A day of building community
CLBC’s Self-Advocate Advisor Shelley Nessman (centre) enjoying the conference with Candace Williams (left) and Mary Emmond (right) who both worked on organizing the event.
On June 16, 75 South Island self-advocates gathered in Victoria for the first “My Community: A Self Advocacy Conference”, a day filled with learning, networking and fun.
The conference was organized by self-advocates Mary Emmond, Candace Williams, Jessica McCartney, Michael Langridge and Ava Williams, with support from Becon Support Services, Kardel and Garth Homer Society staff, and community and South Island Community Council volunteers. A graphic facilitator, Lisa Arora, documented discussions with pictures. Video footage of the day for a short video on the event was taken by AVC Audiovisual, and Bone Creative, a local graphic design company, donated their expertise to create the conference materials. Local agencies, businesses and presenters provided door prizes and the bags for the delegate packages. CanAssist, an organization dedicated to developing technologies for people with disabilities, was also at the conference to show participants some of the innovations they’ve built.
“We helped plan the logo, the activities, door prizes, delegate packages and t-shirts, and thank you letters to the presenters, volunteers and sponsors,” said Mary. “Organizing an event like this gives you confidence.”
Organizers took great care to make sure it was a green event (almost everything used could be recycled), that everyone had a chance to participate, and session topics were relevant to participants. Discussions included building safeguard networks, how to prevent bullying, leadership and self-advocacy, and a discussion about deinstitutionalization. Mary, Jessica, Candace and Ava took turns introducing speakers, and Michael provided karaoke during coffee breaks.
“The topics and speakers we chose were what self-advocates said they wanted to learn about, particularly bullying,” said Candace.
The all-morning “Building Personal Support Networks” session was led by Aaron Johannes and Susan Kurliak from Spectrum Society for Community Living. Delegates were asked to brainstorm ideas about how to make friends and build safeguard networks. During discussion groups, Aaron and Susan asked participants to write down their ideas. This input will be used to develop a plain-language version of CLBC’s “Belonging to One Another” booklet on safeguards.
During the lunch hour, participants ate together and mingled while 10 self-advocate leaders from Victoria participated in a roundtable discussion with Becon Support, BCACL and BC People First staff to talk about opportunities for leadership around the province.
The afternoon featured four sessions that delegates could attend. “Self-Advocacy and Leadership: A Provincial Context” was led by Tricia Lins, a CLBC self-advocate project assistant from 100 Mile House, and Sky Hendsbee, a member of LACL and BCACL’s Self Advocates Caucus. Participants identified and discussed the qualities of leadership, and named some of the people they consider leaders, such as President Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, Princess Diana, Terry Fox, Pierre Trudeau, and their moms and dads.
A highlight for many was “Call it Safe: Things you can do to Prevent and Handle Bullying” led by Shelley Nessman, CLBC’s Self-Advocate Advisor. These sessions encouraged people to talk about their experiences with bullying, and to identify how to be safer in their community. Participants were supportive of one another as they shared their stories and learned tips for staying safe.
Self-advocate Peter Bourne, who lived at Woodlands, and Fred Ford, who teaches disability studies at the University of Victoria, led “Deinstitutionalization: Finding Out, Getting Out, Speaking Out”. Fred and Peter provided a history of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization, and talked about current policies in Canada. Participants shared their many experiences about living in institutions, and agreed that community inclusion is crucial for the future.
The day wrapped up with closing remarks from Becon Support Services staff Kristen Kay and Ava, who thanked participants for making the day such a success. Delegates responded with smiles and cheers.
“I made new friends today and learned a lot. It was a good day,” said one participant.
Victoria’s two self-advocacy groups, Self-Advocates for a Brighter Future and Victoria Self-Advocates applied for and received funding for the conference from the BCACL Self-Advocates Seeding Innovation (SASI) project. Support for SASI was provided through CLBC innovation funding. SASI supports self-advocates to create projects in their communities that strengthen self-advocacy, give back to the community, bring people together, and build leadership.
