Milestone for community organization

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca



This year is a huge milestone for the West Island Association for the Intellectually Handicapped (WIAIH). The community organization that offers support to intellectually handicapped children and adults and their families is celebrating its golden anniversary and all of the achievements it has had over the past 50 years.

“It’s quite a big milestone for a community organization,” said WIAIH’s director, Natalie Chapman, who worked with the organization in the recreation department for about six years before becoming director in 1996.

On top of support services, the independent organization runs the Pat Roberts Centre, a preschool for children up to five years old with special needs in Ste. Genevieve, the Valois Residence in Pointe Claire, and recreation activities. While WIAIH used to be subsidized by the Quebec government, it became completely independent in 2003. The move meant WIAIH was able to gain more freedom, allowing them for example, to accept children at the Pat Roberts Centre without a formal diagnosis. In a past interview, the Pat Roberts Centre coordinator Denise Currie told The Chronicle this allows for early intervention, because families do not need to wait for the diagnosis, and then wait again to get into a specialized program.

“We see miracles happen everyday here, because of early intervention,” Currie said.

However, independence also led to a $160,000 cut from their annual budget, which has made things tough at times.

Last year, despite forecasting an approximate $30,000 deficit, WIAIH ended the year on a more positive note.

“We’ve done much better than we had expected. Our budget picture is looking better. We’re looking at coming to the end of the year with a $7,000 deficit, and we were looking at a $30,000-something deficit,” Chapman said at the end of December.

This was in part because of the federal government’s summer career grants for students, which was in danger of being cut in summer 2007. However, the grants did come through at the last minute, allowing WIAIH to hire the 12 students it usually has for the summer.

On top of summer students, WIAIH relies heavily on volunteers – the organization needs about 600 a year for usual operations and special events – and donors.

“We have incredibly supportive donors,” Chapman said. “We support families and I find that when you really believe in supporting families and you can touch them when they’re at a time of their life when they’re in stress and crisis, they remember you. They become donors, supporters and volunteers for life.”

Former Lac St. Louis MP and past WIAIH president, Clifford Lincoln’s 41-year-old son has Down syndrome. He told The Chronicle about his own personal experiences with WIAIH in fall 2007.

“Until we found the association, it was really difficult for us,” he said. “Once we did, it was like a cloud was lifted. The self-help and support among the parents was just fantastic. I can’t say enough about WIAIH. It was like a new life started for us.”

Lincoln is also WIAIH’s 50th anniversary spokesperson.

While it is hard to look into the future and predict what 2008 will be like, Chapman said it should be an interesting year.

“We can’t really look too far forward, because we never know about the funding realities,” she said. “The first thing to get through is the 2008 year and make it (the 50th anniversary) as big a deal as we can.”

Chapman said two major events to look out for are WIAIH’s evening of fashion and entertainment on April 12, and National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, and best-selling author Maude Barlow’s talk on healthcare, privatization and the role of the community organization on Jan. 23. For more information, visit WIAIH’s website www.wiaih.qc.ca, or call 514- 694-7090.