Presentation to the Gathering on Person-Centred Practices, October 22-23, Thorold, Ontario. How can agencies engage volunteers in supporting a more included life in the community for people with intellectual disabilities? Keenan Wellar, MA and Julie Kingstone, MEd Co-Founders & Co-Leaders, LiveWorkPlay Starting in 2008, LiveWorkPlay embarked on a journey of “de-programming” by making a shift from congregated programs to authentic community-based supports and outcomes based on flexible and individualized person-centered planning. At the core of this transformation, the agency dramatically expanded the size and scope of its volunteer team. This has changed the organization, it has changed lives, and it is changing the community.

1. Afternoon Session 2a
How can agencies engage volunteers in supporting a more included
life in the community for people with intellectual disabilities?
Keenan Wellar, MA and Julie Kingstone, MEd
Co-Founders & Co-Leaders, LiveWorkPlay
Starting in 2008, LiveWorkPlay embarked on a journey of
“de-programming” by making a shift from congregated programs
to authentic community-based supports and outcomes based
on flexible and individualized person-centered planning.
At the core of this transformation, the agency dramatically expanded
the size and scope of its volunteer team. This has changed the
organization, it has changed lives, and it is changing the community.

2. This is a special
version of the
presentation that has
been created for
sharing. Following
each slide is the text
of the notes. While
we did not read these
notes verbatim
(actually presentation
had fewer words)
we hope that by including these notes you will get a feel
for what was a terrific experience with the gathering on
person-centred practices! ~ Keenan & Julie

3. PLEASE NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO TAKE NOTES FROM SLIDES OR SOURCES CITED, WE ARE
MAKING THE PRESENTATION AVAILABLE FROM THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
http://thorold.liveworkplay.ca
AGENDA
Introduction: Neurodiversity & Belief In Possibilities
Background: A Little Bit About Us
The LiveWorkPlay Journey: The Early Years
The Program Years
De-Programming (Why Change?)
Being The Change: Person-Centered & Community-Based
Volunteers: We couldn’t do it without them: changed Lives, changing community.
Future Thoughts: What haven’t we asked for yet? Can you help us with labeling?
Conclusion: Questions & Follow-Up

4. This is our plan. We know some of you might be mainly
interested specifically in how LiveWorkPlay is utilizing
volunteers, and we will definitely be emphasizing that
later in the presentation, but why we changed our
volunteer practices and why we are experiencing success
with them won’t make any sense or be particularly useful
to you without some context. We are certain most
everyone here is associated in some way with
organizations that are always looking to change and
improve. We hope that sharing our own journey towards
(what we hope you will agree) leading-edge practices for
community-based supports will be of interest to you.

5. It always seems impossible
until it is done.
Nelson Mandela
The secret of change is to focus all
of your energy not on fighting the
old, but on building the new.
Socrates
Remediating  Accommodating  Valuing

6. In supporting people with intellectual disabilities we often become
consumed with assumptions of what CANNOT be done instead of
assuming that it WILL HAPPEN, if only we try, learn, and try again.
When we think of a vision like “a community where all citizens belong”
it can seem rather daunting and sad that systemic discrimination and
public attitudes continue to get in the way. In this context, isn’t the
belief that people with intellectual disabilities should be living,
working, and playing in the community wholly realistic and attainable?
NEURODIVERSITY was the theme of the 2013 YAI International
Conference: “The acceptance and embrace of people with cognitive
differences is an idea whose time has come. The sudden prominence of
this term is an indication of how rapidly our field is evolving and how
dramatically parents and practitioners are shaping the public dialogue.
What these change agents have in common is a determination to open
minds long closed to the potentials and possibilities of people once
dismissed because of their differentness.”

8. We’ll start near the end then go back to the beginning. In the early years of
LiveWorkPlay we were involved in a mix of thinking that in retrospect we can
see included some remediation thinking, some accommodation thinking, and a
lot of TALK about valuing people with intellectual disabilities, but without many
outcomes that could truly point to individuals with intellectual disabilities being
included in their community. In 2008 as we formally launched into a period of
transition and a desire to transform into fully community-based best practice,
we worked simultaneously on updating our guiding statements to more
properly reflect on our work and its intentions. Note in particular that our
mission is “helping the community” as this is of critical importance – yes, we
help people with intellectual disabilities with strategies for having greater
success with others in the community, but we also position the primary
responsibility for reducing and eradicating the marginalization of people with
intellectual disabilities as a role for the entire community. This was a very
deliberate effort to position ourselves as agents of social change whereby
service delivery is but one means to the ultimate end of a community where
people with intellectual disabilities live as valued citizens.

