Good Lifetimes

Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network

250 - 3655 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC V5R 5W2
Phone: (604) 439-9566
Fax: (604) 439-7001
Toll free: 1-888-696-PLAN
Website: www.plan.ca
Email: inquiries@plan.ca

Executive Director: Al Etmanski

Executive Director, PLAN Institute for Citizenship and Disability: Vickie Cammack

President, Board of Directors: Ted Kuntz

Editorial Liaison: Karin Melberg Schwier

Editorial Advisory Board:
Nicole Marchessault, Montreal, Quebec
Ted Kuntz, Port Coquitlam, BC

Good Lifetimes welcomes submissions about activities, events, and story suggestions from your part of the country. Send to karin.schwier@shaw.ca, or mail to: Copestone Writing, 908 University Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0K1. Include contact information.


FOCUS / PERCY FAULKNER

MAKING A CONTRIBUTION

"Good work that leaves the world softer and fuller and better than ever before is the stuff of which human satisfaction and spiritual value are made."
-- Joan Chittister

Keeping an eye on the ball every Tuesday night are Nancy Schurman, Percy Faulkner and William Vickery. Percy, reportedly the high roller of the threesome, handily wins the majority of games. His Nova Scotia network came together in friendship and faith, sharing the unifying belief that Percy’s move from a rehabilitation centre to the community will be smooth. The network provides hope for the future and the stability of consistent friendship and support in times of change. See story, next page.


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HOPE / VICKIE CAMMACK

BREATHING LIFE INTO THE FUTURE

"Hope is the oxygen of the human spirit."
-- Margaret Somerville

It all felt so familiar, it was hard to believe we were in a small town in Western Australia. Our presentation was in the local community centre; the chairs were lined up, pointing forward, theatre-style. Even the families seemed familiar, the mixed bag that we families are everywhere. There were young mothers, a grandmother, a brother, a few middle-aged couples. However, one dignified and quiet gentleman stood out. He was obviously the oldest person in the room.

Throughout he was silent, choosing only to share his name during the introductions. At the break, we spoke to him and he told us he had a 50-year-old son at home who relied on him for pretty much everything. "I’m tired of making plans and seeing them amount to nothing. Since my wife has gone, I just don’t think I can do it on my own," he said.

We did not think we had answers. After the break, we simply told stories of other families facing the future. We talked about the courage, resilience, love and hospitality that planning for the future has given us the privilege to witness. We spoke about the power of families facing the future together.

Imagine our surprise at the end when this gentleman stood up to speak. We had no idea what he might say. His comment was simple and direct; it was also soft and resonant with emotion. "You have given me hope," he said.

We all were deeply touched. He had reminded us that the most important single step we can take towards creating a good life is to commit to generating hope. Hope comes from the small things in our lives, the stories we tell, the acknowledgements we give, the possibilities we see, the faith we share. Each of these everyday acts of inspiration has the potential to send wind into the human spirit and breathe life into the future.


NETWORK PERSPECTIVE / WENDY VICKERY

PERCY’S POTLUCK

Percy has been a member of our church for as long as most of us can remember. Now in his 60s, he has lived at the Rehab Centre for 47 years. He knows that soon the centre will be closed and he’s being moved out to live "in the community." No one, not even Percy, knows if he will be able to stay in our community, never mind where or with whom. The unknown and the sense of loss upsets him, but most of the time he doesn’t dwell on it.

I’ve been concerned about what will happen to Percy; many others are, too. Percy is the first person we all meet at the door when we arrive at church. He welcomes us, gives us a bulletin and asks for our relatives who failed to come with us: "Where you husband?" he says to me regularly. We value his presence. He takes the offering every Sunday. Most of us assume that Percy is well taken care of and haven’t spent a lot of time asking him about his life.

One morning near Christmas, we’d had a particularly moving early alternative worship service. We realized that Percy hadn’t arrived yet. Someone phoned the Rehab Centre and found out that Percy had been waiting somewhat impatiently to be picked up. There was a rush to collect the upset Percy and apologize for our error; it was a mistake -- someone had slept in. But Percy was deeply hurt.

