Please see below an important message from Community Living BC (CLBC) –
Update on COVID-19 vaccinations and information on second doses
Dear self advocates, families and service providers:
This week the government announced its re-start plan to carefully remove restrictions in four steps over the next four months. This is exciting news that you can read here! After many challenging months of dealing with the ups and downs of responding to the COVID pandemic, we can look forward to a gradual return to doing many of the things we miss by September.
To achieve this, we need to continue to work together to encourage as many people as possible to get their vaccinations so that case counts and hospitalizations continue to drop.
The purpose of this message is to give you an update on our work to make sure everyone eligible for CLBC services is able to get their first COVID-19 vaccination dose. And to provide some information to make sure you are registered to receive your second dose.
Update on work to prioritize everyone eligible for CLBC
On April 9, 2021, CLBC sent a message to our sector explaining that everyone eligible to receive services had been prioritized to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Teams of staff worked hard with the Ministry of Health to rapidly send out letters to more than 24,000 individuals. We are pleased to report that this project is complete and that everyone who wanted a vaccination should have now had the opportunity to receive their first dose.
Make sure you are registered for your second dose
To get your second dose, you need to be registered in the province’s Get Vaccinated System. If you already registered to receive your first dose, you don’t need to do anything and you will be notified by email, text or phone when it is your turn to book an appointment for a second dose. If someone registered for you, ask them to watch out for the booking invitation to book your second dose. The information will go to the email address or phone number that was provided at the time of registration.
If you aren’t sure you registered, you should try and register again. There is no harm in registering a second time.
There are two options:Online: https://www.getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca/s/By phone: 1-933-838-2323. When it is your turn for the second dose, you will receive an email, text message, or phone call inviting you to book.
When you go for your second dose appointment, remember to bring your immunization record with you. If you need a copy of your COVID-19 record, you can register to view it at www.healthgateway.gov.bc.ca.
Still not sure about a vaccination?
COVID-19 vaccinations are proven to protect you against severe COVID-19 and to help prevent transmission.
However, we understand that the decision to get vaccinated is not easy for some people. For example, some self advocates might be worried about getting a vaccination because of other health conditions. There may be some support workers who don’t feel they need to get vaccinated because they live in a part of the province that has not yet been hard hit.
Whatever your concern, please take some time to read information on the BC Centre for Disease Control web site here, and talk to your health care provider to help you make your decision.
Finally, please take some time to watch this short video of self advocates showing their leadership to encourage us all to get vaccinated, with support from provincial leaders.
Let’s all work together to help reduce transmission and achieve the government’s restart goals by September. CLBC will provide further details as they become available.
Posted: June 3, 2021 by cvsadmin
Every Child Matters
Most of you have heard of the news released last week, announcing that the remains of 215 children were found buried at a former BC Residential school. This announcement has rippled through our communities and brought sadness to us all.
Preliminary findings from a survey of the grounds at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School have uncovered the remains of 215 children buried at the site, the Tk\’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said Thursday.
The First Nation said the remains were confirmed last weekend near the city of Kamloops, in B.C.\’s southern Interior.
In a statement, Tk\’emlúps te Secwépemc said it hired a specialist in ground-penetrating radar to carry out the work, and that its Language and Culture Department oversaw the project to ensure it was done in a culturally appropriate and respectful way. The release did not specify the company or individual involved, or how the work was completed.
\”To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,\” Tk\’emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir said in the statement.
\”Some were as young as three years old. We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families, understanding that Tk\’emlúps te Secwépemc is the final resting place of these children.\”
For more information on the story, please visit the CBC story by clicking here. Also we recommend reading more about the impact this story has had surrounding residential schools by clicking here.
Community Ventures Society (CVS) stands with our indigenous communities as they mourn this atrocity. CVS lives and breathes the phrase \”every child matters\” in our daily work with children. We live and breathe the motto \”every human matters\” in our day-to-day as we spread the message of inclusion across our communities. We are totally devastated to hear about this news. CVS aims to support our indigenous communities in all ways possible and hopes for justice for any and all effected communities.
Posted: May 29, 2021 by cvsadmin
A Message from our Board of Directors – Executive Director Announcement
The Board of Directors of Community Ventures Society (CVS) is very pleased to announce that Linda King has been selected as the new Executive Director of CVS.
Linda has worked with CVS for over 29 years and has fulfilled a range of roles throughout the organization, most recently as the Senior Director of Operations. She is a respected leader both within CVS and in the community living sector. Linda is an integral part of the CVS family and is well loved by both staff and people served.
