FMS Series: Creating and Facilitating Relationships through Community Engagement

Relationships are an essential and intimate part of everyone’s daily life, including individuals with developmental disabilities. Relationships and friendships not only encourage individual expression, dreams and passions but also provide important natural supports necessary to have a good life in community.

Individuals with developmental disabilities will never secure a safe and meaningful life if the only people in their lives providing support are staff paid to be there. A principle role of staff hired by families through FMS must be to facilitate community engagement, membership and belonging to allow for the emergence of freely-given relationships and friendships.

This session will explore:

• The meaning and power of natural pathways
• Strategies for community engagement and inclusion through which relationships can emerge
• How to identify individual interests
• How families and FMS staff can facilitate and encourage connections within the community

Workshop presenters:
Billie Jack and Charmaine McIntyre

Billie Jack is Provincial Director of Advocacy and Community Development, Inclusion Alberta. Billie has worked with families and individuals with developmental disabilities for more than 18 years, in varying roles. For the past three years, Billie has been the Provincial Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement and previously was Inclusion Alberta’s Director of Inclusive Education for 12 years. Billie has a deep and abiding commitment to serve families and people with intellectual disabilities and believes her own life experience drives her passion for advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Charmaine McIntyre, Provincial Director of Inclusive Post-Secondary Education, Inclusion Alberta. Supporting staff at a multitude of post-secondary initiatives, Charmaine is part of the leadership group that cultivates the growth and learning of team members committed to the inclusion of students with developmental disabilities in post-secondary education. As an employee of more than 10 years with Inclusion Alberta, she has had an opportunity to coordinate NorQuest College and MacEwan University initiatives, as well as advocate for families and newcomers to Canada.

To register: Contact Saltanat Ashymova by email, mail.calgary@inclusionalberta.org, or by phone, 403.717.0361.

Lunch will be provided. Please advise if there are any dietary restrictions.
Families are welcome to bring their FMS staff!

Download the poster for this event by clicking the image below.