Members of the Kootenay Community Council at an in-person meeting before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Left to right: Ana Yost, Jimmie Onfrychuk, Crystal Bermel, Keenan McLean, Susan Davis, Cory Waskul, Mike Waskul, Janice Reid, Lennan Delaney, Kelly Beagle and Jonathan Righton.
The CLBC Kootenay Community Council is known for its strong focus and commitment to self advocacy leadership. This means listening to and learning from people with diverse abilities and honouring the self advocacy motto, “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
Usually, members meet by teleconference once a month to work on council goals. This includes hearing directly from those with lived experience receiving supports about what is working and what could be better. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, the group quickly decided it was important to meet more often in order to support and hold space for each other during these scary and isolating times.
For the past number of months, the Kootenay Community Council has held bi-weekly meetings to make sure everyone has information and support to get through the crisis. The meeting agenda was adjusted to help address what each member needed to feel connected and encouraged with a focus on being grateful and thanking the people who have made a difference in their lives.
For some, like Council Chair Jimmie Onfrychuk, this meant acknowledging his support worker. For others, it meant sharing the creativity happening in their neighbourhoods.
“Some of us wrote letters,” explains council member Jonathan Righton, “to highlight our appreciation and gratitude for things our communities were doing, like the birthday trains in my town of Kimberley.”
For others it was just hearing members’ voices from across the region that brought comfort and relief. “Self advocate council members were the ones supporting us on these calls,” describes service provider Ana Yost from REALM in Cranbrook. “Hearing from self advocates around the region sharing and letting us know what they were feeling and that they were doing okay was a huge support for us.”
The Kootenay Community Council has gone back to monthly meetings throughout the summer but are able to come back together quickly in whatever way is needed during the unknown days ahead. “We have come to rely on our friends, neighbours and business partners way more than ever. It may look different in the future, but it is going to be awesome,” says council member and Executive Director of Cresteramics Donna McCready.
The next big work goal for the Kootenay Council is to find ways to provide caregivers with support and information that can help make their journey a bit easier. To learn more or get involved with the CLBC Kootenay Council, contact Lennan.Delaney@gov.bc.ca. You can also find information about all CLBC Community Councils on the CLBC website under the “Community Councils” tab.
