News Updates

It was on or about May 20 that the Canadian Armed Forces submitted what has to be described as a whistleblower report to the federal government as to the conditions of the long-term care homes in Ontario. In part, this report detailed cases where residents had not been fed or bathed and many were literally crying out for help. Cockroach … Read More

Community Living Upper Ottawa Valley is committed to sharing practices and processes that relate to success and enhancing people’s quality of life. However, we have a way to go before we can celebrate success in supporting seniors in the most dignified and respectful manner. We support some people who are in their 50s, 60s and 70s that live in long-term … Read More

As an active member in the Community Living movement for decades, I have served on local, provincial and national boards. In these roles, I championed families in an association that sometimes forgot that families gave birth to the movement while almost exclusively focusing on the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Over the years, however, as my parents aged and … Read More

The statement that most caught my attention in the recently released Ontario COVID-19 Long-term Care Commission Report reads: The average age of long-term care residents . . . is 84. The Commission heard that residents typically enter a long-term care home in the last two years of their life, and that approximately 22,000 long-term care residents die every year. (p. 41) … Read More

Last week (end of April 2021), two reports were released that should influence the way government fixes its dysfunctional long-term care (LTC) system. The Office of the Auditor General of Ontario and Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission laid out their conclusions and recommendations to fix the broken system that severely affected those citizens and staff who rely on the 625 … Read More

In my 50+ years with Community Living, I have known only one person who wanted to return to an institution. In 1972, that man was brought out of the institution where he had grown up in Orillia. There he had enjoyed a favoured role delivering mail to the staff, and he generally had the run of the place. He found … Read More

In an op-ed in December 2020, Judith Sandys and Trish Spindel spoke directly to Canadians who, themselves, have never been forced into insulting, disrespectful and inevitably threatening living (or dying) conditions. They argue that the time has truly come for society to provide appropriate funding and “real choice” rather than what, currently, we broadly refer to as “long-term care (LTC).” … Read More

The pandemic we have all experienced over the past year has reaffirmed to me the important role local associations for community living have in supporting people with disabilities in the community. I would like to share the journey we had with a gentleman we supported for over twenty years at our agency – South-East Grey Support Services. This gentleman was … Read More