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New Year, New Opportunities – Caregiver Support

Hello and Happy 2025! I hope you enjoyed a restful holiday. 

We have lots of great opportunities to engage and support caregivers coming up this Winter. I’ve provided a quick summary below, and promotional flyers are attached. Please have a read through and share widely with your clients and network. 

Information & Education Sessions for Caregivers

Registered Caregiver Programs

Supporting Caregiver Awareness, Learning and Empowerment (SCALE) Program is back for the Winter 2025! This 8-week program aims to nurture mental health and wellness for caregivers by providing weekly psychoeducational webinars, as well as free online or individual counselling (optional).    

  • English runs Tuesday, February 4 to March 25
  • French runs Thursday, February 6 to March 27

See flyer for more details

Resource Highlight

We are happy to share that the I Am A Caregiver toolkit is now available in multiple languages and adaptations. You can download the toolkits from our website and distribute to caregivers/your clients as you see fit. 

More specifically, you can find each adaptation as follows:

We are extremely grateful for our community partners that assisted with this project. 

Grief and Loss Group [online]

Join a group of peers and learn about grief and loss of hopes, dreams and expectations. Learn how to process your grief with peers, around a possible

  • Death loss
  • Loss of something or someone important to you
  • Anticipatory losses
  • New changes in your life
  • Just missing the ‘old ways’ 

Take part in a 3-part series online 

When: January 23, 30 and February 6, from 7pm – 8:30pm
* Please note a zoom link will be sent prior to each online session. 

If you are interested in registering, please contact one of the following
Linda Ger Walters: lingerwalters@gmail.com or 416.716.8343
Relationship Group: relationship.group.toronto@gmail.com

See flyer for more details

Discovery Connect January Programming

January Programs

Cooking Classes 1:00pm – 3:30pm

  • January 8 – Saucy Chicken Tenders with Cajun Fries
  • January 15 – Chicken Souvlaki Wrap
  • January 22 – Veggie Spring Rolls
  • January 29 – Pulled Chicken Chipolte Burritos

Social Fridays

  • January 10 – 1:00pm – 3:30pm – Hot Topics Over Hot Chocolate
  • January 17 – 4:00pm – 6:30pm – Game Fest Night
  • January 24 – 1:00pm – 3:30pm – Plant Pot Painting
  • January 31 – 1:00pm – 3:30pm – Tie Dye Scarf

Monthly Programs

  • January 7 – 1:00pm – 3:30pm – Maker’s Studio
  • January 14 – 1:00pm – 3:30pm – Poser Play (Chair Yoga)
  • January 21 – 1:00pm – 3:30pm – AV Club
  • January 28 – 4:30pm – 7:00pm – Movie Night

Options Children Winter Resource Workshops

The Options Children team will be offering three resource workshops and a consultation service this winter. Two sessions of Financial Support, and three sessions of Camp Registration. New this winter we are offering two information sessions about Developmental Disabilities, and 60min Service Coordination Consultation Sessions.

Please see the attached flyers for more information or visit Family Service Toronto’s Website https://familyservicetoronto.org/our-services/workshops-groups-and-events/#Options

Worksop Flyers

New Year; New Events with the Mix and More!

Ready to kick off 2025 with fun, excitement and endless possibilities? 

Join us at The Mix and More Events starting this January for an amazing lineup of activities across the city where you can hit the dance floor, sing your heart out or simply enjoy a lively atmosphere. 

Entry is $7.

We encourage you to register in advance at mycommunityhub.caCash at the door is accepted, however, pre-registration is preferred. 

Check out the attached flyer for a full list of upcoming events

Don’t forget to invite your friends! It’s going to be a blast! 🎉

Should you have any questions, please connect with Community Participation Supports at cps@cltoronto.ca or 647-729-2976.

Can’t wait to see you at the Mix!

Community Engagement Speaker Series: MyJobMatch

MyJobMatch Play video

Each month, CLTO’s Community Engagement Speaker Series highlights different topics of interest, providing education and information to individuals with disabilities, families, caregivers, and the community at large.

This month, we are pleased to announce an insightful session from MyJobMatch. MyJobMatch is a service created for employers, job seekers with a disability, and employment support professionals to come together to track, match, and secure meaningful job opportunities.

