Rotary Club of Richmond Hill - 8 to 14 November 2010

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

President Binni & Dot

Fund-raiser - current – TV Auction conducted over 1^st 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

A very special thank you each of you.

 

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.

Rotary Club of Cobourg - 2-8 November 2010 - Visit No 3

Rotary Club of Cobourg – in its 90^th year – 2-8 November 2010

155 Members and growing – this Club truly replicates the importance of being a Rotarian in a town where you are so focused on the community and serving.

Michael Parker met us at Bayview Country Club, we travelled in the ‘people mover’, the Delrenmobile,to Cobourg through the most scenic county, taking back roads rather than Highway 401.

Michael gave us a running commentary throughout out travels and the whole time we were in Cobourg – sharing with us his pride for his craft as one of the leading building companies in Cobourg. 

On arrival in Cobourg, we went to the Town Hall, met the Mayor, Peter Delanty, also a Rotarian.  He provided a tour and explained the history of the building.  He has finished his 3^rd term and chose not to stand for re-election.

Each of the host families met us at the Town Hall and took us to their homes.

Our visit included:

Vocational - 2 days visiting the various community and mental health networks operating in the city.  Everybody we met is passionate, committed and so willing to share.

3 November - Wednesday

Cobourg – Northumberland Children’s Services visit from Melissa Quig -

We began our day at the Northumberland Children's Services Committee (NCSC). Executive Director, Nicola Crow was most informative in explaining the vitial role in which this committe plays in response to the needs of families, children and youth within the Northumberland County. NCSC provides a "one stop shop" as it is committed in facilitating a collaboration of over 30 service providers to achieve the most effective and efficient use of resources, and to achieve the best possible outcomes for the community. Due to this collaboration of services NCSC are able to "wrap around Northumberland" services under one umbrealla of community supports; offer a myraid of services for families, children and youth in need of mental health services and counselling; and share agency resources effectively to achieve and advocate for common goals.

This centalized intake service links families to the most appropriate supports in the community. Such as Rebound. We were joined by Trent Parmenter who introduced us to the Mental Health Court Support and Diversion Program. This program provides assistance to individuals in conflict with the law who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Rebound professionals assist in accessing appropriate mental health diagnosis, treatment, supports and follow up to minimize further involvement in the criminal justice system. Not only do Rebound profesionals faciliate appropriate psychiatric assessment and medical treatment as needed but they also link individuals to crisis program, substance use programs, emergency housing, services for intellectual disabilities, case management , court diversion and release from custody programs.

We then made our way to another service that falls under the unbrealla of NCSC, that is, Northumberland Services for Women. Linda Janzen and her team provide an amazing service to provide a safe, secure, supportive independent living environment that will enable women to make a smooth transition to a voilent free life style within their chosen community. Northumberland Services for Women has beautiful facilities consisting of 18 bedrooms in which Women can also access individual and group counselling services, psychoeducation and transitional support and housing programs.

Before venturing out to other services under the Northumberland Children's Services Committee we were spoilt over lunch at the Oasis Resturant which was hosted by owner and fellow Roatrian Don Owen. Our team enjoyed great food, good tunes and company of Linda and our Rotarian organizer Michael. Then we hit the road again and were greeted by Pam Nickolson and her team at Kinark.

Kinark, Family and Child Services is a not for profit organisation which provides a full range of free and confidential programs and services to children and youth (0-18 years) with mental health issues, as well as support for the families/ caregivers. After a centralized intake process the family and child are offered an appointment within 14 days. Presenting problems may include:

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

- Anxious, Fearful, Depressed, Sad, Withdrawn, Low Self Esteem

- Behavioural problems at school or at home

- Alcohol/Drug Abuse; Extreme Mood Swings; Aggressive, Oppositional.

- Assaultive, Destructive of property, cruelty to animals, fire setting.

The GSE team had the opportunity to speak to a number of mental health professionals, including counsellors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists within this organisation who conducted individual, group and family counselling and interventions. 

After a tour of Kinark we were joined by Susan Abell who represented the Office of the Chief Coroner Province of Ontario which lead us into discussion and analysis into the report of the Paediatric Death Review Committe and Deaths under five Committee.

The GSE team were extremely grateful to all the health professionals who lead and faciliated wonderful learning programs and tours of the above organisations throughout the day.     