9. http://j.mp/ablastfrompast

10. What Did You Think Of Our Video?

11. Please watch this video “flash from the past” and tell us what you think of this public service
announcement from about 8 years ago.
What happened with LiveWorkPlay is a story that we see again in social movements, the
very act of organizing takes things in unintended directions. As we began to acquire
resources, we built up infrastructures and developed relationships with funders and
eventually found ourselves replicating a lot of the same structures that we were supposed to
be avoiding. Funders LIKE programs and projects. Organizations need revenues to sustain
their existence so they can pursue their missions. The result is that compromises are often
made, and mission drift is the result. This first took shape with the creation of a day
program, which had the snappy acronym “SMILE” and the equally snappy full name Skills
and More for Independent Living and Employment. I want to emphasize that SMILE was
extremely popular. People wanted IN to SMILE so badly that we had attempts at bribery
from some family members who wanted their son or daughter to be a part of it. It was also
attractive to media who could pop by just about anytime for a feel-good story. And so with
that sort of popularity and external we lost focus. Instead of contributing to an included life
in the community for people with intellectual disabilities we became instead “operators of
one of the most popular day programs” - which is not even close to the original intent of
those who built the organization. We likely could have kept along that path, and today have
an even bigger day program for which we’d win awards, get wonderful media coverage, and
would be a lesser resource challenge.

12. Doing A Wrong Thing Can
Be Immensely Popular

13. Doing the wrong thing can be really popular! The whole idea of the sheltered work
environment we created was really a lack of belief on the part of the staff, family
members, and government that the people we support could get and keep jobs. We
also enjoyed lots of positive benefits in terms of publicity and control, not to
mention funding – we could likely recreate and rebrand this project in 2013 and get
it funded all over again. Of course, we’d have to ask our members to quit their real
jobs in order to come back! Happily, this is never going to happen. In fact, in recent
years we have helped many individuals leave sheltered workshops operated by
other agencies. Even those who have experienced challenges with real employment
have been unequivocal in their desire to “never go back.”

14. Where We Came From
Decisions
Education
Recreation
Employment
Home
Relationships
= Paid Staff and/or Family
= Day Program/Special Education
= Segregated Program
= Sheltered Work
= Institutional Setting/Special Model
= Paid Staff and/or Family

15. We’ve never operated group homes or a
Special Education program, but we’ve had
some sort of involvement with almost all of
these practices at some time or another.
With respect to decision-making, I think we
believed that we were offering “choices” and
we that this was the same as supporting selfdetermination. This is a dialogue that is still
popular among service providers in 2013 –
the belief that offering choices within a
programmatic construct is the same thing as
person-centred thinking and planning.

16. Thank you for choosing Acme Support Services, where we proudly
facilitate individual independence through person-centered planning!
Now, let me start by outlining the list of fixed choices available to you!

17. Increasingly agencies who are involved in
supporting people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities “talk the talk” of
person-centered approaches, but in reality, they
are mostly just filling out different forms to offer a
set of choices of their own creation. Individualized
support in pursuit of community inclusion requires
transparency about limits and a continuous effort
to remove systems barriers to inclusive outcomes.
Instead of “We don’t do that here” how about
“We’ve never been asked to help with that before,
but if we aren’t able to do it, we can offer to do
our best to connect you with other resources and
help make it happen.”