“The Board took the responsibility of selecting the next leader of CVS very seriously. With the professional support of the Leaders International team, a thorough and nationwide search was conducted to ensure we selected the best candidate possible to deliver on our mission of facilitating opportunities for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families so they can live the life they choose. We are very pleased to welcome Linda as our new Executive Director and have full confidence in her ability to lead CVS into this next phase of the organization,” stated Jenna Christianson-Barker, Board Chair.
When not at CVS, Linda enjoys and finds inspiration from the being outdoors, she loves to walk, hike and bike. She enjoys cooking, travelling and staying active. Linda lives in Coquitlam with her husband, adult children and her dogs.
“I am excited to start this new chapter at CVS. I look forward to building on what we have achieved over the past few years and moving forward in a progressive and collaborative way,\” shared Linda.
Please join us in welcoming Linda to her new role! Linda can be reached at [email protected].
Posted: May 28, 2021 by cvsadmin
Update from CLBC Regarding Vaccinations
Please see below an important message from Community Living BC (CLBC) –
Update on COVID-19 vaccinations and information on second doses
Dear self advocates, families and service providers:
This week the government announced its re-start plan to carefully remove restrictions in four steps over the next four months. This is exciting news that you can read here! After many challenging months of dealing with the ups and downs of responding to the COVID pandemic, we can look forward to a gradual return to doing many of the things we miss by September.
To achieve this, we need to continue to work together to encourage as many people as possible to get their vaccinations so that case counts and hospitalizations continue to drop.
The purpose of this message is to give you an update on our work to make sure everyone eligible for CLBC services is able to get their first COVID-19 vaccination dose. And to provide some information to make sure you are registered to receive your second dose.
Update on work to prioritize everyone eligible for CLBC
On April 9, 2021, CLBC sent a message to our sector explaining that everyone eligible to receive services had been prioritized to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Teams of staff worked hard with the Ministry of Health to rapidly send out letters to more than 24,000 individuals. We are pleased to report that this project is complete and that everyone who wanted a vaccination should have now had the opportunity to receive their first dose.
Make sure you are registered for your second dose
To get your second dose, you need to be registered in the province’s Get Vaccinated System. If you already registered to receive your first dose, you don’t need to do anything and you will be notified by email, text or phone when it is your turn to book an appointment for a second dose. If someone registered for you, ask them to watch out for the booking invitation to book your second dose. The information will go to the email address or phone number that was provided at the time of registration.
If you aren’t sure you registered, you should try and register again. There is no harm in registering a second time.
There are two options:Online: https://www.getvaccinated.gov.bc.ca/s/By phone: 1-933-838-2323. When it is your turn for the second dose, you will receive an email, text message, or phone call inviting you to book.
When you go for your second dose appointment, remember to bring your immunization record with you. If you need a copy of your COVID-19 record, you can register to view it at www.healthgateway.gov.bc.ca.
Still not sure about a vaccination?
COVID-19 vaccinations are proven to protect you against severe COVID-19 and to help prevent transmission.
However, we understand that the decision to get vaccinated is not easy for some people. For example, some self advocates might be worried about getting a vaccination because of other health conditions. There may be some support workers who don’t feel they need to get vaccinated because they live in a part of the province that has not yet been hard hit.
Whatever your concern, please take some time to read information on the BC Centre for Disease Control web site here, and talk to your health care provider to help you make your decision.
Finally, please take some time to watch this short video of self advocates showing their leadership to encourage us all to get vaccinated, with support from provincial leaders.
Let’s all work together to help reduce transmission and achieve the government’s restart goals by September. CLBC will provide further details as they become available.
Posted: May 28, 2021 by cvsadmin
Announcement of 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Monday June 28th, 2021
We wanted to inform you of the date for the 2021 Community Ventures Society Annual General Meeting (AGM). Our 2021 AGM will be held on Monday, June 28 at 4:00 PM on Zoom. We will email you the link directly once you confirm your attendance.
CVS is interested in growing our membership base to strengthen our network. Membership enables individuals to participate in our AGM and other events and only costs $5. To become a member, please complete the membership form by clicking here and send it back to us by emailing [email protected]. From there, we will arrange payment of the $5 membership fee by etransfer to [email protected].
The agenda for the AGM on June 28th is as follows:
We look forward to seeing you at the Annual General Meeting. If you have any questions about the AGM or membership, please contact Kevin Lusignan or Miriam Hoolahan at your convenience.
Posted: May 28, 2021 by cvsadmin
BC\’s Re-Start Plan
Like many of us, we are sure you were excited to hear the BC Restart plan announced by the provincial government this past week. In light of this announcement, CVS is currently assessing the information, consulting with like-minded organizations on reopening. We have been working hard over the past few months to brainstorm how a reopening plan would look for CVS.