 

4 November - Thursday - by Alyssa Milton

The team gathered at Tim Horton’s for a quick “cup of Joe” before heading to Port Hope for youth “The Hub”. The Hub is a locally funded initiative that supports youth in any way, shape or form. The design of the “hub” is very interesting; there is a coordinator, Lynn Evans, who speaks with young people who drop in to the centre seeking help or advice. Upon presentation, Lynn connects the young person to the most appropriate service in the local area that will address their needs. The connection is free and takes place without delay at The Hub. This means that the young person does not have to go to the service, the service comes to them. Overall, they report that this model significantly reduces the difficulty of non-engagement. There are 17 organisations that utalise The Hub’s facilities and their support rages from:

v Personal Relationships

v  High School diplomas

v Career Planning

v Job search

v Addictions

v Problems at Home

v Post Secondary Education

v On-line learning

v Health Services

v Depression

v Anger Management

v Parenting

v Housing Services

v Food Supplies

v Sexual Health

v Social Services

The hub network put on an amazing breakfast spread for us whilst we met all the different organizations that utalised the Hub. The Port Hope police liaison officer also gave a moving presentation relating to the need for more services in the community for youth mental health.

W then moved on to Lakeshore Community Mental Health Services who gave us an interesting overview of their service. Alyssa, Stuart, Melissa and Matt completed some home visits to consumers receiving support from the service and saw how LCMHS approaches case management. Matthew and Dot went on a tour of the hospital facilities.

We had a quick bite to eat at a local pizzeria and subsequently moved on to the Kawartha Pine Ridge School Board to hear about new ways of conducting risk assessments and responding to risk related circumstances.

At around 3pm we proceeded to a local venue called “The Mill” where we again got together in an informal setting with all the people we had visited in Cobourg on our vocational visits and also our Rotarian hosts families. This was a great opportunity to further discuss some of the great programs that were up and running in the Northumberland Area.

Rotary - Presentation to the club at lunch-time on Friday 5 November.  A noisy, fun club, very well organised – about 140 attended including two of our new Rotarian friends from Belleville, Karen Baker and John Cairns.  We were made so very welcome and had a wonderful time.

Immediately after the meeting, we changed out of our suits, handed them to Rotarian Rod Baker to have them cleaned over the week-end.  We travelled 2hrs from Cobourg for an overnight visit to the Cottage of Michael and Karen Parker together with Rotarian Ian Lancaster and Jane Wheeler.  The Cottage, specially designed and built by Michael and Karen, is located on Sheldrake Lake – see photo, in the most picturesque setting.

As we left Cobourg, it started to snow and continued for our journey to the cottage, overnight and next morning, had the wonderful experience of waking to see everything white!  Little chilly too..

Mike and Karen has so much organised, 4 wheeling, walking, stacks of food, before leaving the cottage to visit Bon Echo Provincial Park –

we won’t explain how we gained entry to the park, even though the gates were locked!

We then travelled to Toronto, to meet with Paul Sweet and Bill MacDonald to join us for the Ice Hockey game.  The tickets has been specially organised by DG Ted and donated by Rotarians.  It was a great event, thoroughly enjoyed by all.  Dot sat with Bill and we both agreed that the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to get their act together – very disappointed that after leading until minutes before full-time, the game tied, extra time and finally losing by a penalty stroke! 

Sunday, was spent with our host families and a final farewell reception at the home of Bill and Shirley Moebus late afternoon.

Monday morning, to pack, say farewell to our host families, lunch at the Buttermilk Cafe, then aboard the Dalrenmobile, ‘people mover’ which has been our wheels for so much of our journey so far – to travel to meet our next hosts from the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill.

The Cops...

A very special thank you to Assistant Governor, Michael Parker, President Bill MacDonald our host families and all of the Rotary Club of Cobourg.

Rotary Club of Willowdale - 27 October to 2 November 2010 - Visit 2

RC Willowdale – 27 October to 2 November 2010

Chartered 1 May 1952 – 39 members

We travelled from Belleville, driven in the van by Rotarian Karen Baker, through the most scenic country to Cobourg and met AG Michael Parker, who owns a building company, Dalren.  
See below for more about Michael, when we are in Cobourg.

We attended a special presentation by Bill McPhee who was diagnosed at age 24 with schizophrenia.  Bill presented a very powerful message about the challenges he has confronted, what he has achieved, his highs, lows and now the successes he has achieved in his own Business.

Following the presentation, Mike drove us to meet our host families at Willowdale, President PJ and District Chair VTT/GSE Hilary Richards.

We spent the evening with our host families and began a very tight and informative program organised for our visit.

What we did...

Presentation to the Rotary Club at lunch on Thursday – it was a great, fun meeting, lots of laughter, jokes, energy.

Travelled on the subway – many times

Visit to the Royal Ottawa Museum where we saw the Terra Cotta warrior’s exhibition – escorted by President PJ

Visit to the Hincks-Dellcrest Centre in Toronto – see separate vocational report

CNN Tower – even Stuart (Stuart walked on the glass floor – wow!) and Matthew managed to make it to the top and back down again

Dinner in the city prior to...

Canadian Football match – this is quite something to understand and follow

Some Free time – Saturday 30 October

Painting  of 2 rooms at the Stacey Centred an Aged Care facility where AG Sherri Auger consults  – the photo tells the story...