18. SCARCITY
ABUNDANCE
(WHAT WE’VE LEARNED)

19. What we learned: we were engaged in the medical model and to get the
outcomes for people that we wanted, we needed a social model. We came to
these conclusions from looking at our own practices, but also by challenging
ourselves to find a better way. From Al Condeluci to Dave Hingsburger to Audrey
Cole and many others, we were encouraged and excited by the POSSIBILITIES
and the EVIDENCE that a community-based approach would allow us to help
more people to have a better quality of life. By shifting to a community model,
or social model, it is not that lesser resources are required, but there is limitless
capacity for change, because the community already has all the answers, and
the resource they really need is our help to make it happen. There are
apartment buildings to live in. There are workplaces to work in. There are
community centres and other non-segregated venues to enjoy sports, culture,
and citizenship. The challenge before us therefore is how to include people with
intellectual disabilities in that abundance that is the community, rather than
how to maintain a medical model of disability that will always suffer from
financial scarcity and is not even designed to realize inclusive outcomes. We
sometimes bristle at the notion that this is “innovative” since what we are
actually proposing is nothing more than a home, a job, friends, and things to do.
There’s nothing innovative about that. Most of the innovation required of us is
involved in working around and going through the systems and attitudes that
keep this from happening.

20. “THIS IS TUESDAY NIGHT LEAGUE BOWLING. PLEASE COME BACK ON
THURSDAY NIGHT AND SIGN UP FOR SPECIAL NEEDS BOWLING.”
BUT I’VE GOT A 180 AVERAGE!

21. If we can’t even bowl together, is the dream of neurodiversity and an inclusive
community realistic? Why is there still so much “special” out there: education,
housing, vocation, and even recreational bowling? Change is happening, but
leadership is coming mainly from those who are refusing to accept these
entrenched assumed norms.

22. NO DAY
PROGRAM?
WHAT IF
THEY CAN’T
FIND OR
KEEP A JOB?
Play collage
WHAT WILL
THEY DO
TO FILL
THEIR
TIME?

23. The reality is, many of our members have developed such busy lives that our staff can’t
find time to meet with them to check in! This includes post-secondary education (where
we feel we are just getting started in being successful supporters and advocates). It
includes a lot of JOINING that which is not segregated, congregated, or clustered. In our
experience, not one individual involved with LiveWorkPlay who has been supported to
transition from “special” sports, education, recreation, arts, culture, vocation (etc.) has
said “I want to go back to the special place.” This doesn’t happen easily. People with
intellectual disabilities don’t have a typical experience of simply “signing up” for things in
the community and being welcome, respected, and valued. Every day we learn
something knew and develop our expertise with how to build bridges, develop
gatekeepers, and facilitate relationships. And sometimes we don our human rights battle
gear and fight discrimination head on. But happily these issues are often requiring of
negotiation and diplomacy. The reality is, the coordinator of Special Needs bowling
mostly likely believes they are doing a very nice thing. They need help to understand that
there are other possibilities.

24. Social Services
Approach
Not about fixing people with
intellectual disabilities so
they can be more normal
and fit in with others
Social Change
Approach
Exclusion is everyone’s issue
and as a community we must
all work together to be
welcoming and inclusive
It’s about learning to appreciate that
people considered “different” often bring
important contributions to society.
One term describing how this relates to
people with intellectual disabilities is
“NEURODIVERSITY.” This is at a very
preliminary stage. How many systems,
organizations, and individuals honestly
believe that people with intellectual
disabilities truly BELONG and have VALUE
(and take action to back up that thought?).

25. If we look at the $1.7 billion spent
annually on developmental services in
Ontario, and we had to decide how
many of those dollars were supporting
actual inclusive outcomes, would it be
a big percentage or a small percentage?

26. (Medical Model)
Social Services
Decisions
Education
Recreation
Employment
Home
Relationships
(Community Model)
A Transformative Journey
Social Change
= Paid Staff and/or Family
= Day Program/Special Ed
= Segregated Program
= Sheltered Work
= Institutional Setting/Special Model
= Paid Staff and/or Family
TRANSFORMATION
Decisions
Education
Recreation
Employment
Home
Relationships
= Self-Directed
= Inclusive Classrooms (All Ages)
= Playing In Community (With Others)
= Work/Volunteerism (With Others)
= House/Condo/Apartment
= Family, Friends, Neighbours
Unpaid Support, Paid Support

