Not too long ago, a young adult like Eric Gamble, born with global cognitive delay, might have lived with his dad until being placed in an institution like the Manitoba Developmental Centre when his dad was too old to look after him.
Not anymore.
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Community Living Winnipeg executive director Janet Forbes with special-needs person Eric Gamble.
Thanks to decades of work by Community Living Winnipeg (CLW), formerly known as the Association for Community Living -- Winnipeg, the 18-year-old Gamble can look forward to living in the community he has grown up in. His neurological disability, likely birth-related, has left him unable to read, among other things.
Thanks to CLW, Gamble has not only found a good friend, he's had a chance, through a summer program sponsored by the organization, to explore parts of Winnipeg through the lens of a camera and have some of the resulting photos developed, framed and displayed. He has also had the ability to take part in acting classes.
"It was fun and I did lots of stuff," Gamble said recently as he worked learning to clean an apartment and cook during an unrelated school program.
"I like acting -- some day I'd like to do it."
Janet Forbes, CLW's executive director, said Eric's experiences shows just how positive it is when special-needs children and adults live in the community instead of being shut away in institutions.
"We believe people have the right to live in the community," Forbes said.
"When he is in one of our programs, or learning life skills at school, he is able to gain the skills he needs so he can live on his own."
CLW is a not-for-profit organization that supports children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families in the community.
The organization came together 50 years ago this year when parents, who for a few years were concerned about the lack of services there were for their children, decided they needed an organization to address the issues.
"There weren't many services and education at the time," Forbes said.
"Parents were looking for inclusion. They wanted their family members closer to them. They wanted community living instead of institutions.
"It's still a struggle and not everyone is supported in the community like they should be. We'll probably be around for another 50 years. Although we'd like to be out of business, there will probably always be a need."
Forbes said even with community living there continue to be changes and desires.
"A lot of families today are not even looking for a group home, they are looking at an individualized way of living."
CLW, along with its provincial counterpart Community Living Manitoba that was founded a few years later, is a member of the Canadian Association for Community Living, a federation of more than 400 community, 10 provincial, and three territorial associations.
Forbes said what started as a residential and day program service provider has now expanded to include advocacy and other resources.
She said CLW hosts a yoga program on Saturday mornings and has a program during spring break.
Forbes said the summer program, with funding help from the federal government to pay for staffing, allows two to three special-needs young adults a week to experience different activities during the summer.
"The kids help to design their week so every week looks different," she said.
"The girls like to have manicures while the guys want to go sailing at Fort Whyte. The expense to the family is to pay for the activity but beyond that there is no registration fee."
Eric's dad, James, said it's usually like pulling teeth when he asks Eric how his day at school went, but that wasn't the case when he came home from CLW's summer program.
"He was just bubbling over," James said.
"He talked about the entire day. It was great."
James said Eric has not only taken part in CLW's summer program, but also other programs including youth groups like Among Friends and discussion groups, while he has been able to take seminars on estate planning and connect with other parents of special-needs children at Senior Parent to Parent.
He said it was through CLW that Eric met Mark, another special-needs teen, while acting.
"I think people really benefit from being around guys like Eric and Mark," he said.
"The regular acting students were there and they just opened up and allowed them into the setting. Eric and Mark didn't feel any different than anyone else in the group.
"It was a positive way for me and my son that shows integration into society is a positive experience."
Forbes said to help parents of special-needs children connect together, CLW not only helps run Senior Parent to Parent, it also organizes the River East Parent Support network and a newly formed one in south Winnipeg.
"Our hope is to have support groups for parents in all four corners of the city," she said.
James said he hopes people consider giving a charitable donation to CLW.
"CLW is 100 per cent a good place to donate because of the great work they do," he said.
Forbes said donations are needed because, aside from the funding for parts of some programs, CLW receives no government funding.
"Half of our funding comes from the United Way of Winnipeg, while the rest comes from the Vipond Golf Tournament, the Winnipeg Foundation, fundraising, including our fall fashion show, and individual and corporate donations," she said.
James said unlike the finite years his son spends in school, he knows father and son will have a long connection with CLW.
"He'll be ready to move on to community living," he said.
"I see our relationship with Community Living being a long term thing. It's not a period in Eric's life ¬ -- this is a long one."
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
In Brief
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