Saul becomes PLAN Patron

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 / HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN RALSTON SAUL, PLAN PATRON

"Service is the rent each of us pays for living - the very purpose of life."
- Marian Wright Edelman

Ted Kuntz, the president of the Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network Board of Directors, is "delighted to announce that His Excellency John Ralston Saul has agreed to be the National Patron of PLAN. We are so pleased he has demonstrated his deep commitment to people with disabilities and their families in this way. Our ability to create relationships with families who have a relative with a disability will be enhanced by the vice-regal patronage of Mr. Saul, and we look forward with great anticipation to our relationship with His Excellency." A celebration is planned for this spring.


A GOOD LIFE
"A Good Life" is full of good theory, exciting and innovative practice. We love the wonderful quotes interspersed throughout the intelligent and always thought-provoking text. A must read for the New Millennium!"
- Dr. Marsha Forest and Jack Pearpoint, Inclusion Press
Visit the website: www.agoodlife.org


BECOME A PLAN ASSOCIATE AND REAP THE REWARDS
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VISION / TED KUNTZ

MAY NO ONE BE ALONE

PLAN began as a small group of elderly parents. What they had in common were sons and daughters with a disability. These aging parents acknowledged their mortality, and they had the courage to face the question, "What will happen to my child after I’m gone?" Out of that courage and vision has grown a social movement that is changing communities. PLAN has become more than caring for a loved one with a disability after parents pass away. PLAN has become synonymous with "a good life."

2001 was a monumental year for PLAN, one of re-birthing. We’ve cracked the shell of our original container and are now thinking in larger and bolder ways. Our new vision is "a good life for everyone." In this year of tragedy and turmoil, we came to recognize that the good life we are creating for our sons and daughters with a disability benefits all people. It’s not only people with a disability who wish to be safe and secure and to have the freedom of choice. Not only people with a disability wish to contribute in meaningful ways to their community. All people need friendship, choice, home, wealth and contribution to experience full citizenship.

We develop relationships with individuals and families, but now also with communities, institutions, corporations, governments and international associations. Our goal is to create sustainable communities where all citizens are included and valued and have the opportunity to share their gifts in meaningful ways. For this to happen, each and every individual needs to be in relationship. Community changes. It becomes stronger, richer, more vibrant, safer and more caring.

John McKnight, author of "The Careless Society: Community and Its Counterfeits," spoke to us recently: "I think what has happened here at PLAN is one of the two or three most important movements that have occurred in the world." He spoke of the Solidarity movement in Poland that brought down the military dictatorship. He spoke of Marianne Thompson, whose gathering of eight women who wanted to breastfeed their babies blossomed to more than 28,000 La Leche League groups worldwide. He spoke of Bill W.’s small support group for alcoholics that has healed millions. "You [PLAN]," John said, "are in this group. You are members of an honoured, incredible, almost miraculous possibility of what people can do."

We HAVE created something pretty incredible at PLAN. We have changed the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals through the power of relationships. We have created safer, more secure worlds, and opportunities for love, peace and friendship. We have reason to celebrate and be proud.

As John states, "The future is made by us." Join us in our vision of healthier, more caring communities, where no one is alone.



PARENT PERSPECTIVE / TERRY ROBERTSON

STEMMING THE TRADITION OF ISOLATION

The reason my husband and I helped create PLAN PG (Prince George) can be summed up in eight letters: Bree-Anna. Our beautiful daughter is now 15, and the years seem to have flown by. Bree’s diagnosis is severe cerebral palsy. She is totally dependent on others for all her needs. She is considered non-verbal; however, it doesn’t take folks long to realize she is anything but. People are always amazed at how my husband, our son or I jump into action at her slightest squeal, groan or laugh - no words needed.

Bree is a typical teenager in every other way. She wants to talk on the phone constantly. She likes to look and dress like Britney Spears and listen to the Backstreet Boys, ’N SYNC and all those boy bands. She plans to marry Freddie Prinz Jr., a hot Hollywood hunk (you’ll only know who this is if you have a teenage girl in your house) and move to L.A., where she can drive her power chair outdoors year ’round. The nail polish must match the outfit of the day. Each morning we have to remember to put on her four rings, two bracelets and one watch. (The pierced earrings stay in, thank heavens, or we’d never make the school bus.) Our social butterfly loves school. Junior high really has a lot more boys to watch. Bree participates in regular classes and does very well. Her favourite class is science; her teacher expects her to write tests like everyone else.

For Bree, the biggest barrier she faces is her inability to initiate conversations. We work very hard to create situations where she is involved with her peers. Our biggest fear is about what will happen after high school ends.

She has never experienced prolonged loneliness and isolation. We know that a personal support network could change everything for Bree and for us. Bree-Anna does have a very high-tech computer that is attached to her power chair, and she uses it extensively at school and out in the community. Our family "plan" is to have a network start soon, to take advantage of her school connections now, instead of trying to build a network in 10 or 20 years.

PLAN is new in Prince George, and we have to thank the Project Friendship Society for its generous support in these early years. A lot of the work done since our incorporation in March of 2000 has centred on fundraising and educating other families, agencies, service clubs and businesses.