27. So what does a neurodiversity approach look like in action? It’s about shifting away
from a social services systems approach to a social change approach. This requires
acknowledging that the routine status of people with intellectual disabilities in society
at present is to be separated from other citizens. In effect, they are a sub-class of
citizens with taxpayer-funded mechanisms that make it difficult for them to rise to full
citizenship. I think some of the most surprising progress would be in the area of
employment. I have to be honest, there are large numbers of people working now
where I just didn’t see paid employment in their future. They proved me wrong.
Sometimes being wrong is the greatest feeling in the world. When we look at
everything in the brown section here, there are a lot of best intentions that historically
represented improvements over extreme isolation and neglect. But you know, at
conferences like this one 30 years ago, there were conversations about social role
valorisation and community inclusion, and moving beyond a systems life, and I think
it’s fair to say that our infrastructures remain focused mainly on remediation and
accommodation, and are in many ways counter-intuitive to people with intellectual
disabilities living as fully valued citizens. How can exclusive environments hope to
achieve a culture of neurodiversity? I want to emphasize that for me this is not about
saving money, and yet, at the same time, here we are in these days of scarce
resources, and the fact is, if we have success with what is going on here in the green
section, there is huge potential for cost reduction, and in many cases, we are talking
about some individuals that won’t need any systems help at all, which frees up funds
to help others, including those with intensive needs.

28. HOW TO SUPPORT INCREASED SOCIAL CAPITAL
FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
MORE
Family
Friends
Colleagues
Co-Workers
Classmates
Neighbours
Spouse
See Al
Condeluci re Social Capital
ONLY AS
NEEDED
Workers
Staff
Doctor
Psychologist
Psychiatrist
Social Worker

29. Have you ever asked a person with an intellectual disability to list all of the
important people in their lives? How many of the names they come up
with would be in the red list, and not in the green list? How stark a
difference in that list is there for the average person with an intellectual
disability versus other citizens? Reading the work of eminent social capital
experts like Professor Al Condeluci confirms what we can easily discern – if
we are looking for it – that most of the good things in life require
interdependence with a variety of networks of other people. Through the
systems constructs that typically surround people with intellectual
disabilities they face a huge deficit of social capital because they live their
lives mainly in staff-centric environments with limited opportunity to
expand their networks.

30. Do staff want to perform like stars? Sure! But we don’t want to be your world.
(Inspired by Dave Hingsburger)

31. Well-intentioned organizations and individual staff members
that see the social capital deficit for people with intellectual
disabilities often try to fill that void themselves. This is
dangerous and sad. By creating such a complete dependency,
the future of the individual is tied almost exclusively to the
future of the organization and the paid staff in their lives. So
rather than attempting to fill the void ourselves, we seek to act
more as a bridge, building connections in neighbourhoods,
workplaces, and social relationships. Inviting community
members to meet up with LiveWorkPlay members to explore
shared interests and develop relationships (which often turn
intro friendships) is one of the most important ways that
LiveWorkPlay can facilitate (rather than replace) reciprocal
relationships in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.
(Inspired by Dave Hingsburger)

32. “Some things have to be believed to be seen.”
― Madeleine L'Engle
(A Wrinkle In Time)
My own place!
A job (and paycheque) I love!
My touch football team!

33. What are we doing now? One of the challenges with making the shift
from a program or social services approach to a social change or
community-based approach is that investing in the community can
result in much better returns, but they are also less secure. The day
program or sheltered workshop or group home or segregated
recreation program is always “there.” Helping people believe in in
what is possible requires sharing the experiences of others and
bringing families together for unbiased dialogue. One of the
tremendous benefits we’ve derived from inviting previously
unconnected community members to get involved is they typically
don’t bring with them any bias about people who have intellectual
disabilities. Sadly, negative preconceptions and limitations are most
commonly imposed by people who have training in developmental
services or related fields.

34. Independent Living




In-Home Supports
Natural Supports
Mental Health Supports
Life Coaching
Paid Employment
Live
Work




Employment Plan
Job Matching & Development
Job Coaching
Long term maintenance
On-going
Planning
Community Participation




Support to join community
activities and venues and travel
Support to volunteer within the
non-profit sector
Support to develop friendships
Friday night meet-ups
Play
Family
LiveWorkPlay Supports
Supporters




Family Feasts
New Year’s Eve Party
Auction and Golf Tournament
Annual Recognition Banquet

35. One last slide from me, and then we’ll turn things over to Julie to focus on
the critical contribution of volunteers. I’ve touched on the live, work, and
play aspects of our work, but I wanted to take a moment to mention
family, and when I use that term, I do mean the family members of the
people we support, but I’m also referencing that shared sense of
community that organizations often facilitate. When we started this
process of transformation we were very concerned about the impact on
the “internal family” of the organization. If, for example, there was no
longer the common experience of shared participation in a day program,
would people still want to come together. Well, I am happy to report that
we’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the results. We are averaging one
major event per month with attendance at those events averaging 150
people. That’s because our family is growing – more members of the
community at large are joining our internal community and helping to
make it stronger – these could be co-workers or neighbours, for example,
and of course, members of our volunteer team. And on that note, I
welcome Julie to the microphone.

