September 11, 2024
Welcome back after a beautiful summer. I hope everyone is having a great start to September! As we return to our regular routines, let’s remind ourselves why our work matters. St.Amant’s purpose is to support people to live a good life (whatever that means to them); to be included in their communities and respected for their gifts and abilities. As I talk to staff and volunteers in programs and places across the organization, I am always impressed by how deeply everyone connects to that purpose.
The Autism Programs Summer Camp, which took place in August, is a great example of our values in action. Autism Programs staff designed a weeklong camp for kids in the early learning program to celebrate the end of summer. I visited the camp’s petting zoo and stopped by the family fun day. Family members, kids, and staff mingled, created community, and generally had a great time. Everywhere I looked, I saw laughter, smiles, and belonging.
The camp combined meticulous planning with a joy-filled organized chaos; a chance for kids to just enjoy childhood. Autism Programs Early Learning Program staff work very hard to develop and implement individualized programming for every child they welcome. They want to help each child get ready for kindergarten. Their work is rigorous and thorough. But they never lose sight of the whole child in front of them. That’s why the staff dreamed up the camp and made it a reality. Inclusive and accessible summer camps are hard to find; thank you very much to everyone who made the camp a reality!
The Free the Spirit Festival is just three weeks away and I invite all of you to attend on Saturday September 21st, at 440 River Road. Free the Spirit is a real celebration of community. Every year, people bring their families, friends and neighbors. It’s set to be an awesome day with a community 2K walk, fun games and activities, music, artisan booths and much where. Everyone is welcome!
Free the Spirit is also the St.Amant Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year. The Foundation is critical to supporting the quality of life of people we support. It supports everything from the Autism Programs summer camp to mobility equipment, dental care to dream trips to the cottage. You can help support the Foundation by collecting pledges for the 2K walk, or by purchasing 50/50 tickets.
Finally, St.Amant launched its new strategic plan back in June. Over the fall, I will be meeting with teams across the organization to talk about the plan and what it means for St.Amant.
I will also use my next few messages to highlight our Focus Areas, beginning with Innovation and Capacity Building. Our goal is to meet the changing needs of people with disabilities and their families. The number of children with disabilities continues to increase. Adults are living longer and are aging. We see more complex medical, behavioural and social support needs, all of which creates more risk for family or placement breakdown.
We always want to support families to stay together and for people to have strong, stable homes. We know we need to adapt our services to meet the needs of a changing community. That’s why we will be working to strengthen our continuum of behaviour stabilization supports; strengthen supports for children with complex rehabilitation or medical needs, and better support adults in community as they age. I look forward to sharing more details with you over the fall.
Wishing you all the very best as we move into September!
Ben
