October 18, 2024
Hi everyone! Here is my message for the month.
Fall is finally here! I hope you are enjoying the cooler, crisper air and the changes to natural world around us.
Even as the seasons change, I see constant reminders of St.Amant’s commitment to always honour people at every step of their lives. I recently spent time with our Palliative Care Working Group during their retreat at beautiful FortWhyte Alive. Staff from across St.Amant discussed what it really means have compassion and to walk alongside someone all the way up to their final days. They spoke with deep respect for one another and the people we support- truly a beautiful reflection of our values.
As a reminder, for each of my messages this fall, I will highlight one of the four Focus Areas from our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. This month, I’ll talk about Inclusion and Quality of Life.
Our goal is to enable inclusion and participation in our community for Manitobans with disabilities. We want children to grow up with their families and thrive at school. We want adults to be respected as full citizens. The people we support have a right to live full lives in the community that include meaningful relationships and wide opportunities, and to receive services in the least restrictive environment.
St.Amant is well known for contributing to sector-wide advocacy and we will continue to use our voice to champion human rights and access to education and training, paid work, dignified income, and more choice and options for housing.
We know there is still a lot of work to do to uphold the full human rights for people we support and to remove barriers to full inclusion. We are committed to working towards that everyday.
Teams from across St.Amant are working hard to make our new Strategic Plan a reality. We have identified key performance indicators and projects that will help us make progress towards our strategic priorities.
Directors are also bringing their leadership teams together for in-depth planning days to discuss what the Strategic Plan will mean for their areas. So far, I have attended two planning days. I left impressed and inspired by my colleagues’ determination to always do better: to help more children and adults have good lives at home, school, and in the community; to better support families; to make sure staff have the training and supports to do their best work.
Thank you to everyone who attended the Free the Spirit Festival! Thank you to every supporter, including visitors, volunteers, and vendors. The weather was wet but the smiles were wide!
Finally, a reminder that our annual Beyond Limits Conference is happening on October 28, 2024. Please share the information with your contacts outside St.Amant and I look forward to seeing you there!
Ben