In the weeks ahead, we plan to begin the process of talking with families. Reopening will likely change staffing ratios but we want to have discussions with families for what they need moving forward and then we will fold that into the plans.
Just as the provincial government noted, the reopening plans will be data vs date dependent. CVS will follow the lead from the guidance of the Provincial Health Officer.
Once again the safety of the individuals we serve, staff and families is paramount. We want to express our thanks to all of our stakeholders for your patience and support during this challenging past year.
Stay tuned for more information as it unflods…
Posted: May 14, 2021 by cvsadmin
Changes to Children\’s Services Team
The Children\’s Services team is excited to welcome Chris Zupanec to the team. Further to our recent announcement about Gillian Reyes moving into the role of Manager of Specialized Residential, Chris will now join the Children\’s Services team in an Assistant Manager role.
Chris will start at CVS on May 25th and he will work alongside Joanne Weidinger and Afroza Samji to provide services in our Children\’s Respite program.
Please join us in welcoming Chris to the CVS team!
Posted: May 1, 2021 by cvsadmin
JOIN US FOR BINGO NIGHT ON MAY 19TH, 2021
Bingo Night is back!
CVS will be hosting another virtual Bingo night on May 19th from 6:30pm – 7:30pm. We will be letting people into the virtual room at 6:25 – 6:35, then we will have the instructions and do any Q&A needed and then we\’ll get started. We hope to have up to 40 families & individuals so we ask everyone who wants to join to register (see details below).
This virtual Bingo Night is part of a series of evening programs we are launching at CVS. We are able to deliver this Evening Program due to the being awarded a grant from the RBC Foundation. We are very grateful for this grant and the Foundation, so we can enhance our programming at CVS for the individuals we serve and their families.
Please RSVP by May 12th at noon to Linda King by email ([email protected]). Once you register with Linda, you will be sent Bingo cards and you will receive them before the event on May 19th. Also, people can come to the office to pick them up, we just need to work out a mutually convenient time in line with social distancing protocols. In your RSVP to Linda please also send your mailing address (or email) if you want the Bingo cards mailed/emailed out to you.
We are planning to play 4-6 rounds of Bingo depending on how long each round is as we plan to finish by 7:30pm. And yes, there will be prizes that will then be dropped off or mailed out AND there will also be door prizes.
Bingo Night will be held via zoom, and a zoom link will be sent out a few days before the event.
We hope you can make it – it\’s going to be a lot of fun!
Posted: May 1, 2021 by cvsadmin
CVS CARF Survey Report 2021
We have just received our CARF survey report that outlines the strengths of CVS and provides a few suggestions on how CVS can improve. We want to thank everyone who was involved in preparing for this survey – CVS performed well and we are all very proud of this accomplishment.
You can read the CVS CARF Survey Report here…
Posted: May 1, 2021 by cvsadmin
Changes to the Children\’s Specialized Resources Team
We wanted to take this opportunity to make you aware of a change in our Children\’s Specialized Resources team. Our current Manager of Children\’s Specialized Resources, Amrita Dhoot, will sadly be leaving CVS to focus on her studies. We wish Amrita well in her academic endeavours and career.
We are excited to announce that Gillian Reyes, currently Assistant Manager in our Children\’s Services team, will be moving into Amrita\’s role as Manager of Children\’s Specialized Resources. Please join all of us in congratulating Gillian on this promotion.
Amrita\’s last day at CVS will be May 14th and Gillian will be working with Amrita in the coming weeks so a seamless handover occurs.
Posted: April 26, 2021 by cvsadmin
Join CLBC’s April 29 COVID-19 telephone update for self advocates and families
Dear self advocates and families –
Please join Community Living BC (CLBC) this Thursday, April 29 for an opportunity to hear from Dr. Daniele Behn Smith, Deputy Provincial Health Officer, about the latest health and vaccine information and guidance on COVID-19.
Participants will also hear an update from Ross Chilton, CEO of CLBC. The call will be hosted by CLBC Board Chair Michael J. Prince.
When: Thursday, April 29
Time: 11:35 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time)
How to call in:
Vancouver: 604-681-0260
Elsewhere: 1-877-353-9184
Participant code: 37568#
* Due to the large number of participants, please call in at 11:25 a.m.
Self advocates and families are invited to submit COVID-19 health questions in advance by end of day Tuesday, April 27 to [email protected] with the subject line: APRIL 29 CLBC Call. This will allow us to answer as many questions as possible.
Upcoming Events