A Tribute to Lee-Anne Dupuis as She Retires |
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Retirement
A time to look back with admiration. A time to look forward with anticipation.
Very few people are so fortunate to spend their career doing something they truly believe in and impacting the lives of others in very meaningful ways. For Lee-Anne Dupuis, as her retirement date of March 12th approaches, that’s exactly what her 38 years at Community Living Essex County have allowed her to do. When she first started her career as a front line support worker in 1982, life and opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities were much different. Lee-Anne began in a part-time role supporting five men at 68 Sandwich St., in Amherstburg. She quickly moved on to full-time and Senior Support positions before becoming a Manager of Northshore Resource Centre in Tecumseh in 1989, and then managed homes in Amherstburg, Essex, Kingsville and Leamington. In 2004, Lee-Anne became the Director of Supports for the South Area. With a steadfast commitment to helping people achieve their goals, increasing opportunities for true inclusion, and inspiring those around her to pursue the very best outcomes for people, Lee-Anne has always lived the mission of this organization.
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Making strong connections, strengthening relationships and building partnerships, Lee-Anne’s work will have a lasting impact. For the past several years, she has played a major role in the development and sharing of a truly unique and forward thinking abuse prevention training model called Advocates Against Abuse. The first of its kind, the AAA model allows people we support to learn to protect themselves from abuse directly from their peers. In addition to this work being incredibly rewarding, Lee-Anne’s role in supporting the trainers, sharing the model with other service providers, and championing this impactful work has contributed immensely to its success.
Lee-Anne’s longtime support of New Day, Leaders of Today, will also be missed. Since 2004, she has been closely connected to this group of advocates, helping propel their message, initiatives and vision forward. Inspiring and encouraging this group of leaders to spread awareness and supporting them to achieve their goals has been some of Lee-Anne’s most treasured work.
A true professional and longtime senior leader at Community Living Essex County, Lee-Anne will be missed by the many people she has supported over the years, the families she’s formed strong connections with, and the many, many employees of the agency she has worked alongside. We wish her well as she begins this next exciting chapter of life. Cheers to you Lee-Anne – and here’s to endless weekends and precious time with those nearest and dearest to your heart. Thank you for 38 years of service at Community Living Essex County. You will be missed.
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COVID-19 Vaccine Information Session for Families |
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OCSC has partnered with Dr. Faisal Rehman, Professor of Medicine and Site Chief of Medicine at University Hospital in London, ON, to provide families with a comprehensive overview of the COVID-19 vaccine in a 30 minute information session with Q&A to follow.
Join on Thursday, March 11 at 12:00 PM (noon) via Zoom:
Meeting ID: 882 9258 2354 | Passcode: OCSC
There is no need to register, but it will be limited to 100 participants.
ABOUT OCSC
The Ontario Community Services Coalition (OCSC) is a group of families and agencies that advocate for the fair and equal treatment of all agencies, unionized and non-unionized, in the province so that they can continue to protect the interests of the vulnerable Ontarians they serve.
The Ontario Community Services Coalition was incorporated in 2011 uniting a group of diverse agencies with a common purpose: to ensure that the voices of individuals and families are heard within discussions on organized labour issues affecting people receiving services, and to strengthen the sector.
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Local COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Information |
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To help the residents of Windsor/Essex stay up to date on vaccine distribution in our region the Windsor Essex County Health Unit has launched a vaccine resource page on their website.
The page will be updated daily as we move through the prioritization phases. Reliable information posted includes updated distribution numbers, description of the current, next and future groups eligible to receive the vaccine, details on the testing, efficacy and safety of the vaccines, plus a section on frequently asked questions.
The timing of the dedicated vaccine resource page couldn’t be better. Last Thursday the health unit announced and opened the registration portal for residents 80 years and older to sign up for their vaccination appointment, booking the first appointment this past Monday! In just over 3 days more than 11,000 seniors have pre-registered. Our region is vaccinating seniors 2 weeks ahead of the required provincial start date. Hats off to our health unit for the hard work and advance planning that enabled this outstanding result!
There will be 2 vaccination clinics for residents 80 years of age and older. The first one opened Monday in Windsor at the Windsor Family Credit Union (WFCU) Centre on McHugh St. The second opens next Monday, March 8th at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre on Sherk St. in Leamington. The clinics will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Seniors must pre-register and receive an appointment because the clinics will not accept walk-ins. During this priority phase, only seniors 80 and over will be allowed to pre-register, either online or by phone. For more information go to the health unit’s website at https://www.wechu.org then click on Targeted Vaccination Clinic Pre-registration or call 519-251-4072.