36. The Moment: If We Commit To Building Relationships, Will They Come?

37. This quick video clip is from our first major gathering one year after our
day program had been completely phased out. At the front of the room
are some of our volunteers accepting recognition. Waving from the
audience is the biggest attendance of our annual banquet in the 10 years
since it began. So let’s talk a bit about relationship building.

38. Relationship Building
Values
Vision
A Community Where Everyone Belongs
CORE: People with intellectual disabilities are valuable contributors to the diversity of our
community and the human family.
LIVE, WORK, PLAY
Mission
Helping the community welcome people with
intellectual disabilities to live, work, and play as
valued citizens
WHAT
With respect to:



homes, health care, education, personal dignity, and personal privacy
paid work at minimum wage or better, short-term unpaid work, and volunteer positions
cultural and spiritual life, sports and recreation, political life, and the full range of human
relationship
People with intellectual disabilities have the right to the removal of barriers preventing them from
experiencing the community on an equal basis with other citizens.
STRATEGIES
Develop volunteer ads for each volunteer
opportunity and post on volunteer
recruitment sites such as Volunteer
Ottawa
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
Recruiting and training volunteers to:
1-Friday Night Meet-Up Volunteers
2-Volunteers interested in 1:1 matches
Make the orientation and screening
process as easy and quick as possible for
the prospective volunteer
Provide on-going support and feedback to
both volunteers and members
Ask both volunteers and members for
feedback so the process can be improved
FUNDING
This position is funded
through MCSS from both
the Independent Living
and Community
Participation funding
HR Allocation
1 FTE

39. I realize most of you will be unable to
read this chart, but it is available for
you to print out, so please indulge me
as I describe it for you.

40. Relationship Building
Volunteer Coordinator
introduces members and
volunteers through 1:1
Matching Process BY:
Creating descriptions
explaining the
connection desired
and posting on
Volunteer Ottawa and
other volunteer sites
Learning about
activities,
neighbourhood,
time of day, and
type of person the
member and
volunteer are
looking for
Supporting an
interested person
through the
volunteer
screening process.
Relationship Building 1:1 Matching
Screening process:
application
interview
2 personal references
criminal reference
check
Orientation session
Checking in with
both parties
throughout the
year to see how
things are going
Match and set up a
plan of how to get
started
Facilitating a meet
and greet between
member and
volunteer to make
sure it is a good fit

41. This visual describes our 1:1 matching
process, though which we bring
together individuals from the
community with members of
LiveWorkPlay.

42. Team Purpose: Volunteer Coordinator
Coordinator of
Volunteers and Natural
Support Networks
Staff Member
Alex Darling
Purpose
To recruit, orient,
train, and support
volunteers.
To connect volunteers
and members together
to help in the
development of
natural relationships.
What is Important to
Volunteers?
What is Important to Members?
Relationship is based on
common interest and
friendships not goals or
accomplishments
Feeling like they are making a
meaningful contribution
and/or helping people
Doing something that is fun
and enjoyable
Being matched with people
who are going to be reliable
Having flexibility and options,
being able to tailor the
volunteer engagement to
their own life and situation
Being matched with people
who are real and who are just
as interested in the meet ups
as the they are
What Support do volunteers need?
Support members need
.
Regular check-ins to see
how things are going.
People with experience want to
share the cool things are
happening, get feedback and
positive reinforcement;
occasionally help with problem
solving
People who have no previous
experience want reassurance,
feedback, guidance and support,
especially when it comes to
problem solving or dealing with
awkward or challenging
situations.
Coordination of meet ups –
reminders and confirmations,
coordinating with other parts
of their lives
Check- ins to see how things
are going – ask members if
the volunteer is working out
to make sure it is working out
Problem solving –helping the
member work through it with
their match with the intent of
preserving the relationship.

