kim immediately contacted FLED (Finding Lost & Escaped Dogs) and notified them she had a lost dog. By 3:30 the same afternoon Charlie's owners called her and arranged to pick him up. The owners were extremely relieved and thankful their dog was safe and sound, and that they may have met a new dog-walker!
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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