As supply of vaccines increase the regional plan is to have 2 clinics in Windsor and 2 in Essex County. The health unit’s strategy is to be able to administer 2,000 doses per week soon, scaling up to 1,500 doses per day per clinic as hours of operation expand to 10 or 12 hours each day.
At the health unit’s daily briefing Tuesday, a reporter asked about the timeline to start vaccinating people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Theresa Marentette, Chief Executive Officer/Chief Nursing Officer explained that the Pfizer vaccine is the only one currently available in Windsor/Essex. The challenge with this vaccine is transportation because it has to kept extremely cold in a deep freeze, therefore there isn’t the availability to deliver the vaccine one shot at a time. The health unit is developing plans so that when they have access to additional vaccines they are ready to quickly and safely rollout the vaccine to people with an intellectual disability.
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Coping During The Pandemic
An Inspiring Message From Community Members
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Membership Benefits Include:
- Voting rights
- Invitation to virtual AGM
- Electronic Communications
- Closer Look mailer
- Annual report
- I'm All INclusion window cling (corporate members)
- I'm All Inclusion accessory (individual members)
- Membership card
Do you believe in inclusion? Join us today!
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Family Input and Future Day Supports |
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“Looking ahead, we need to build back better.” – Ninth Secretary –General of the United Nations, António Guterres
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our world in countless ways, including the day supports that have long been part of our family members’ lives. As the in-person portion of these programs have been cancelled due to COVID-19, agencies, people with disabilities, and their families have the opportunity to re-imagine day supports going forward as we enter a post-COVID-19 world. Let us all work together as families, agencies and people with disabilities to “build back better” day support programs.
After COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, how do you want Day Supports to assist you and your family? Click below for an interesting and thought-provoking article from Community Living Ontario titled Five Ideas About De-congregation of Day Supports in Developmental Services.
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Kelly Runnalls
Family Consultant, Ensemble
ensemble@communitylivingessex.org or 519-776-6483, ext. 225
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Prepaid Blank Postcard Courtesy of Canada Post |
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In an effort to encourage Canadians to keep in touch during the pandemic, Canada Post is sending every household a free postcard to mail to a loved one.
Starting Monday,13.5 million postage-paid postcards will begin arriving at every residential address across the country. Happy writing!
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Fancy Pantry
Gourmet Meals from Your Cupboard
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Saturday, March 6, 2021
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Grab your can opener and head to the pantry.
Home chef Angie raids the cupboard to find the ingredients for a perfect gourmet meal! Join her for this free virtual workshop and learn how you can make a delicious dish with items you may already have stocked in your home.
Get ready for this family-friendly experience. During this class she’ll be making:
Cook along with Angie live by clicking on the above ingredient lists and shopping ahead.
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St. Patty's Day Painting Workshop |
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St. Patty’s Day Painting Workshop
Monday, March 8, 2021, 7:00 PM EST
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by painting your very own Leprechaun.
Join the virtual workshop on Zoom (meeting ID 967 020 5072) or watch live on Facebook.
Carrie Posey is an experienced artist who has specialized in online painting parties for both children and adults. In this workshop, you will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day by painting your very own Leprechaun.
Materials needed:
- any size blank canvas;
- brushes (flat brush, round brush, and detail brush)
- acrylic paint (orange, green, yellow, black, and white)
- paint palette (a paper plate if perfectly fine)
- water and an apron (optional)
*please note time of event is 7:00 PM for your time zone
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Friday, March 5th at 7:30 pm
The classroom, via Zoom, will be available at 7:20pm EST for entry so you can say hi and settle in before the party at 7:30pm EST sharp!
SUPPLY LIST:
- Canvas: Julie will be using a 16x20 canvas
- Acrylic Paints: Black, White, Light Blue, Brown and Gold (optional)
- Brushes: 3/4" Nylon Flat Brush, 1/2” Nylon Flat Brush, a Liner Brush
- Extra Supplies: A Ruler, Pencil and a 9”round paper plate
When you purchase a ticket, you will receive a link to our private Zoom meeting!! Make sure to bookmark or save the link so it is easy to access at the time of the party.
This party will be recorded, so if you miss the live event, you can download and paint on your own time later!
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Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Brisket is at its best when cooked slow and low, which makes it the ultimate slow cooker meal. A bottle of stout beer will help keep it moist as it bubbles away on a bed of potatoes, carrots, celery and onions.
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Laughter is the Best Medicine |
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Binge watch a Netflix series.
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Poll Results
How many gallons of water does it take to grow enough cotton to produce one t-shirt?
713 37.1%
700 37.1%
688 17.1%
651 8.6%
The correct answer is 713.
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