Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 4410 FOCUS - FEBRUARY 2017 This year marks the 50th Anni- versary of Community Living Dur- ham North, and there is so much to celebrate! Director of Community Supports, Christine Robinson, described the supportworkersoftodayas“Sherpas,” who “guide alongside” people with intellectual disabilities, along the path to living fulfilling lives. Gone are the days of institution- alization and segregation. Years ago, a medical model of care was in place, and social interaction with the gen- eral population was limited. Tracy McGarry, Manager of Com- munity Development, points out that, “Now the emphasis is on integration, not segregation. The focus is on skills and abilities, not deficits.” Today, people supported by Com- munity Living now have paying jobs in the real world, locally – at places like Tim Hortons, Vos’ Independent Grocer, the Scugog Chamber of Com- merce, and Canadian Tire as well as Vince’s in Uxbridge and McDonalds. Community Living supports entre- preneurs that successfully operate the coffee kiosk at the Scugog library. They develop social capital by giv- ing back to their communities by volunteering for everything from Community Care, Meals on Wheels, North Durham Animal Shelter Ux- bridge/Scugog, North Durham food banks, the Hospice in Uxbridge and The Restore. They partner with Port Perry Place nursing home to run fun-filled bingo games for seniors. Some enjoy volunteering with the community garden. Others have teamed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters to participate in the in-school mentoring program. There’s a self-advocate group called the A-Team. And the list goes on... Tracy described the people sup- ported by CLDN as “active, contrib- uting members of society.” “It can be a challenging life for a person who is dependent on our supports,” pointed out Deb Ryan, Director of Residential Support. “It’s important to give people the tools and skills to take care of them- selves,” she added. Staff listen to peo- ple and what they want, and strive Central Seven opened the workshop for disabled adults during September 1979 and a large crowd was on hand. The first home for the Central Seven School for the Mentally Retarded* opened in March 1968. y e a r s o f i n s p i r i n g p o s s i b i l i t i e s