43. Another chart you’ll need to print out to read. We are working
hard to make sure that we are focused on relationship-building
and inclusive outcomes, from our vision, mission, and values
right through to our staff job descriptions. When we are faced
with a challenge at a team meeting, we always try to call
ourselves back to this. In the case of the Volunteer Coordinator,
they are always balancing various interests, and have to work
closely with other members of the team to share information
and often to clear up misunderstandings. Volunteers are not
staff members. There are many advantages to this – like the
opportunity for two people to develop a lifelong friendship.
There are disadvantages too – volunteers may come and go in
different ways than staff members do. So we have to work hard
to manage expectations for all concerned.

45. This is Phil. Phil is not great at reading or writing, and his verbal communication is difficult
to describe. Some people say he reminds them of Robin Williams, only more energetic (!).
If you know and respect Phil, you see his communication as very rich and you see Phil as fully
capable of communicating his wants and needs – it’s just a challenge for others to understand. Phil
and his parents got told NEVER about a lot of the possibilities discussed for his future. But Phil has
gone on to live in his own apartment, and also to shop for his own groceries. Phil’s reluctance to
shop on his own had to do mainly with his fear of making a mistake, and not wanting to ask for help
from strangers who might not understand him. One solution would be for Phil to always be
accompanied by a paid staff member. Another solution was for the staff member to help build a
relationship between Phil and Loblaws staff. It’s safe to say “Phil stories” are becoming the stuff of
LiveWorkPlay legend. About a week ago a community member that he was matched with through
our Volunteer Coordinator invited Phil to join her at a fundraiser. Bear in mind that Catherine initially
got matched with Phil because he was looking for someone to read with. So in the beginning it
seemed that Catherine was helping Phil. However, Phil is a man of many talents, and as they got to
know each other, Catherine and Phil branched out. Recently attending a fundraiser together - the
idea having come from Catherine - it seems Phil moved quickly from presence to contribution. This
story is fresh so we are still trying to understand exactly what went on, but it would seem that Phil
quickly adopted a leadership role at this event and was directly credited with an improved
fundraising result. This would be consistent with what Phil’s soccer team has to say about him this
year – morale was up, and his teammates would be devastated if he left the team. Bear in mind that
when we were first introduced to Phil, his family was mostly used to people reacting to Phil as a
problem needing help with “behaviors.” The systemic approach to Phil’s personality has always been
to seek to contain him. With help, the community is learning to appreciate him.

46. “Hello everyone at LiveWorkPlay, Ottawa's Race Weekend (May 28th - 29th) is a
popular event each year (http://www.ncm.ca/). Andrea and I are interested in
training with a team of LiveWorkPlay members to participate in this fun event Andrew Waye
either by walking or jogging the 2K, 5K, 10K, or half marathon.”
(Volunteer)

47. While many of our 130 active volunteers contribute through 1:1
relationships (some of which develop into friendships) volunteers are
also leaders and develop initiatives of their own, like the
LiveWorkPlay Race Weekend Team which was started by volunteers
and continues to be lead by them with minimal staff involvement.
Two years ago volunteer Andrew Waye threw out a simple invitation
on the LiveWorkPlay Facebook group. It turned into what became a
fitness movement! After decades of sitting around tables with
individuals and their family members talking about “fitness” and
everyone agreeing it was important but no meaningful change
occurring, it took this invitation by Andrew to spark an interest that
has become a continuing pursuit for many of our members, who
have since gone on to join neighbourhood running clubs and
participate in races and marathons with friends old and new.

48. “I never thought from this I’d make such a good
friend that I send texts to all day every day!”

49. Sometimes organizations limit the potential contributions of
volunteers by prescribing what their role will be. Volunteers
are also a lot of other things – they probably work somewhere
and have all sorts of personal and professional connections.
With every volunteer that invests in getting to know one of our
members (and vice-versa) this opens up a world of
opportunities. While it is often assumed that these
relationships are largely a one-way benefit, this simply is not
the case – neurodiversity is being realized every day through
1:1 relationships of mutual benefit. This is Ellyce and Emily.
They started out as shopping buddies and it quickly expanded
into a full-fledged friendship, as Ellyce recently gushed about
the relationship “I had no idea that from attending a volunteer
orientation I’d end up with a friend I text with all day!” Things
have advanced to the pinnacle of friendship: Emily is to be a
bridesmaid at Ellyce’s upcoming wedding!

