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Archives
2007 Articles Include:
Tree Planting in Honour of our Volunteers
Camphill Welcomes New Programme Manager - Susan Clarke
Big Apple Turns to Sophia Creek for Model on Intentional Community Building
2006 Articles Include:
Barrie Dragon Boat Festival 2006
J. McNeil Award 2006
Fall Fair 2006
Villager Conference "Finding My Voice: Learning to Listen and Speak"
Tree Planting in Honour of our Volunteers
“Volunteers Grow Community” is this year’s theme for National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, and it couldn’t be more true at Camphill.
As workshop assistants, companion buddies, board members and administrative supporters, the volunteers in our midst make our community stronger, more dynamic and vibrant.
Collectively, Camphill’s volunteers contribute over 2,800 hours each year. Your dedication is inspiring and we cannot thank you enough for the work that you do.
In recognition of the hard work of past, present and future volunteers, this year Camphill is planting a tree to celebrate and recognize every volunteer that has left their mark on our community
On behalf of Camphill Communities Ontario, I wish to thank you all for your dedication and contribution to helping our community grow.
Mike Coxon, Executive Director
Camphill Communities Ontario
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Tree Planting ceremony held on May 12th in conjunction with Camphill's annual Spring Fair. |
Added May 14, 2007
Camphill Welcomes New Programme Manager
Susan Clarke
Camphill is pleased to welcome our new Programme Manager, Susan Clarke. Susan joined our community in December and has already been very busy at work overseeing the transition of two new Companions who are joining us from the Huronia Regional Centre in April. Susan’s role at Camphill is to help coordinate human resources, provide clinical support to the person centred planning process and focus on quality assurance and compliance.
We look forward to spending more time with Susan and wish her a warm welcome to Camphill.
Added March 28, 2007
Big Apple Turns to Sophia Creek for Model on Intentional Community Building
In early January, a small group of individuals and families from Manhattan arrived in Barrie for a whirlwind visit. Their interest was not in the nearby winter wonderland activities that often draw our American neighbours across the border, but rather in a small pocket of downtown Barrie that is starting to gain international attention and some local affection.
JoAnn and Paul Dolan along with their young adult son Jamie, who has a developmental disability, were among the group of visitors from New York City. JoAnne comments, “We are struck by the calm, dignity and honest pride of the young adults we have met. Everyone has privacy as well as a role in co-operative daily life; has a place to work and individual pursuits to follow.”
JoAnn, Paul and Jamie along with the rest of the delegation from NYC are members of a newly formed group called, “The Big Tent”. Dissatisfied with the types of care available for their son, JoAnne and Paul are looking to create a community focused on sharing life with adults with developmental disabilities in the middle of Manhattan. While some intentional co-housing arrangements exist in Manhattan, they mainly serve individuals and families who are homeless. The Big Tent has been looking to find a model which encompasses the same values they hold as paramount in forming their community – “a desire to provide dignity and access to the rights and freedoms available to all individuals living among caring and creative people”. Camphill Sophia Creek embodies all they are looking to achieve.
The concerns that JoAnn and Paul have are shared by many parents of youth and adults with developmental disabilities. “What we see are people with developmental disabilities housed in the midst of an integrated neighbourhood, yet still completely isolated”. Camphill Sophia Creek has managed to become apart of the neighbourhood and engage the community around them as volunteers, family home providers (those who take in and provide support to adults with developmental disabilities), staff, and friends of Sophia Creek. In some cases, people have even started moving into the neighbourhood as a result of the unique and diverse community that has developed.
We look forward to growing the relationship between Sophia Creek and The Big Tent as we both aim to build and foster unique communities.
Added July 4, 2007
Archives - 2006
4th Annual Barrie Dragon Boat Festival
Since it began four years ago, Camphill has had an ongoing presence in the Annual Barrie Dragon Boat Festival. A highlight of summer in Barrie, the festival began as a fundraiser for the public library and continues as a fundraising event for local charities to this day! The festival includes a number of musical performances and a parade of participants in addition to the races as well as numerous other activities. While the race itself had to be cancelled this year due to highwinds out on the lake, Camphill looks forward to taking to the water again next year. |
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Added November 8 2006
J. McNeil Award
The first J. McNeil Award was presented to Megan Baird at the Annual General Meeting of Camphill Communities Ontario. The J. McNeil Award was established by Camphill last year to honour the memory of a long time friend of Camphill, John McNeil. A fund was established and an award created to be given to an advanced Georgian College Student who is in the Developmental Service Worker program and is interested in learning about or getting involved with Camphill. Megan was awarded the $250 bursary after being recommended by the faculty at Georgian College. Congratulations Megan! |
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Megan Baird receiving her cheque from Camphill Communities Ontario Executive Director, Mike Coxon |
Added October 26, 2006
Fall Fair A Huge Success
| Camphill Communities Ontario’s Annual Spring and Fall Fairs have become a local tradition for many people in Simcoe County. The seasonal fairs are not only an open house to the community to enjoy the beautiful “village” but they are also an opportunity for Camphill’s residents to show off and sell the fruits of their labour over the past several months. Pottery, woodworking, woven products, fresh maple syrup, and home-grown goods are quickly snatched up by visitors while the hayrides and homemade burgers are traditional favorites. |
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This year’s Fall Fair held on Saturday, September 30th, was no different, the changing leaves and seasonal weather provided the perfect backdrop for the community to come together for a day of festivities and fun.