Our minister, Susan, was just winding things up to move on to the next part of the service, when Percy called out from the back of the church: "Me... Susan... me!" Susan knew he needed everyone to know what had happened. Susan explained, "Yes, Percy, we know how upset you are and we want to apologize to you for not picking you up for church on time today." Percy was satisfied that he’d been noticed at last, but he fought tears. People whispered, "Poor Percy. Do you know what will happen to him? Does he have any relatives?" We know so little, and yet we’re the most important people in his life outside of the Rehab Centre.

Some time later, I announced that we would be having a potluck "This is Your Life" evening for Percy and that everyone was invited to talk. Lots of people came up and told stories about how they valued Percy and how much they appreciate his kindness when they arrive in church: lending his hymn book, giving people his seat and asking for their family members who aren’t with them. Everyone applauded. Percy loved it, but found it quite emotional. I don’t think he’s ever had so much attention. I asked everyone to write down any stories or messages, and we created a book. I said that Percy was interested in having a group of friends to meet with regularly. I described PLAN and Lifetime Advocacy Network of Nova Scotia (LANNS).

We have since had a meeting of a group of people in our church who want to explore the ways that we can be more supportive of Percy, especially during his transition into the community. Five people have indicated that they want to participate in the network. Together, we will ensure Percy’s voice.

(Wendy Vickery is a founding member of LANNS.)


CELEBRITY SPEAKS / GUY VANDERHAEGHE

COMMUNITY IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN VANDERHAEGE CHARACTERS

There was a guy who hung around a lot when my dad was on the rodeo circuit. He watered the horses, fed hay and groomed the animals. At the time, there was probably an element of him being cheap labour, but I never saw him treated badly. He got teased from time to time, but as one of the guys; it was more a sign of affection from people on the circuit. The odd time when a stranger made a remark about him being slow, people stepped in. The regulars became his family. He really looked up to the bronco riders and he’d be quite protective of their things. When we were on the circuit, there were always people hanging around, and this guy, in a slightly officious way, would wave people away from the horses and say, "You really shouldn’t touch that." It gave him a sense of belonging, because the rodeo was really a kind of community. He had responsibilities and he was expected to do his chores.

There was another young guy who sort of attached himself to my dad. It was lucky for him, because he was in a world that tended to value physical prowess and strength. Maybe he couldn’t read or write, but that didn’t really matter. My dad used to spend a good part of the summer moving from one rodeo venue to another. This kid travelled along and he finally found a girlfriend, which was a pretty big stretch for him. It took a lot. I remember my dad being really happy for him. Dad said it was really a nice thing, that the kid deserved some love just like anybody else. I’d like to think Wylie [a sidekick character in "The Englishman’s Boy" who is easily swayed or tricked] has some of the spirit of those two guys.

A few years ago, I was digging around in the Saskatchewan Archives when I was thinking of writing about the TB sanitorium in the Qu’Appelle Valley. Among some of the papers, I found some notes from a nurse who had worked at the North Battleford Hospital. She talked about the overcrowding, that there wasn’t enough time to look after people properly. Incontinent patients were just lined up and hosed off before bed, those kinds of things. I think all of us who have to contend with power in our lives know how difficult it is to make yourself heard, let alone the people who need advocates in a place where there is no one to supervise the supervisors. It’s clear that the history of mental institutions across North America certainly has some common themes. It’s an unworkable system if you want to treat people with dignity. If one person is left to control large numbers of people, things start to happen. That old saying of Lord Acton’s: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

This is particularly true in the case of my mother, who had a long history of severe mental illness and was frequently hospitalized. All her life, I watched her struggle with her disease and, more importantly, with the stigma attached to it. Attitudes about mental illness had a devastating effect on her. She was a highly intelligent, very witty woman, and when she was well, thoughts about how people reacted to her always lurked in the back of her mind. From the day I began to write, I created characters who suffered in ways similar to my mother. The play "Dancock’s Dance" probably had its roots in my early experiences as a child, and in many of my short stories and novels, there are people who face mental illness. I suppose I’ve always wanted people to be more understanding of such people’s plights, to stop, think, and appreciate the struggles all of us face as we swim upstream.

