Proud Community Workers

Carrie Rogers, our employment coordinator at the Community Living Center has been working hard finding gainful employment for our clients within their community.  The people we have employed at this time are doing great in their positions, some have even been awarded by their employer for outstanding dedication and service!

 A huge thank you goes out to our current employers for being so supportive in hiring!!

BIRCHES

GUARDIAN

PHARMACHOICE

TOWN OF ST GEORGE

SUBWAY

CHARLOTTE COUNTY REFRIGERATION

We are always looking for new employers and job opportunities.  If you have a business or know of a business that is in need of some help please give Carrie a call at 755-3730 or email jobstars@bellaliant.com.

Progress Report...fun and games!

 In March and April a group of men decided to make some Yardzee games.  It consists of 5 dice just like the well known Yahtzee game, but this is made to play outside.  Great activity for at a camp, playgroups, and parties!  Perfect for all ages!  Here is George, Marlena and Nathan, part of the group who sanded and stained the dice, as well as attached all the vinyl dots.

In April we have continued our education in Personal Outcomes, and this discussion was about "People Choose Where They Live".
We talked about what HOME means to us individually and these are a few of the meanings we came up with.  Home means different things to different people.
In the past we may not have had the ability to choose where we live or who we live with but at least now we know there are options available out there and we have the right to choose!
We also realize that sometimes there are barriers to us having choices.  Here is an example of a barrier:  Joey wants to move from a group home to an AFLA (Alternative Family Living Arrangement).  All of the AFLA's in his town are full so what choice does he really have?  Now we have to start finding ways to remove the barrier.  Joey can speak to his caregivers to let them know he desires a more family oriented living arrangement.  Joey can ask them to work with him and his social worker to find an AFLA that suits him and his personality.  Joey knows he should have a say in which AFLA he gets to live in, not just the first one that comes available. Joey could also choose to move outside of his town to realize this goal.
This is just a start to how we move forward with choices and they should never be made in haste...with the exception of abuse or neglect.

On April 19th we had surprise visitors from Sydney, Nova Scotia drop into our center.  They were from the Haley Street Adult Service Centre Society and their claim to fame is that they started the Chase The Ace game that cashed out at over 1 MILLION Dollars!!!!  Wow...can you imagine winning that for your community project?  That got us excited about our plans to go to our own town's Chase the Ace game tonight!!!  If you would like to contact Haleystreet Center go to www.haleystreet.org .

Remembering Corey...RIP

Yesterday, April 5, 2017 we lost a very dear friend, Corey Branscombe .

Today we are honoring that friendship by sharing our thoughts, feelings and stories about Corey.

Andy:  Corey was a real good friend and I'm going to miss him.  Corey and I loved to talk about 4 wheelers and I asked if I could buy his bike off him.  He said how about you trade me your wife for it!  I told him I would.
Melinda:  He was funny and very playful
Christina:  He was very artistic
Melvin:  He was a good friend full of fun all the time
Billy: My memory of Corey is that he liked to torment me all the time and I liked to torment him back. We were good friends.  We had fun playing Wii bowling he would try to shut the game off if he was losing and laugh about it telling others we were cheating.
George:  I think Corey was a very nice fellow and we liked to play cards together
Sarah Si:  My memory of Corey was when I first started here and we were bowling.  He turned to me and asked if I was single.  I told him I was but I wasn't looking for anyone right now.  He did a playful "Awwww" and after that we became good friends!
Britni:  Corey always shared his candy with me
Rosie:  Corey was my friend and he always made me laugh
Loretta:  Corey was a nice guy and I loved him...please be a good boy in heaven and I hope to see you some day
Michaela:  I loved to nag Corey if he was down by calling him a party pooper and then he would laugh and call me a party pooper
Kristy:  With Corey he got along with everybody and didn't matter who you were.  He liked to be busy and he was a big flirt!  He loved wearing his tye dye shirts.  He was a fan of Shania and Spice Girls
Nathan:  Corey is a very nice friend and I liked to play Skip Bo with him
Marelena:  Corey was a nice guy and I liked doing art club with him
John:  Corey was always on my case about getting me a woman!  He was always trying to get me going and I would turn it around on him and he would laugh his head off.
Sarah:  I liked it when Corey was here.  He was funny and made me smile.
Sue:  I really truly believe that Corey could have sold his artwork.  He was a very special person and his art work was exceptional.  He had a big heart and made me smile
Jane:  I only knew Corey for a few days but he always welcomed me here and we liked to play Jenga together
Jim:  Corey was my friend
Peggy:  Corey was a great participator in the class activities.  I was so happy to find out we shared a love for painting.  Corey was the first one up to gather supplies when painting was mentioned.  He was a big tease and we loved to joke and laugh.
Pam:  I loved to sneak snacks from Corey and he was always willing to share with me
Liz:  I loved to play Skip Bo with Corey and I would tease him about cheating.  I loved to take his hat and make him laugh.
Teresa:  I liked being nagged by Corey and I will miss hitting him with the kitchen door (by accident of course).  I loved his smile :)
Carrie: Being on the train in McAdam and we had the caboose at the back of the train.  Corey and Irina were having a water fight running back and forth and I was trying to get them under control.  We were being eyeballed by the conductor and I was so afraid we were going to get kicked off.  We had such a fun day!!!!
Tommy: He was a nice fellow and he loved to change the channel on the tv on me when I wasn't around...hahaha
Laura Lee:  I will always remember Corey swimming at New River Beach.  It was too cold for everyone else and you couldn't get Corey out!!
Debbie:  I liked watching Corey drawing on the white board and he was a good friend of mine and I'm really going to miss him.
Valerie:  Corey was always teasing me about this and that and I would tease him about having a girlfriend.  His dad Basil knows everybody from Dipper and he is a good friend of mine.
Sherri:  I will always have a special place in my heart for you Corey, will miss you so much
Sherry L:  I will always remember Corey.  He had the most beautiful eyes and eye lashes, and it is often said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

So this is our friend, we will miss him dearly.  He always loved to participate in things going on at our program, especially if it involved being creative.

R.I.P. Dear Friend

1987-2017

Celebrating our Achievements!!

Monday, April 3, we held our annual awards ceremony. Every year, staff compiles a list of the talents and qualities of the folks at Community Living Center.
In no specific order here are some of the awards received and  some of the folks that received them.

• most cheerful 
• best helping hand
• best smile
• sweetness
• outstanding community volunteering
• star student for Laubach Literacy
• best friend maker
• hardest worker

These are just a few of the many good qualities and exceptional talents that our friends have. 

Sarah is a student that has been hired on a 6 month contract.  We want her to know how valuable she has become to us.  She is a fabulous help with classes, trips and focus groups.

We are so proud of the progress you have made Sarah!!

The Kitchen Crew!!

Corey, Brad, Carla Nathan

Michaela, Debbie and Marlena

Before the ceremony we were treated to a meal that the folks prepared with the help of Carla McCashion.  They made Swedish meatballs, and rice with veggies. The meal was very delicious. There was also dessert made which was chocolate and vanilla cake.

This was a great day filled with appreciation and pride.

Another bit of great news is that we now have a new staff, Jane Beckerton. We welcome her and look forward to teaching her everything we have been learning and finding out what new and exciting things she will be bringing to the table.