1 RFCSL 2 5 Resourceful Futures Celebrating 25 years!!!Quarterly Newsletter July 2016 IN THIS ISSUE: * What a Stampede Party! * Team Building Day * Flag design contest If you have any news, suggestions, kudos, thank you’s or thoughts, please let Eric know in person, by phone at ext 205, or by at Thank you and remember that YOUR contributions are what make the newsletter interesting and fun!
2 Closures for Office and Community Access ProgramAug 1 Monday Heritage Day Sept 5 Monday Labour Day Oct Monday Thanksgiving Day Many thanks to Linda M., Client Services Manager, for hosting a wonderful team building day on June 30th with our administrative and service delivery teams. This was our second annual team building day, and it was fun, competitive, educational and full of great food !!! The focus this year was on Communication. Thanks Linda for going above and beyond !!!
3 Director’s Corner “Diversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromise.” ― James Surowiecki, The Wisdom of Crowds Welcome to July and a BIG yahoo to all you Calgary Stampeders!! Despite the wet weather, I felt all the excitement as the day program clients and staff headed out each day to enjoy the Calgary Stampede and community events/activities to “Be Part of the Energy” that the Calgary Stampede brings to our amazing city. On July 15th, Resourceful Futures hosted our own Stampede on-site event. Our day program facility was transformed into an amazing environment that truly made you feel like you were attending the “Greatest Indoor Show on Earth”. A huge round of applause to the team leaders, Cam, Christina and Marylenn for the pride and creativity they portrayed in putting the day together. Many thanks to the front line staff as well who were instrumental in making the vision become a reality. Well done team!!!!!!! In March of each year, Resourceful Futures conducts our “anonymous” employee engagement survey and employee performance reviews. This year Resourceful Futures decided to combine both the employee performance reviews and employee engagement surveys and meet face to face with each and every employee. This process proved to be exceptionally valuable as we received extraordinary feedback for improving cultural diversity programs and heard what is important to our employees that will enhance their individual independence, professional development, mentoring and day to day decision making. Much of the employee feedback will be incorporated into Resourceful Futures’ Mission, Vision, Values statements and redesigning of the Employee Performance Self-Evaluation. We believe these changes will result in improved understanding of cultural diversity, accountability, knowledge, initiative, innovation, teamwork and outstanding leadership, ultimately resulting in the best agency outcomes for the people we serve. With that being said, to each and every one of you, have a great fun filled summer. Rob Halfyard, CEO
4 Spotlight We love flags, yes we do. Much like Sheldon on “Big Bang Theory”. So, to enhance the excitement that many of us share, we are having a flag design contest. Anyone who would like to submit an original flag design which represents Resourceful Futures can do so by giving their submission to Eric or Lisa. Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 29th. Winner will receive a $50 gift certificate of their choice, along with the honour of having their flag design fly in the dayroom. Go crazy and design away !!!!!!!!!!!!!! R F
5 Community Access News What a Stampede Party!
6 The community access would like to thank everyone who participated in our annual stampede party this year. We had buckets of rain but didn’t let that dampen our spirits and had one of our best parties yet! We couldn’t have done it without the work from our social committee as well as the volunteers who ran our “midway” games! Thank you! Speaking of rain, we’ve certainly had our share this season and although we hope that the sun will finally pay us a visit its still best if we plan for more wet days. Remember to come prepared with rain jackets and umbrellas (even when the forecast says otherwise!). Proper foot wear is also a must and please remember to wear closed toe, closed heel shoes while in the day program. Update on the Walk across the World Campaign: Our community Access program started an initiative in the Spring of 2014 where we started tracking Km’s every time our Individuals went out into the community and charting how far we have walked as a group on the world map. Since then our collective effort has resulted in over 14,000 Km’s being tracked, which has seen us visit multiple Canadian landmarks, cross the Pacific Ocean and meander through parts of Europe. Our latest Milestone was achieved in mid-June when we reached Basrah, Iraq, hometown of our very own Shaima M. who indulged us with a colorful presentation which highlighted some of the culture and features of Iraq with our group. Thank you Shaima for sharing with us! Our walk will now continue east into India and onward! The community access will continue to make Pedometers available to staff and clients each day but if you would like to participate and contribute to the groups Kilometers on your own time we will gladly record your Km’s towards our total. One of our Individuals has already reached Victoria and then on to Seattle on their own personal walk! If you do not have a Pedometer of your own let your phone record your steps, there are several apps to choose from on all mobile devices! Good luck and keep on truckin!
7 Coordinator News We have been notified that we will no longer be using the SIS as a guideline to determine individuals support needs. We are revamping the ISP form and will go over it with everyone at their ISP meetings. A big thank you to our SRC committee for taking the time to attend our July and August meetings. Just a reminder that Special Olympics is right around the corner. If the individual living with you would like to sign up, please make sure by the end of August you have received the correct forms. Have a great summer!!!
8 Training OpportunitiesCPR and Positive Behaviour Support workshops will be scheduled in September and November. All permitted subcontractors need to review their respite staff’s renewal dates and sign them up when dates are posted. Medication Administration workshop has 3 parts. (1) An online course (2) A questionnaire (3) a Proficiency test performed in front of a Coordinator. Please get these parts completed if you are working on them or contact Lisa to sign yourself or your respite staff up. Please call Lisa M at ext 201 if you have training needs. Benefits Please remember to always keep the office up to date on your personal information. Failing to inform us of important changes (such as having a child, for example) can result in serious consequences if the benefit company is not informed within 30 days. Changes to addresses, beneficiaries, dependents, names, bank information, etc. need to be updated as soon as possible. Remember to always take your benefit card with you when you travel, even in Canada. If you need to make a claim, you need to notify the benefit company asap in order to prevent claim disputes and limitation of reimbursement. There is a list of numbers you can call from anywhere in the world either toll free or collect to reach help.
9 Summertime fun