(Guy Vanderhaeghe is one of Canada’s best loved novelists; his work has garnered not only the prestigious Governor General’s Award for "The Englishman’s Boy" (now in the works as a movie), but many other coveted literary prizes. Compassion and dignity of spirit are qualities that some of his roughest-around-the-edges characters possess. In "The Englishman’s Boy," a character with a disability is really a lingering memory of a man on his father’s rodeo circuit. In his play "Dancock’s Dance," Vanderhaeghe delved into the treatment of people with disabilities in institutions and decided that "unbounded power over those who have no voice may result in boundless harm." Here, Vanderhaeghe talks with the Good Lifetimes editor about how people with disabilities have touched his work. He is currently completing the screenplay for "The Englishman’s Boy.")


ALL AROUND US

Al Etmanski and Vickie Cammack are accepting invitations to share and explore the concept of PLAN with a worldwide audience. In the past year, they’ve visited with families not only across Canada, but also in Australia, the U.S., Britain, Scotland and Ireland. Here, they meet with families in Western Australia.


EDMONTON, ALBERTA
The Edmonton Regional Parent/Guardian Partnership Society just held the first Prairie PLAN Consortium. People from Alberta and Saskatchewan attended facilitator training and a parent workshop. The development came out of a parent/guardianship conference in 2000. Event organizers Emma Pivato of Edmonton, whose daughter Alexis has disabilities, and Donna Crozier, coordinator of community relations, told Good Lifetimes that a safe and secure future and a full life for persons with a disability are most appealing about PLAN. Watch for more developments in future issues. For details: mitzi@interbaun.com or epls@home.com.


PLAN AFFILIATES:

Bruce-Grey Lifetime Networks (Port Elgin/Owen Sound, Ontario)
c/o Lorrie and Larry Garrod, 582 Mill St., Port Elgin, ON, N0H 2C0. Phone: (519) 832-6147 (w); e-mail: bgln@bmts.com.

Planned Lifetime Networks (Waterloo-Wellington-Oxford, Ontario)
c/o Roslyn Vincent, Lynne Thomson, 29 Sandcliffe Pl., Waterloo, ON, N2T 1A8. Phone: (519) 746-7950 (h); e-mail: rvincent@sympatico.ca.

WSEP Lifetime Networks (Montreal, Quebec)
c/o Nicole Marchessault, 14415 rue Mayo, Pierrefonds, QC, H9H 1L8. Phone: (514) 620-4380 (w); fax: (514) 696-3070; e-mail: nicolesantilli@sprint.ca.

Lifetime Ability Networks of Nova Scotia
P.O. Box 21008, 4 Forest Hills Dr., Dartmouth, NS, B2W 6B2. Phone/fax: (902) 462-0666; e-mail: lanns@accesswave.ca; www.nsnet.org/lanns.

Lethbridge ACL PLAN (Lethbridge, Alberta)
c/o Tom Cain, 2518 Fifth Ave. S., Lethbridge, AB, T1J 0X5. Phone: (403) 327-3365 (h), (403) 327-2911 (w); fax: (403) 320-7054; e-mail: thecains@telusplanet.net.

Lifetime Networks Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario)
c/o Kathleen Jordan, 406 - 1390 Prince of Wales Dr., Nepean, ON, K2C 3N6. Phone: (613) 738-4474 (h), (613) 748-7162 (w); fax: (613) 226-7522; e-mail: kjordan@magma.ca.

Prince George Lifetime Networks Society (Prince George, British Columbia)
c/o Terry Robertson, 2458 Rush Place, Prince George, BC, V2N 3E4. Phone: (250) 564-5681 (h), (250) 561-7300 (w); e-mail: planpg@ckpg.net.

OUR SPONSORS
Helping families embrace the future
- Wood Gundy
- The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
- CN
- ICBC: The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

NEXT PLAN INSTITUTE LEADERSHIP TRAINING: April 8-12, 2002. Register early!