HEAD OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS #120, 200 Quarry Park Blvd. SE, Calgary, AB T2C 5E3
Ph: 403-236-8802 Fax: 403-724-6110
October 2018
OPTIONS’ Office and Day
Program will be closed on
Monday, October 8, 2018
in observance of the
Thanksgiving holiday.
Will be on
Thursday, October 4th, 2018
PLEASE Remember to bring your Alberta Health
Care Card
Upcoming Courses:
Abuse Prevention & Response
Positive Behaviour Support Course:
- October 25, 2018 – Quarry Park Office
First Aid Course:
- October 20, 2018 – OPTIONS Day Program
*Please Contact Tanya to register for
courses
RETIREMENT OF DR. ALEX HILLYARD
Dr. Alex Hillyard, Regional Director of Disability Services in the Calgary
Region has announced his retirement effective September 28th, 2018.
Dr. Hillyard has played a significant role in the Calgary community.
Before he became the Regional Director of Disability Services he was the
CEO of the Calgary Region Community Board for Persons with Disabilities.
OPTIONS would like to thank Alex for his support of our work and for his
commitment to the individuals and families in the Calgary Community. We
wish Alex and his lovely wife Judy the very best in their future endeavors.
Now it’s time for them to relax and enjoy the fruits of their careers together.
We wish you the very best!
The OPTIONS Family
OPTIONS has thrived and grown because of teamwork. The relationships between the individuals we support, their
families and our staff have always been an inspiration to me. The past 6 months have been challenging for us as we
went through our CET Accreditation review in July. Preparing for it requires many meetings, development of new
policies, training of staff and providing information to the
surveyors in advance of their visit.
A HUGE THANKS to the amazing individuals we support who were willing to share their stories. To our
wonderful staff, leaders and families, thank you for supporting us in this endeavor and for helping us make such a
good impression on the survey team. Our survey went extremely well! HUGE THANKS to Derek Jassman, Sean
Yost, Bev LeBlanc, Leslie Aburto, Debi Lefaivre, Rebecca Huntley, Amanda Burns, Hannah Geake, Stacie Tidlund,
Luvene McIntosh, Christine Moussienko, Signe Selk, Marilyn Sveen, Kelly Hallewell and our friend and consultant,
Leslie Tamagi for assisting me.
Thanks also to Scott Blaskin, of Chinook Arch Photography who made a short video for our CET presentation and
who will be adding to it in the next few months. Scott has become very impressed with our individuals and staff and
may be volunteering to offer a photography class in the future. Please watch our website for further updates.
On top of that we also needed to finalize our Financial information for PDD and our bank by the end of June.
Besides CET, Tanya IDT our Human Resources Director, Kenna Aulakh our AP/AR Coordinator and our new Payroll
Administrator, Darlene Coutts worked many hours to ensure we met CET as well as the requirements of our
contract.
It is also important to acknowledge and thank Carlie Scucatto, our PDD Contract Procurement Specialist who played
an invaluable role in helping us through such a challenging time.
The following thoughts are transcribed from an inspirational speech given Angeles Arrien. I think it is indicative of
how OPTIONS works and supports each other in our success:
Update from Elaine
Update from Elaine cont . . .
Michelle Arnason, Part Time Accountant
Michelle joins the team with a wide range of experience in
both industry and public practice accounting. She is also
highly involved with CPA Western Canada teaching both
online and in person the CPA accounting courses. Michelle
loves to travel and often jumps on a plane the first chance
she gets to explore another city! She also loves to be active
which includes weight training, yoga, cycling and hiking in the
mountains with her 3-year-old Australian Shepherd.
Kenna Aulakh, Accounts Payable & Accounts
Receivable Coordinator – Part Time
Kenna joins OPTIONS with 5+ years of experience in the
finance field.
Kenna is married with 2 children. She enjoys reading,
baking and hanging out with friends.
Darlene Coutts, Payroll Administrator
Darlene has over 10 years’ experience in Payroll.
She has 2 dogs; Ruby is a miniature poodle mix
and Jessie is a Bouvier De Flanders
.
Darlene and her husband camp all year, and really
enjoy the outdoors. When they go camping, she
never gets tired of seeing the Wild Horses.
Darlene has volunteered at the Rockyview Hospital
Gift shop for over 12 years. She enjoys reading and
watching The Stampeders, Blue Jays and Flames.
Her favorite flower is the Sunflower.
Ruby the wonder dog
visits Darlene Coutts in
Payroll at our head
office in Quarry Park.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT with Murray McNamee and Tony Dvorkin
Murray McNamee and Tony Dvorkin from DDD house picking up food hampers at the Interfaith Foodbank
and delivering them to Calgarians in need. Tony, Murray and their support staff (Helen Mosquera and
Ricelyn Abanilla) deliver food hampers each week to families in need.
Keep up the great work Tony and Murray!
There is a project to
design and paint the
utility boxes in
Calgary and Brian
Ehnisz was asked to
design and paint
one. His design can
be seen on the corner
of 94th Ave and
Bonaventure Dr.
SE. This was a project
between the
Indefinite Arts Centre
and a partnership
with the City of
Calgary Public Arts
program. Way to go
Brian!!!! If you are in
the area drive by and
see his work of art.
Special Events:
Wednesday September 19th was International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Murray
McNamee attended a special event downtown at Carya in East Village. Lots of
and fun and games were had by all those that attended.
There is a Chinese saying that goes: “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a
day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.”
The Residential Leadership Team has gathered a small
group (Kim Wood, Geraldine Lalic, Arlene Aragon,
Rosalinda De la Cruz and family, Oxana Marteciuc, Bev
LeBlanc and family …as well as Jill Staines ) to serve
lunch at The Calgary Drop In Centre.
So far, this group has served/volunteered twice on
weekends, serving lunch to approximately 600-800
individuals.
We wanted to do
something
collectively as a
group to give back
to our community and select volunteer activities that draw upon our strengths.
In doing this volunteer work with The Drop In Centre, we are seeing that
communities where people are willing to look out for each other are stronger,
more stable and overall better
places to live.
Volunteering has given us the
opportunity to meet other people,
build a specific set of skills and is
helping us grow into better leaders.
We are seeing firsthand the level of
gratitude and humility that is
experienced at The Drop In Centre
every day.
The Power of Giving Back
to Your Community:
Written By: Bev LeBlanc Residential Director
Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday of October each year. The first Thanksgiving holiday
was held in Canada in 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales from a serious illness. After 1879
celebrations were held every year but not always in October - it used to be observed around Armistice Day in
November.
The original idea is to give thanks for the past harvest season but for many Canadian families the tradition has
changed over time and the focus is now to get together with family and eat a large turkey dinner. Apple cider is a
must for any traditional thanksgiving celebration as well as turkey stuffing and pumpkin pie.
https://www.thanksgiving.quotesms.com