50. Opportunities at LiveWorkPlay
/ Cooking Companion (Downtown/Britannia/Kanata/Orleans/Barrhaven)
/ Friday Night Fun!
/ Do you have a hobby or interest you'd like to share?
/ Movie Companion (Kanata/Orleans/Downtown/Barrhaven/Lincoln Heights)
/ Like Video Games!?
/ Wanna shoot some hoops? (Vanier)
/ Do you love dinner, movies or shopping?
/ Bowling Companion (Merivale)
/ Workout Partner (Various locations)
/ Computer Companion (Lincoln Fields)
/ Interested in horses?
/ Walk & Chat (Kanata/Barrhaven/Baseline/Britannia/Orleans)
/ Calling All Movers and Shakers!
/ Be an Employment Champion!

51. The key to these success of course is that we have to ask. The reason
volunteers were making a relatively minimal contribution to
LiveWorkPlay in the past was not due to a lack of engagement from the
community, it had to do with our own failure to ask – and also required
that we learn more about HOW to ask. Guess what? Being REALLY
SPECIFIC is a great help! Thanks to posting very specific descriptions
that include geography and time commitments, we’ve experienced an
explosion in volunteerism, and notably, have attracted more males,
now up to about 40% when previously it was more like 25%. By being
less open-ended in the beginning, first-time volunteers are less
concerned about being unable to “do enough” and so they often start
out with just a couple of hours a week and then later decide to expand
their contribution.

52. http://www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk/

53. As we speak in particular with family members who are new to our organization,
they are often appropriately skeptical about the idea that the community have the
answers. They can often recite many instances of attempts by their loved one to
participate in anything from Boy Scouts to softball, and how they were not
welcome or included. They don’t want their son or daughter to experience that
hurt again. While we cannot guarantee a positive outcome, it is critical that we
explain that the act of “signing up” for a community-based activity is a relatively
insignificant transaction. The real work that we do begins with carefully
investigating opportunities and of critical importance, identifying gatekeepers that
can help us ensure a welcoming environment. With volunteer matching, we are
often able to find an individual in the community who will join at the same time,
not only providing the confidence we all feel when starting something new with a
familiar face – but modelling for other people, demonstrating respect and value
for the individual who has a disability. This is often what is needed for the
individual to make connections with others in the class or on the team, and if
desired, to move beyond participation and into leadership positions.

54. CHANGING PRIORITIES: WHAT OUR MEMBERS WANT

55. We have an annual review where we ask a lot of questions about changes in our
members’ lives. We’ve started tracking this and in 2014 we’ll have our first comparative
data. We do know from our 2013 information that interest in spending time with other
people is rapidly increasing as a priority. For those who have been living in homes of
their own for one year or more (and in particular if they have obtained some level of
regular employment) their priorities are clearing shifting to “engagement with others.”
And it appears the more they get the more they want. One of the challenges of course
is that these encouraging outcomes are also a massive resource challenge – the more
our members expand their interests, the more challenging it is to support success in
these new community territories. More volunteers please!

56. These people are COOL!
But does “volunteers” describe them?

57. From top left to right and down: rocking out at Bluesfest, billiards,
volunteering together at the food bank, a pub night, a couple of cool
nerds, tennis anyone, marathoners, close friends (soon to be in a
wedding party), and a workout buddy. Not a staff member in sight!
Our organization made a huge investment in helping create the
conditions for these relationships to develop and flourish. But
consider that the outcome creates social capital that now exists
beyond the confines of our organization. This changes not only the
lives of the individuals, but the community as a whole. In the end,
inclusive attitudes won’t come from legislation or public service
announcements, it will come from bringing people together.
On a final note, the word “volunteers” seems inadequate in
describing the contribution of these individuals to the lives of our
members and to their community. We have struggled with
alternatives for describing their role but we haven’t yet found one
that works. If you have ideas, please let us know!

58. Thank you!
Please get in touch
and let’s keep in touch!