Message from the Chair
By Lois Hollstedt, C.M.
At the end of June 2010, I will have completed five years as a Director and Board Chair of CLBC and will retire from these roles.
In 2004, when I was asked to take on the role of Chair of a newly conceived Crown Corporation to serve people with developmental disabilities, I was enthusiastic about the challenge of changing the approach to supporting this group of people in our society. As I worked with people in the community, people on CLBC’s Board and staff, and the people we serve to develop our vision and mission I continue to be impressed by the commitment toward improving the lives of this group of people. Along the way we have tried some approaches that did not work perfectly, but we have made adjustments based on feedback and we continue to improve.
In the five years since our official creation in July 2005, we have come a long way towards our vision of good lives in welcoming communities. Our focus on renewal and accountability has created new ways of measuring our success and greater equity in the distribution of services. Individual life planning is a foundation value. We have a focus on employment and new housing options. Inclusion and innovation in service delivery are part of our evaluations. New systems are in place to provide information for good decisions. We have invested in training for our staff. We get annual feedback from the people and families we support. Our relationship with community and government partners continues to grow. We continue to improve our communication with stakeholders. We have lived within the budgets provided and expanded the numbers of adults served.
Five other Board members will be retiring in June. I want to thank Teresa Azak, Rod Gunn, Colleen Hay, Maurice Mourton and Harvey Venier for their leadership. Each has brought their personal wisdom and experience as parents or business people to the table as we crafted policy and structures to support people and be accountable for public tax dollars. Ken Crump, Darryl Harrand and Joan Rush will continue as board members and have been joined by two new appointees, Denise Turner and Ernie Malone. I thank them all for their work and for making my job as Chair a satisfying one.
I also want to thank our CEO Rick Mowles, his management team and all of the CLBC staff for their work toward changing the way we serve the individuals we support and how we do our work. The word “change” is daily present at CLBC and the staff who have had to lead and live the change have been outstanding in their ability to make it so. They have lived through major policy, system and structural change and have moved CLBC to be more responsive and more accountable. And as the change continues, the individuals with developmental disabilities and their families who we serve still report high satisfaction levels with the service we provide.
It has been my privilege to be involved in these changes. The opportunity to work with so many people toward our common goal of building good lives in welcoming communities has enriched my life. Thank you all.