A special thank you to those who volunteered their time and talent providing us with puppet shows and music throughout the afternoon. |
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Added October 16, 2006
Finding My Voice, Learning to Listen and Speak
From July 17 -21, Camphill Village Nottawasaga hosted over 35 participants from Camphill places throughout North America for Finding My Voice, Learning to Listen and Speak a conference exploring self advocacy.
The conference began on the evening of Monday, July 17, with a festive opening, great food and entertainment. Following our meal, Diane Flood, Vaughan Smith and Sandra Chan presented a legend from the local Ojibway peoples called; The Girl Who Established Peace. This dramatization was a link to the villager/companion conference held in 2003 in Vancouver B.C. where it was also performed by the same group. We finished our opening evening with a concert where Emer O’Driscoll and Craig Halliday performed original compositions on piano, guitar and drums and closed with a rousing sing along of Beatle songs.
Our first full day began with a moving talk by Judith Snow, a leader in the world of Self Advocacy. She imparted a number of important messages and set the stage for the week. She spoke of how important it is to have a voice in order to make a contribution, to share one’s gifts and that everyone does have a gift to give if we can allow the space and time to listen. Judith made it clear that diversity was the cohesive element that allows for social creativity and that the antithesis of diversity is uniformity. Diversity is the beginning for relationships to develop, for opportunities to blossom and anything that matters for human beings. She challenged Camphill to find the right place for each person in our communities, places where dreams can be heard and realized. Afterwards Judith took questions from the audience and we were able to experience through her warmth, interest and capacity to listen deeply the very essence of what she provided in the talk.
The next three days were full of many activities which encouraged explorations of the theme from a number of perspectives. There was clay modeling, singing, music on instruments, speech, movement theatre, photo voice workshops and conversation groups. In the afternoons there was a special project to create a native medicine wheel. This is now installed in a special place on the Nottawasaga property and has been especially blessed through ceremonial tradition.
Judy Beeforth, a local person of Canada’s First Nations worked with Christina Moore to bring this about. Judy was a wonderful guide in the process and delivered a moving tribute to many people who have been important in her life. She was our guest speaker on the Wednesday morning and spoke on the theme from the perspective of our First Nation’s peoples. Her message was one of appreciation of the regular ordinary everyday people who accomplish exceptional tasks in a lifetime. Each of us is a special person weaving our special gifts and capacities throughout the course of our lives and as such we find our voice.
On Thursday each place came forward to make a presentation describing their place, how they are experiencing their life in the place and how the work of self advocacy is developing. There were many personal statements made regarding how loved and needed people felt in a Camphill setting. Some were able to compare from their personal experiences in other settings. There was a lot of appreciation expressed for the opportunities to “get out” into the surrounding towns and cities to attend events, movies, go shopping. There are connections to other advocacy groups. In Pennsylvania the Camphill places take a leading role in the; “Speaking for Ourselves” organization, not only hosting and carrying responsibility but attending demonstrations at the state capital of Harrisburg.
The work of Julia Wolfson was mentioned as an important element especially in Camphill Soltane and here in Nottawasaga. Julia’s work has been strongly directed towards bringing about new attitudes and approaches to how we truly support our villagers and companions in a way that benefits all in our communities. You can read about her work in Ontario in our most recent newsletter; The Seasonal, available online at: www.camphill.on.ca
Camphill Soltane has been working intensively in the area of self advocacy and made a well coordinated presentation with the help of Gry Brudvik a coworker at Soltane. In it there was a marvelous video on DVD of one of the companions working at a local supermarket which included testimonials of appreciation by employees of the organization. Soltane has been a leader in this area and is responsible for many of the initiatives that are moving along such as the Speaking For Ourselves work, building unique individualized living accommodations such as the Roland Johnson complex and developing roles which support their companions in work placements.
At the end of our time we conducted an evaluation where it was established that such events as this were well appreciated and needed to occur more regularly, annually if possible. We were mandated to bring this message to the Camphill Association of North America, our regional umbrella organization from which the initiative arose.
In closing our week together we gathered at the medicine wheel and in a special way brought forward a blessing and recognition that this place would stand as a reminder of this event here, as a reminder of the first nation’s peoples who long before us made their lives here, and a reminder of the sacredness of each person.
Added October 16, 2006 |
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