Richmond Hill – 8-14 November 2010
We arrived at the Bayview Golf and Country club where we were met by Rotarian, Graham Jones who organised the most diverse and relevant program for the team to visit.
We farewelled AG Michael Parker, our fabulous tour leader, host, guide and our ‘people mover’ - the Dalrenmobile.
Host families – each of us met and travelled to our respective new homes to freshen up for the Evening Rotary meeting and team briefing prior to the meeting commencing.
Rotary Meeting – Chartered in 1954; meets at the Sheraton Hotel, Richmond Hill; 50 members; 27 nationalities; significant community representatives as members; Mayor, members of Provincial and Federal parliament.
Meeting is chaired by Vice President – Gordon Van Dyke
Opened at 6 30 and closed 8pm
President – Binni Rana
DGN Ted Koziel and his wife attended – I have linked Ted with Bill Salter our DGN in Australia
Anthems – O Canada and Advance Australia Fair
Toast to Queen and both Canada and Australia
Grace – for all nations/beliefs
Rotary news – various members provided updates on current projects, etc.
Rotary Minute – each Rotary meeting we attended, irrespective of the tight schedule allowed time for the presentation of a topic on Rotary
Dinner served at 6 round tables with the GSE Team spread around each table
Presentation – 30 minutes allowed – Team did another great job
Fellowship - everyone was involved and having heaps of fun.
Happy Bucks and fines – interestingly different to that we see in our meetings
Very happy group of Rotarians
Very happy group of Rotarians
Fund-raiser - current – TV Auction conducted over 1st week-end in December – has been conducted for 22 years raised between $75 and 120K. Joint project with 2 Rotary Clubs and several community organisations.
What we did...
York Centre for Children, Youth and Families, met by the Clinical Director – Dean Rokos his team – see summary below.
The program was very carefully developed and varied to cater for each of our interests over the 4 days and included:
York Region District & School Board – Alyssa and Melissa
York Region Police – Matt Ireland and Dot – 1 day
Addiction Services for the York Region – Matthew James; Stuart Balzan and Dot
Remembrance Day ceremony – all attended in various capacities – Matt Ireland, dressed in his NSW Police Uniform, stood with the Police of the York Region; Team attended with their host families.
McMichael Centre – local art – Stuart, Alyssa, Melissa, Matthew James
Catholic School Board – Melissa
York Community Hospital – Stuart, Matthew James, Alyssa, Dot
York schools - Melissa
Social night at a local pub where food, drink and pool was enjoyed by the team and members – the Aussies challenged the Canadians to pool!
Farewell Dinner at President Binni’s home on the Saturday night – wonderful night, very well supported by Club members and their partners/families and Binni’s family. Gifts were presented to each member from his/her host family plus we received a special pin from The Hon Bryon Wilfert, RC, MP of Richmond Hill who is also a member of the Club.
Every aspect of the program, culturally and vocationally was so carefully planned for our visit by Rotarian Graham Jones and President Binni Rana supported by the host families and their wives/partners.
The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill, President Binni, Program Chair Graham, the members of club representing 27 Cultures, really shared with us true Rotary hospitality, service above self and the values of Rotarians. We left Richmond Hill with so many very special memories of a wonderful multi-cultural farewell, "pot luck" dinner in Binni's home, joined by our host familes and members of the Club; treasured memories of our experiences and the opportunity to continue to network and keep in touch
Our Host families...
More about what we did...
York Centre for Children, Youth and Families – brief summary
Everybody wondered how we would fill in the day from 9am to 4pm. It was an absolutely amazing experience – we were given the most overwhelming welcome, taken on a tour of the facility plus a comprehensive overview of the services, their relationship to the school boards, accountability and the children, youth and families.
We spent time with staff in the morning, shared a case study with us and sought our advice/feedback
After lunch taken to both sections: Matthew, Matt and Stuart to the children’s section and given the opportunity to try to assist with a particularly challenging child called Walton.
Elissa, Alyssa and Dot spent the afternoon with the youth in each of their sessions – handed out kangaroos and saw the check at the end of the day to summary what had been covered during the day.
The centre is very much about love, trust, care and respect – a great model and one which we must share.
What is even more special is that Rotarian Graham Jones who has organised the vocational visits to RH has been on the board for over 20 years, has been a major driver in fund-raising, getting the services up to the standard where they are through his support and commitment. There is a plaque in the foyer of the main office in recognition of Graham’s role.
Addiction Services for the York Region - ASYR
There we were met by Louisa Leung, Clinical Director, who had organised the following:
Aurora Office, 15150 Yonge Steet, Aurora – 9 30am-12 00midday
Community Withdrawal Management Program
Outreach Program
Adult Substance Program
Gambling Program
Information of Clinical Orientation
Newmarket Office – 1 30 to 3 00pm
Concurrent Disorder Program
Umbrella Program
Court Diversion Program
Youth Program
Thursday 11 November – York Regional Police - Dot joined Matt Ireland for a day
Michael Fleischaker, Senior Sgt Community Services Bureau – Community Partnerships – was our host for the day. He called at each of our home hosts’ homes to take and returned us in the afternoon.
We were briefed on...
The Multi-disciplinary Threats in Schools Approach from Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response; view FRTA Training and Protocol with Schools Boards; Overview of YRP Whole of Schools Approached – Youth Programs from Grade 1-12
The sessions were conducted at the York Regional Police village where they bring students from K-12 into the village and teach them a range of skills in fire, road safety, driving, strangers, etc. The program is integrated into the school curriculum, so that for example every YR 2 student in the region would attend the centre for 2hrs and do a program focused on a particular topic, ie fire safety, the correct number to call, be taken through a real simulation of a residential unit to identify fire hazards, experience smoke and how to safely leave a room, etc.
This facility had a full-time Administrator who manages support staff and a large number of volunteers; has been made possible with donations from the community and businesses, including Rotary, providing programs to over 35,000 school students each year.
We did a tour - see photos to get a feel for this wonderful facility...
Remembrance Day in Richmond Hill
Visited newest police station – did a tour of facilities and cells
York Central Hospital - Friday 12 November – Alyssa, Matthew James, Stuart and Dot
The visit was organised by Dot’s home host, Rick Sulker who is a long-serving of the Hospital Foundation, which had only just raised their largest contributions over $500K the week before. Three (3) members of the Foundation staff and the sister of a major benefactor joined the group.
A very informative program was presented by:
Merri Chilelli, Team Leader, Adult Services, Mental Health Programs and
Dr Debby Zweig, Team Leader Shaw Clinic, Child & Family Servicers, Mental Health Programs – explained how each of their programs are conducted, in-patient and outpatient, and we did a tour of both facilities.
A tour of the hospital followed provided by Natarlya Movsovich, Head of Education and Surgery. It is a very well-equipped facility, has an extensive range of services and continues to work towards meeting the needs of the Community.
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