2005 marks BCACL's 50th year of advocating for the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in community. We look forward to a year of reflection, celebration and building on our foundations for the future. Please check this page often for updates about coming events.
By all accounts, BCACL's 50th Anniversary Conference and AGM, Everyone Belongs, was a resounding success! Starting out with a bang, over 500 delegates gathered with the talented Drum Café to make music together and raise our thunder! The Drum Café has posted photos of the BCACL event on their website.
An opening reception included welcomes from BCACL, the BC Self Advocacy Foundation (our co-host celebrating their 20th anniversary), Zuhy Sayeed of the Canadian Association for Community Living, and Minister of Employment and Income Assistance Claude Richmond. Minister Richmond was heard saying, "There's no point having a strong economy in BC if we leave anyone behind." The newly elected BCACL board and Self Advocacy Caucus plan to hold Minister Richmond to this statement!
In addition to the array of workshops offered to delegates, the conference found lots of fun ways to celebrate fifty years of Community Living. Friday evening saw "Doris” and “Laney” host an evening of performances for the selection of a Community Living Idol. With a difficult choice from among ten talented acts, the judges put their three finalists (Jenny Lynn McVicar, Jessica McIvor and Peter Bourne) to a vote of applause from the audience. BC's new Community Living Idol is singer and guitarist Peter Bourne.
BCACL also invited shutterbugs around the province to submit photographs that expressed community living for the Fifty Faces Photo Contest. All entries were framed and exhibited at the conference. With exactly 50 submissions to choose from, a jury of four selected three winners -
1st Prize - Lesley Thorsell from the Powell River ACL for “Heartfelt Love”
2nd Prize - Valeria Almas from Powell River for “Chain Reaction”
3rd Prize - Wioletta Okwieka-Reduch from Richmond for “Love, Life and Happiness”
Conference delegates were also invited to vote for a People"s Choice award in this contest, and the People’s Choice selection was Wioletta Okwieka-Reduch’s “Love, Life and Happiness.”
The 50th Anniversary Gala Celebration provided an opportunity to view slide images of three days of conference activities, as well as hear and see some of BCACL’s history from the last fifty years. (To view slide show, see instructions below.) Speakers Mildred DeHaan, George Fulcher, Aine Rathwell, Camilo Ruiz, Steve Thiessen, and Tim and Si Stainton shared memories of the past and hopes and dreams for the future.
The evening also included the presentation of a Partnership Award by President John Kehler and SAF President Richard McDonald to Erik Lees and his colleagues at Lees + Associates, for their dedicated and creative work on the Woodlands Memorial Garden project.
At the annual general meeting, members elected new directors to the BCACL Board: Tim Stainton and Michael Prince. Self advocates elected seven new Self Advocacy Caucus members: Corey Foot, Aine Rathwell, Ludo Van Pelt, Shawn Palmer, Mike Gauthier, Maggie Litster, Peter Bourne. Two self advocates will be appointed to the BCACL Board following the October 21 Self Advocacy Caucus meeting.
Members formally approved and welcomed four new full member organizations: Interior Community Services, Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs, Langley Children’s Society and the Delta Association for Child Development. Several resolutions endorsed work on income support, institutional abuse, representation agreements, and accessible transportation.
Thanks to all of you who joined us to learn and celebrate the courage, leadership and heart that have brought about dramatic changes for people with developmental disabilities and their families over 50 years.
And special thanks to all of you who generously contributed your time and efforts – as presenters, facilitators, workshop hosts, ambassadors, parliamentarian, scrutineers, and volunteers – we couldn’t have done it without you! Thanks also to all those who generously donated to help self advocates attend the Gala. And a special thanks to Brian Salisbury, Ernie Baatz and Neil Madu for photo documentation and for creating a wonderful slide show of the three days at the conference.
To view the slide show of the conference:
- Turn on your computer’s sound.
- Click here. http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewshow.html?fl=2418009&alb=0 This will take you to a website where the slide show has been loaded.
- If you are asked to install Photodex or ActiveX, click Yes. It will take a minute or so to load.
- Click on the 50th anniversary poster. This will start the slide show.
- To view full screen pictures, right click on your mouse and choose the “full screen” option on the popup menu.
- To end or close the slide show, press the Escape key on your keyboard.
BCACL invites everyone to express what fifty years of community living looks like in photographs. We are holding a photo contest called Fifty Faces from March to July, 2005. We are looking for photos that celebrate inclusion, friendship, kinship and community and encourage you to capture moments that offer glimpses of the bonds between people with and without developmental disabilities, and the value and worth of those connections. Click here to view details including the prize structure, contest rules, judging, contest dates and entry form.
BCACL is gathering stories and images that celebrate the power of community living and acknowledge the impact of changes that BCACL has worked for during the last 50 years. This is your chance to "Tell us your stories of Community Living" - share a victory, accomplishment, or other story you think is important for community living in BC. Or, if you know someone with a great story to tell, here's your chance to interview them. We are gathering these stories for use in a number of anniversary projects, including a poster with highlights of the past 50 years, an anniversary publication and anniversary features on our website. Story length is up to 600 words and the deadline for submission is July 15, 2005. Photos can accompany your story, as well as photos that tell a story on their own. The same photos can also be submitted to the 50 Faces Photo Contest. Click here to view the flyer with all the details calling for the submission of stories.
Summit
The Spring Summit, which replaced the Federation Network Meeting, was one of our primary events for BCACL’s 50th Anniversary. The
The powerful multimedia art show, From the Inside/OUT! was presented at the Maple Ridge Public Library, March 7-20, 2005. BCACL was pleased to cosponsor this exhibit with the Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living, with support from the Community Inclusion Fund of Social Development Canada.
From the Inside/OUT! offered a rare opportunity to take a look at where the community living movement began and how far it has come. Through visual art, photo murals, written text and a soundscape of interviews created in collaboration with artist Persimmon Blackbridge, 28 people shared their stories of life inside BC's large institutions and what it has meant for them to move out into community. The exhibit provided a moving and inspiring testament to courage, resilience, and the vision of community living. To view a poster for the exhibit, click here. For Media Release, click here.