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BRINGING VISIBILITY TO DISABILITY THEME OF CONTEST, WINNING ENTRY RECEIVES $5,000

Staff at the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent have entered a video featuring dancers from our adapted dance program in a contest sponsored by Holland Bloorview, the children’s rehabilitation hospital in Toronto.  The contest, aimed at “Bringing Visibility to Disability”, is at www.filmpossible.ca and features a number of video entries from across Ontario.

Once you register at www.filmpossible.ca, you can vote for our video titled “We Dance” until September 15, 2010.  One vote per email address per day.  The three entries with the highest vote tallies will automatically advance plus a panel of judges will pick another three entries for the finals.  The winning entry will receive the grand prize of $5,000 donated back to their children’s treatment centre.

Please register and vote daily for “We Dance”.  It is a touching tribute to the therapeutic power of dance.

Thanks to a generous donation from the community, 15 teen clients of the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent, several in wheelchairs, are going to travel by bus and see the Black Eyed Peas in concert at Sarnia’s Rogers Bayfest on July 18.  They will be accompanied by support staff.

The donors who wish to remain anonymous hope that, by supporting the trip, additional awareness of the Centre’s good work serving local children and youth with developmental challenges will be created.  “To us, this demonstrates the role our community needs to play in supporting the Centre and its clients,” says the anonymous donor, “These kids are part of our future and, regrettably, they are often marginalized.”

“This event is a wonderful opportunity for our teens to experience what their siblings and other teens are able to do naturally, independent of their families,” says Darlene Dowd, the Centre’s Teen Transition Project Facilitator.  One of the goals of the Life Links Program at the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent is to increase independence of our youth while gaining new social and community skills. 

The Teen Transition Project is funded by a two-year $110,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation which comes to an end in August.  The grant allowed the hiring of a project facilitator who has been eagerly developing programs and making community connections for local youth to develop necessary skills for successful transition to adulthood.

Through one such new program, run at the Centre for the past three weeks, these teens are giving back to the community by raising money for Outreach for Hunger. Upon the program’s completion, they will volunteer at the food bank and present the funds raised.

Courtesy of the Blackburn Group, the link below takes you to video coverage of the adapted dance and signing choir performances that occurred at our recent annual general meeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G2lhcktLkg

CENTRE’s COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND SERVICE CONTINUES ON STEADY GROWTH CURVE

To view our 2009-2010 Annual Report, click here:

2009-2010 Annual Report

To view our 2009-2010 Audited Financial Statement, click here:

2009-2010 Audited Financial Statement

CHATHAM, ONTARIO (April 26, 2010) – A local teen completing a co-op placement at the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent will be participating in the launch of the Children’s Charter of Rights at Chatham-Kent Municipal Council tonight.  Ben Guerin, a student at John McGregor High School who has utilized the services of the Centre for the past 17 years, recently surveyed children, families and staff at the Centre regarding their understanding of the Charter.  He was given responsibility to promote awareness, build understanding and gain endorsement for it.  He will be presenting a child’s right to privacy to Council and will also be participating in a community launch of the Charter on May 4^th at Our Lady of Fatima School in Chatham.

Ben will be working with the Centre until June 17, 2010 advocating on behalf of the Centre to organizations and businesses in the community.  “I like coming to the Children’s Treatment Centre, the staff treat me well, and I especially like the recreation programs they offer.  I never thought there would be sports for kids like me.  My favorite sport is bocce ball. I like the comradeship I feel when playing as part of a team,” says Ben.  “I am in my fifth year at secondary school, plan on attending college and taking courses in the social services field, and I hope to continue volunteering,” says Ben.

The Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent appreciates the support of our clients such as Ben Guerin and Derek Whitson, member of the recent Canadian Paralympics sledge hockey team, who have both help promote the Fitness Fun for All Kids campaign for adapted sports programs.  We look forward to working with them to help the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent sustain and enhance Centre services.  Both Ben and Derek are prime examples of what children can accomplish when given the tools and resources to accomplish their goals.  We are proud to celebrate their abilities.

MORE SUPPORT FOR KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

For April 7, 2010

CHATHAM—The McGuinty government chose Chatham-Kent to make another province-wide announcement, this time for $9 million in new funding for special needs children, said MPP Pat Hoy.

“More kids with disabilities and special needs in Chatham-Kent will benefit from improved services and lower wait times for programs at the local children’s treatment centre, with $216,000 in added funding for 2010-11,” said Hoy.  “About 300 children can now be taken off the waiting list due to this new investment.”

Ontario Children & Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten made the funding statement at the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent, along with Maria Van Bommel, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, and Hoy.  They then toured “Growing Together,” the provincially-funded Best Start child care centre in Blenheim.

“This latest investment in children’s treatment centres will help strengthen our response and service system in this region so we can better serve children, youth and families with special needs,” said Hoy.

The Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent provides a range of services — like rehabilitation, physiotherapy and speech language therapy — to children and youth with conditions such as cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.  The centre also supports kids with special needs, such as autism and learning disorders.

As part of its plan to help kids with special needs succeed, the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent will get an additional $216,000 in 2010-11.  This investment is part of $9 million per year to support 20 centres across Ontario. These centres serve more than 58,000 kids and today’s announcement will help ensure they get the treatment they need faster and closer to home. 

“Children’s treatment centres are an important part of how Ontario is helping young people with disabilities and special needs achieve their full potential. This additional investment will help serve more children faster, as close to home as possible,” said Minister Broten. 

“With the continued pressure of increasing wait lists and wait times, children and families have been waiting for services. Today’s announcement is a good news story for each and every one of the children who will benefit from these additional services,” said Linda Kenny, Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Association of Children’s Rehabilitation Services.

·A child or youth may be referred to a children’s treatment centre by parents, an educational or health professional, or a physician.

·The local centre serves approximately 3,000 kids each year.

·An additional one-time investment of $2.5 million will help 12 treatment centres, including the Chatham-Kent centre, improve outdated clinical information systems, so they can serve kids and families better.

·The local centre also received $32,000 in capital funding in 2009-10 to make necessary repairs or renovations.

·Premier McGuinty was in Chatham-Kent earlier this year to make a province-wide announcement on full day early learning.

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Media Contact: Pat Hoy, MPP, 519-351-0510

YOUR OPINION MATTERS TO US!

We are always striving for excellence and with your help we hope to identify ways to improve.  During the new few weeks your family may receive a survey in the mail regarding your satisfaction with the Children’s Treatment Centre.

We know everyone is busy but your time will help make things better for children and families across our community.  If you receive this survey in the mail, we strongly encourage you to help us help the children in Chatham-Kent.

Your feedback will help us improve our services.  All information will be kept strictly confidential.  Thank you in advance for your assistance.

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LET’S KEEP ALL CHATHAM-KENT’S CHILDREN ACTIVE AND HEALTHY!

CHATHAM-KENT, ONTARIO (January 7, 2010) – In a couple months, Chatham native Derek Whitson will be competing at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver as a member of Canada’s sledge hockey team.  On January 7, he assisted in the launch of the Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation of Chatham-Kent’s new fundraising initiative in support of adapted sports programs for children with physical and developmental needs.  

The campaign, “Fitness Fun for ALL Kids!”, with its $100,000 goal, will enable the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent to offer adapted sports programs for physically disabled children for several years to come.  These programs include adapted swimming, sailing, baseball, soccer, sledge hockey, bocce, golf, dance and gymnastics.

Whitson, a recipient of therapy services at the Children’s Treatment Centre and participant in the Centre’s sledge hockey and other recreational programs, is helping the Foundation get the word out about the need for these valuable programs.

“Children with physical disabilities deserve and require the wellness benefits of regular physical activity as much as all children,” says Art Stirling, Foundation executive director, “but they have great difficulty participating in mainstream organized sports programs.  To participate in sports, children with significant physical and developmental needs require the active involvement of therapists and other support workers and, depending on the sport, costly modified equipment.”

“Not only are sports programs fun, but they play a key role in a child’s overall therapy regime, addressing goals such as balance, eye/hand co-ordination, motor skills development, concentration and endurance,” adds Centre executive director, Donna Litwin-Makey.  “And inclusion in adapted sports programming fulfills a child’s overall life goal of community participation and quality of life.”

In addition to physical exercise, sports programs expose children to other positive attributes such as the importance of teamwork, fair play and good sportsmanship, and the satisfaction of accomplishment. 

“This campaign, when achieved, will provide sufficient funds to cover the special sporting equipment, necessary expertise and facility rentals required to consistently offer these programs for the next three years,” says Centre recreation coordinator Heather Sarson. “To avoid disappointment and meet the needs of the children and their overall therapy goals, our ability to deliver these programs reliably over several consecutive years is critical.”

The delivery of these programs will, in some cases, be in partnership with community groups.

Excellent attendance at 2008 Annual General Meeting

Click here to view the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent

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Click here to view the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation of Chatham-Kent

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DEDICATION, PERSEVERENCE KEYS TO ACCOMPLISHING LIFE GOALS

As part of an RBC-sponsored Olympic Torch Run promotional tour, three-time Canadian Paralympian swimmer Darda Sales visited the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent on April 22.  During an entertaining and inspirational talk to the clients, parents and Centre staff assembled, Darda spoke about how a childhood farm equipment accident resulted in her being a right-leg above the knee amputee.  She recounted how her athleticism, dedication and perseverence with the sport of swimming allowed her to excel, resulting in a Gold Medal performance on the Canadian Paralympian swim relay team in Sydney, Austrailia in 2000 and a Silver Medal performance in Athens, Greece in 2004.  She also competed in Beijing, China in 2008.  Darda is an outstanding role model for young people with physical disabilities.