RVCS hosts information session on services for adults with developmental disabilities

Andrea Emmons of Community Living BC speaks to attendees of the Valemount information session. Families should start planning to apply for services once their child is 16 so they can access them as soon as they’re eligible, she says. /Abigail Popple

By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG

Local non-profit Robson Valley Community Services (RVCS) is exploring ways to support adults with developmental disabilities in the valley. In the latest step of this effort, RVCS invited Community Living BC – a Crown corporation that funds programs and living support for people 19 and up who have developmental disabilities – to host an information session in Valemount and McBride on August 26th and 27th, respectively.

Community Living BC aims to support people eligible for its programs by funding the services that meet their needs, said the organization’s North Region Service Manager Andrea Emmons.

“We’re focused on the quality of life for individuals and meeting individuals where they’re at,” Emmons said, noting that the organization ensures its services are culturally sensitive. “It’s our goal to keep people in their community as much as possible and to age in place wherever they can.”

For the organization’s Prince George office, that means building face-to-face relationships with people across northern B.C. as much as possible, Emmons said. She added that facilitating connections with local services that allow people to stay in their home community is an important part of that relationship-building.

“It’s the same for any of us: a sense of belonging and a sense of community and connection, no matter what size the community, that connection is important,” Emmons continued. “To feel connected and belong – it just builds quality of life.”

Community Living BC doesn’t directly provide services to the clients it supports, but they fund agencies – in this case, it would be RVCS – who employ community support workers, Emmons said. Those workers can provide services ranging from helping people get employment to grocery shopping with people or providing home living support.

While Community Living provides services for those aged 19 and up, families can start planning for their services as soon as an eligible individual is 16, according to Emmons. Once they reach adulthood, the organization requires parental consent for parents to be involved, and the individual makes their own decisions with Community Living staff helping to identify the services that could meet their needs, she added.

Now, both RVCS and Community Living hope to work together to one day bring support services to the Robson Valley. RVCS Manager of Child and Family Services Isla Jackman told The Goat the two organizations have been discussing a possible partnership for years.

“What we hope to do is find [adults with developmental disabilities] more connection with service provision,” Jackman said. “[Community Living] doesn’t hire the support workers that support the people that need it – they find agencies that do that. Them showing up and sharing their information here starts the conversation in the Valley of who would access their services.”

Emmons also said Community Living hopes to build more relationships in the Robson Valley, and RVCS could be part of that.

“We’ve been talking for a couple of years about potentially having them provide services that are funded by CLBC, and we would love to see that happen,” Emmons said. 

Jackman and Emmons agreed that the information session was a good step forward for building relationships between community members and Community Living.

“Basic outreach from these stakeholders goes so far. Even though our population is small, I want it to be valued. Even if there’s five or six people, [organizations] need to come out and help people get this information,” Jackman said.

Related Posts: