The Port Alberni Association for Community Living held it's Annual General Meeting on June 24th, 2010 at 6:00 pm.  There were 30 people in attendance, including 15 voting members, 2 joining members, 11 staff, and 2 guests.

*AGM booklets can be picked up at the Administration office - 3008 2nd Avenue

Message from the President and Executive Director

 We have had another rewarding and positive year at the Port Alberni Association for Community Living, and we are proud of the many successes experienced by people supported by the Association as they all helped build a stronger community.

 The theme this year at PAACL was one of partnerships and collaboration. As we worked our way through the challenges and opportunities presented to us in 2009, we discovered that partnerships and collaboration are the key to our culture, and our success in influencing change.

 These partnerships begin in our own services and programs. Our community inclusion programs and outreach support are combining their strengths to be able to offer exciting new activities for the people we support. Our Connections program often acts as a hub for this growing network of people and activities. People from our group homes drop in for lunch and for weekly social networking. During this time Connections also opens its doors to the community. People supported by other organizations and individually funded programs drop in to socialize with the people we support. Our program staff have also begun to integrate supports and services. The weekly drama group that began last year is facilitated through a collaboration of our Services for Community Living outreach support program staff and the Connections program staff. Likewise, the new dancing program is also facilitated by staff from these two programs. SCL staff and Connections staff also collaborate to put on the “Lettuce Be Healthy” educational program, which provides people with practical information about health and nutrition. This program also began as a partnership – this time an external partnership with Health Services for Community Living.

 PAACL also has many partnerships in the local community and across the Island and the Province. In Port Alberni we are participants in the following partnerships, to name a few: The Make Children First Network which represents many agencies who are collaborating to make a difference for children and youth, the Mid Island Employnet group which is affiliated with BC Employnet where all agencies providing employment supports to people come together to collaborate; and the Port Alberni Networking group, an initiative that brings together people from different educational and employment support agencies to share resources and talk about ways to improve supports. PAACL also sits at the table of the Special Needs Framework for Action group, the Integrated Social Services group and the Alberni Valley Social Planning Council.

 Last October, in Celebration of Community Living Month, PAACL partnered with the City of Port Alberni, Citizen Advocacy Society and Community Living BC to put on a Family Fun Fair. Over 450 people came out to enjoy the activities at this event. Also this year we joined with Vancouver Island Community Support Services, Community Living BC, the City and the School District to host a resource fair in Celebration of Autism Month. 

 This was also the first year of a partnership with the Alberni Valley Times in which we now publish a monthly full-page newsletter highlighting the work we do in the Alberni Valley and on the West Coast.       

 Our self-advocate group is also forming partnerships across the Island. Port Alberni self-advocates joined with people in Powell River and Courtenay and were successful in being awarded a $5,000 grant from the British Columbia Association for Community Living. This grant will help our advocates to strengthen the self advocacy network on the island, organize training opportunities and make positive changes in the community.    

 In our Children’s program, Supported Child Development, the staff and management helped the new Aboriginal Supported Child Development to establish their new program. The success of this start up was due to the cooperative and collaborative approach taken by the PAACL team, the Aboriginal team and the Ministry for Children and Family Development. The two programs will continue to work in partnership to provide optimal supports for children in the region. 

 Provincially we are members of the BC Association for Community Living, the CEO Network, and Board Voice. The collective work of the many groups that belong to these organizations equate to progress and success for community social services in BC. This year we partnered with the BC Association for Community living to host an Estate and Investment Planning Seminar to help provide information and educate people on long term planning and investment for their family members. Our contribution and the work of the CEO Network was also instrumental in lobbying the government to provide extra funding to support the introduction of the Municipal Pension Plan, a major step forward in the professionalization of the sector. 

 The Board of Directors has worked hard over the past year to ensure that the Port Alberni Association for Community Living’s supports and services are aligned with our philosophy that all people have the right to opportunity, and advocacy, to live, learn, work and enjoy leisure as valued member of our community. The agency is a leader in Port Alberni, constantly challenging people to view all members of the community as equal contributing members. We are advocates, supporters and partners.

 The following presentations will highlight the work of the past year and demonstrate how important community is to all of us. The success of the organization is a shared success. It is the result of many people coming together. We thank you; the members of the Port Alberni Association for Community Living, people who choose the organization for support, families, our funders, staff, volunteers, donors and community partners for helping us to make our vision a reality for all people.