Perhaps our son Drew will benefit from Bree-Anna’s network as much as his sister. Drew has always been worried about how he could care for his sister all by himself. He was five the first time he asked if he could marry Bree. "No," I said, startled. "You can’t marry your sister. It’s the law." Every couple of days he’d ask me if Kim Campbell, then-Prime Minister, had changed the law yet. I’d say, "No, Drew. Why?" He said if he married Bree, then no one could take her away and hurt her.

Now you see why we had to have PLAN here. The network will be able to support both of our children when we no longer can. My husband and I can rest easier knowing we’ve left Bree-Anna surrounded by a network of loving people.

From personal experience, I know what has to happen to keep our daughter included. I worked in an extended-care facility when I was pregnant with Bree. Several young teens lived there whose families didn’t even visit them. I was always upset by that. I’m determined that won’t happen to the kids I know.

(Terry Robertson is the coordinator of Prince George Lifetime Networks Society (PLAN PG), a PLAN affiliate in Prince George, B.C. )



BEING PRACTICAL / JACK COLLINS & JERRY SHOEMAKER

Jack Collins is a founding president of PLAN. Jerry Shoemaker is Manager of Communications, CCRA Saskatoon. For more tax information, visit PLAN’s website, www.plan.ca, for an article by Harry Beatty. On the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency’s website, www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca, search for "Information Concerning People with Disabilities." A separate web page provides easy access to publications and forms dealing with information concerning people with disabilities: www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/disability.

PARENTS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DISABILITY TAX CREDIT

Parents of people with disabilities have a little time to get organized so they can pay a little less to the government at tax time. The Disability Tax Credit can be used by parents when their child is young and also when he or she is an adult.

Get from Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA - Revenue Canada was the old name) the publication "Information Concerning People with Disabilities." Read it and pay particular attention to the section describing the tax credit. If the child does not use all or part of this tax credit because of lack of income, the unused portion can be transferred to the parent and so save the parent tax.

An individual is eligible for the Disability Tax Credit if a qualified person such as a medical doctor certifies either of the following:

* The individual is blind all or most of the time, even with the use of corrective lenses or medication, and the impairment is prolonged.

* The individual has a severe mental or physical impairment which causes marked restrictions in any of the basic activities of daily living, and the impairment is prolonged.

Any individual with a disability would meet one of these criteria, including a child with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Basic activities of daily living include walking, speaking, perceiving, thinking and remembering, hearing, feeding and dressing, and eliminating bodily waste. Basic activities of daily living do not include general activities such as working, housekeeping or social or recreational activities.

A note of caution: CCRA is refusing many claims for the Disability Tax Credit. When applying, you must fill in the form very carefully, giving full details of your child’s disability and the effect it has on lifestyle. You should make sure your doctor fills in his or her part of the form fairly and accurately, also giving full details of the effect of the disability. It is not sufficient, for example, for them only to say that your child has Down syndrome and leave it at that. It helps if the doctor is knowledgeable about people with disabilities.


ALL AROUND US:


PHOTO CAPTION:
Kathy, 16, lives with her mom, Lorraine, President of Prince George Lifetime Networks Society, and her brother, Michael. Kathy is in grade 11, with many friends in and out of school. The younger group in Kathy’s network had a "wrap party" in mid-December; people brought their holiday gifts and wrapped together amid lots of food and festive companionship.

SPRING LEADERSHIP TRAINING
PLAN Institute’s most requested event, the one-week-long Leadership Training, will be April 8-12 in Abbotsford, B.C. Limited to 20 interested in starting a local family-directed organization to support the creation of networks around people with disabilities. Contact Vickie Cammack, PLAN Institute for Citizenship and Disability, (604) 439-9566; fax: (604) 439-7001; or e-mail: vcammack@plan.ca.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO
At Lifetime Networks Ottawa, we have five facilitator recruits who took part in the second round of interviews last winter. A training session was planned for February. We have families waiting, so we are anxious to get the facilitators trained and ready to go.
- Kathleen Jordan

PORT ELGIN/OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO
We have four lifetime members and one associate. We’re in a small rural area; amazingly, in response to our newspaper ad, 20 people wanted to be facilitators. We met in October about our goals for our loved ones. Three families attended the facilitator workshop in Guelph. We spoke to the Lions Club, who want to meet again soon. We speak to groups whenever we can, and it’s starting to pay off. People realize the need and want to be involved.
- Larry and Lorrie Garrod

PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Prince George Lifetime Networks Society has recruited seven new board members and held our AGM Feb.1. Vickie Cammack and Jacinta Eni attended, with a full-day workshop, Feb 2. Two new networks start in January, with two more ready to go ahead. With all the changes coming in the way people with disabilities receive service in B.C., a network is something many families want to create for peace of mind about their loved ones.
- Terry Robertson

REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN
An organizing committee has been gathering information about PLAN for some time. Tom Cain of Lethbridge ACL PLAN and Ken Goodman, the focus person of a PLAN network, provided information to the PLAN committee this winter. A presentation was made January 21 to the Regina ACL board; our next step is to send a letter of intent, asking to become a PLAN affiliate. Four people will attend the week-long PLAN training event in April.
- John Coflin


PLAN AFFILIATES:

Planned Lifetime Support Networks (Bruce-Grey Inc.)
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

COMING NEXT ISSUE:
Dartmouth MP Wendy Lill shares family, community dreams