Halloween was celebrated at AG Sherri and Alex’s home – Mel and Alyssa got into the spirit, mastered the techniques and skills of ‘Trick or Treating’ - did well on collecting the sweets, brought them back to the home where the GSE Boys managed to sample the spoils

CAMH – Toronto, the 2^nd vocational visit, was also very informative – see separate notes

Monday evening we were hosted for a farewell dinner at the Willowdale Country Club.  The majority of members, host families were joined by DG Ted and his wife, Sharron.  DG Ted presented each member of the team with a banner from his club, Oshawa Parkwood.

The location, menu, wines, program were specially organised to send our team off from our visit with a bunch of so very special and treasured memories.

The photos to come..

Rotary Club of Belleville - 21 to 27 October 2010 - Visit 1

The RC of Belleville – 91^st year – 135 members 

This is where our incredible journey began – first impressions – the team and I  were introduced to the unique Canadian hospitality and Rotary Clubs, members engaged, full of fun, laughter, much noise, very busy, tight program, happy bucks, fine sessions and heaps of projects happening.

In summary – what we did...

Introduction to and the regular sampling of Tim Hortons,  the Canadian drive through and Canadian Embassy as McDonald’s is in OZ.

Tour of Prince Edward County, sampling maple cheese, cheese curds, other unique delicacies not always available in Australia – met Rotarian Lillian in Picton which is 20 minutes south east of Belleville

Visit to Loyalist College – similar to our TAFE Colleges

Travel to and from the District Conference – see photos

Dinner at various restaurants

Rotary meeting on Monday at the Ramada Hotel

Great fun, fellowship, noise and team thoroughly enjoyed and were well received with their presentation.
Visit to the Town Hall to meet the Mayor - Elections were held this day all over Canada - view the visit here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8f1cE0FLE

Pumpkin Carving – newly learnt skills!

Vocational visits are covered separately

Having the Dalren van to move us around was of real value and saved having to be driven by different vehicles.

Karen Baker did a famous job and to cater for each of our special vocational and cultural interests

On tour with Rotarian Lillian...

Farewell night Belleville...

Pumpkin Carving - making it happen...

Pumpkin Carving...done!

Summary of visit to Qunte Health Care by Alyssa

Matt I, Matthew J and I woke up today with an early start and met our host for the day Michael Whiteman, the Manager for Patient Services for Mental Health, outside Quinte Health Care (QHC) hospital. With a cask size container of Tim Horton’s coffee in hand we sat down with Michael and Paul VandeGraaf to talk about the hospital systems and how they interlink with the police,the general hospital mental health funding and how all the hospital programs interlink. Their programs included:

• Acute Mental Health Inpatient unit 
• Crisis Intervention Centre
• 310-Open...Open Line, Open Mind
• Psychiatric Day Hospital
• Assertive Community Treatment Team
• Parent, Child and Youth Program
• Mental Health Clinic

Sargent Matt left us to spend time with his Bellevillian Police counterparts; whilst Matthew J and I receive a grand tour brand new mental health facility which will open in the next few months. This new facility had spectacular views over Lake Ontario. Not only that, the facilities appeared warm and inviting rather than emitting a clinical feeling some hospitals have. After a few minor OHS adjustments, this new facility will really make a difference for the consumers receiving hospital support and the staff that work there.

After this, Matthew and I viewed the hospital wards, spoke with a few of the friendly staff and then met with the executive committee running the hospital.

During lunch, Matthew and I provided a presentation to the staff about what kind of programs we run in mental health in Australia. They were particularly interested in the housing and accommodation support program (HASI) we have.

After our presentations, Matthew went to look at the crisis intervention service with Michael Whiteman, whilst I went with James Huff (Occupational Therapist) and Michael (Peer support worker) and completed some fly by visits of a mental health drop in centre that also ran needle exchange program. As our drop in centre’s in Australia (Day to Day Living in the Community) do not the D&A element to their programs, it was interesting to see the similarities and differences in how things were operationalised.

We subsequently visited MHS, which is an non government organization (NGO) which is somewhat similar to the organisation I work for in Australia, PRA, in terms of services (one on one support, groups, housing etc.).

Lastly, I was taken back to Michael and  James’ program, the Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) which is a multidisciplinary unit managed by Michael Whiteman. The goal of the Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) is to keep people who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder, among others, out of the hospital and help them to have a life that is not dominated by having a mental illness. We mainly discussed how they coordinate care, medication, counseling, and put in psychosocial supports for consumers living in the community. I was surprised and pleased to hear that we utalise some of the same psychosocial needs assessment tools (adapted versions of the Camberwell’s Assessment of Needs).

Overall we had a fantastic day and felt that we could share in a bidirectional way a lot of valuable information about mental health service provision.

Thanks to all from the hospitality, and the informative and interesting day!