'Community Living' - It's What We're All About
Some people think our name, "Community Living", has little meaning. It's different, we admit. But after you read about what we do, we think you'll agree that our name tells exactly what we're about. And we hope you'll agree that not only our name, but also the work that we do and the goals that we have, make perfect sense.
Community Living is something most of us experience naturally, as part of our daily lives. We live in communities, our children go to neighbourhood schools, we have the opportunity to work at real jobs for real pay and contribute as productive citizens.
But, for many people who have intellectual (or developmental) disabilities, community living is a dream, an objective yet to be realized. Some still live in institutions. Others may live at home but with little connection with the community around them - as children, they may be in segregated classrooms in schools far away from neighbourhood children; as adults, they are largely excluded from the workforce. At all ages, many face physical and social barriers that keep them from participating in the social, recreational and economic world around them.
For more than 50 years, Community Living has worked to bring people and their communities together:
- We support individuals as they develop their capacity to live, learn, work and participate in all aspects of living in the community; and
- We help the community develop its capacity to welcome and support people who have not always had the same opportunities as the rest of us to participate in community life in meaningful, productive ways.
The direct service and support we provide is essential for many individuals and their families. Others simply need social or attitudinal barriers dismantled to enable them to make their way in the community. In both direct and indirect ways, supporting people to contribute and participate makes good economic sense, and produces communities that are vibrant and strong. It's also the right thing to do.
By now, our name, "Community Living", will make sense. Rather than call ourselves by the labels that are used to categorize and therefore "separate" people from their dreams, we take a different approach -declaring in our name the vision of the people we support and the goal we strive to achieve.
We believe that this is a vision and goal that you will share for your community.
Community Living is at its core a voluntary association of concerned community members. The membership is the owners of the corporation. Members are the source of authority, which is normally delegated by the members to a Board of Directors elected from among their number.
There is the potential to have 16 Directors with a total of 15 votes. The Executive Directors serves as Secretary to the Board and has no vote.
Community Living Kingston is an "approved corporation" which means it has been designated as a corporation that meets all the requirements necessary for the Ministry to contract with the Association. The Association is accountable for the use of public funds it is permitted to hold in trust for the people of Ontario.
Community Living Kingston is a constituent member of Community Living Ontario and Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL). The Kingston Association was founded on November 19, 1953 and was the 19th local association to join the provincial federation started earlier that year.
Today, this organization is making a valuable contribution to the community. People who need support have it. People who depend on that support are able to add their contribution to the community through participation.