Developmental Services Council – Toronto

Developmental Services Council – Toronto (DS Council)

Developmental Services Council – Toronto (DS Council) is a voice for adults with developmental disabilities, their family members and community supporters.

An advisory group, we are a partner with the agencies funded by the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services to deliver programs and services for adults with developmental disabilities.

We make recommendations to these partners from a client/consumer point of view. Most DS Council members are volunteers from the community:

  • Persons with developmental disabilities (self-advocates)
  • Families and caregivers of persons with developmental disabilities
  • Interested community members Council also includes representatives from the service provider agencies and Developmental Services Ontario (DSO).

We work on educating the general public, agencies, media, and government about disabilities so that they understand us better”.

https://youtu.be/7_HRLrSRSGI

Mission

  • Strengthen the voice of individuals with a developmental disability and their families and caregivers, by contributing to sector-wide planning and priority setting. 
  • Provide recommendations and advice on communication and outreach strategies. 
  • Gather information to identify service system gaps, issues and concerns. Work with our partners to address these.

Would you like to get involved?

We are always looking for people to get involved with DS Council – Toronto! 

DS Council – Toronto meets 9-12 times a year. Meetings take place downtown in the evening. Members may attend in person or virtually via Zoom or telephone. For members who attend in person, free parking is available. The meeting venue is TTC accessible and dinner is provided! 

Council meetings often include presentations by groups that support people with developmental disabilities and their families and caregivers. 

Help improve the quality of developmental services in Toronto and represent the voice and needs of this community! 

For more information, please contact DS Council – Toronto: 

DSCouncil.Toronto@gmail.com

Contact

Advocates for a Better Future

Mission

“We are a group of people from all walks of life who form a community circle of support where everyone feels comfortable and safe enough to share.

It’s a place for people with disabilities to meet new people, new friends and allies and talk about long-term solutions to issues that are important to us.

We work on educating the general public, agencies, media, and government about disabilities so that they understand us better”.

Meetings

Join us on the 2nd Saturday of each month on Zoom from 1pm-3pm!

2024 Meeting dates:

  • January 13
  • February 10
  • March 9
  • April 13
  • May11
  • June 8
  • July 13
  • August 10
  • September 14
  • October 19
  • November 9
  • December 14

We want to be a safe and supportive group. If there are barriers to you attending, let us know how we can help.

Contact

Guidelines

These Group Guidelines were made by the group, for the group. The Group Guidelines are here for you and for everyone else who comes to the group. When people follow these guidelines, Advocates for a Better Future is a place where everyone feels safe and respected.  

Each person is responsible for how they treat others. 

Everyone is expected to follow these guidelines. 

  • ABF is a SAFE and SUPPORTED space. Treat everyone how you want to be treated. Treat everyone with respect. 
  • No sexual harassment. Sexual harassment means making inappropriate sexual comments and touching without permission. 
  • Treat everyone as equals. No discrimination and bullying. Discrimination means treating someone bad because of gender, disability, race, sexuality, religion, etc. Bullying means having power over somebody physically, emotionally and mentally. 
  • Respect everyone’s culture, ethnicity and their native languages.
  • If you need support, you can ask another group member or helper for help. You can take a break if you need space. 
  • Communicate with respect. Listen to and learn from others. Respectful communication is not screaming, shouting or yelling. Wait your turn to talk and don’t interrupt. Stay focused on the group. 
  • Respect people’s privacy and confidentiality. What happens here, stays here.  
  • If someone threatens to harm themselves or someone else, we can call the police if we need to. 
  • Respect other people’s boundaries. Respect people’s body, physical, emotional space and belongings. 
  • Turn cellphones on vibrate. All calls should be made in the hall. If you are expecting an important call, let the group know before the meeting starts. For Zoom meetings, please mute your microphone to eliminate background noise.
  • If you are coming late, come in quietly. Grab some food and take a seat.

Empowering your Sex-Esteem

By exploring the language related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression

Empowering your Sex-Esteem Play video

Presenters: Deanna Djos she/her, Sexual Health Promoter, Michelle Anbar-Goldstein she/her, MSW, RSW and Gabe Wertman-Parris he/him, Self Advocate.

Join us and learn about why we should all take the time to respect and learn everyone’s name and pronoun, celebrate self-expression and what is the importance of gender identity.

Presentation

Links to videos played during presentation

RECORDED: June 25, 2021