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About Us

Community Living Manitoba

Community Living Manitoba is dedicated to the full inclusion of persons of all ages who live with an intellectual disability. Living, working and learning in an inclusive community means that all people including those with an intellectual disability have a variety of opportunities to contribute to their communities.

Community Living Manitoba is a provincial network of 11 Local Branches working together with partners, families and governments. They seek approaches to support the empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities in all aspects of their lives.

Bylaws

Vision

An inclusive Manitoba in which people with an intellectual disability are valued equally and able to participate fully in all aspects of society.

Mission

The Manitoba Association for Community Living is a registered charity leading the way to building an inclusive Manitoba for individuals with an intellectual disability. We do this through strengthening families, defending rights, and transforming communities into places where everyone can belong.

Values

Inclusion

We believe that individuals, families and communities benefit from the full citizenship of all people in all aspects of society.

Respect

We listen to and honour individual choices made by people with intellectual disabilities and work with them to promote their individual rights and dignity.

Integrity

We build relationships based on honesty and trust. We hold ourselves accountable to the people we serve, our funders, donors and the public at large.

Wisdom

We seek knowledge and feedback, learn from our experiences, and always strive to make wise decisions through collaboration.

Board of Directors

Aileen Najduch
President
Sheryl Giesbrecht
Vice-President
Kim Sharman
Treasurer
Richard Hodges
Secretary
Debra Roach
Director
Audra Latschislaw
Director

Priorities

Supporting Human Rights

 

Right to Live in the Community Transition of the Manitoba Developmental Centre

In September 2006, CLMB filed a formal complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission which stated that the Department of Families (Provincial Government) and the Public Trustee had systematically discriminated against persons living at the Manitoba Developmental Centre on the basis of age and disability.

In November 2009 the Commission affirmed that these organizations failed to provide a coordinated effort to plan for the transitions of MDC residents to the community and create community placement resource. CLMB continues to work towards the transition of all remaining residents and the closure of MDC by 2021. 

In January of 2021 the government of Manitoba announced their 3-year transition plan for the closure of the Manitoba Developmental Centre. With a closure date of March 31, 2024, community stakeholders and government are working together to transition all exisiting residents of the centre into homes in the community. 

MDC Transition Sector Update March 31 2023

MDC Transition Sector Update June 2023 

 

 

The Adults Living with an Intellectual Disability Act, Formerly The Vulnerable Persons Act 

The Future of the VPA: Recommended Amendments to the Vulnerable Persons Living with a Mental Disability Act

Building on a review of The Vulnerable Persons Living with a Mental Disability Act, completed by the Public Interest Law Centre for CLMB in 2018, CLMB hosted The Vulnerable Person Act Think Tank in 2019. The attendees met to discuss possible solutions to shortcomings in the Act and its administration, and develop recommendations for changes. A formal submission of the resulting report was submitted to government and conversations continued.

Following the review of the report by government the Vulnerable Persons Living with a Mental Disability Task Force was appointed in September of 2020. After reviewing the policies and practices of services for adults living with an intellectual disability, the task force submitted their report to the Minister of Families in November 2021. The report was titled Pathways to Dignity:Rights, Safeguards, Planning, and Decision Making. The report outlined a series of recommendations that were broken down into 16 themes. Alongside the report the minister released a two year implementation plan to establish proper assignment and timelines for each recommendation to be implemented.

In March of 2022, Community Living Manitoba, alongside their 120 Maryland partners formed the collaboration, the 120 Maryland Group and submitted an Expression of interest to the Department of Families that would respond to a number of the recommendations listed in the Pathways to Dignity report. The project was titled the Community Based Assisted Decision-Making Pilot Project The goals of the project include developing peer support networks for families, increasing capacity for the use of support networks, motivating the use of community-based assisted decision makers and assisted making, and reducing reliance on the Public Guardian and Trustee.     

Throughout 2022 the department of families engaged with community stakeholders through advisory committees that reviewed the amendments to the then Vulnerable Persons Act, now Adults Living with an Intellectual Disability Act and following standing committee in the spring of 2023 the amendments were passed. As noted, in passing of the amendments the Act was renamed "The Adults Livng with an Intellectual Disabiility Act" or ALIDA. In turn Manitoba will now refer to the Vulnerable Persons Commissioners Office as the Commissioner of Adults Living with an Intellectual Disability Office or CALIDO.

 


Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)

Community Living Manitoba supports Inclusion Canada in its efforts to guard against the impact that expanded access to MAiD would have for the equality, dignity and inclusion of people with intellectual and other disabilities.

"We face the very real prospect in Canada of intellectual disability becoming a justifiable reason to terminate a person's life under the system for medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Families are already reporting pressure from health professionals to have family members with more significant intellectual and other disabilities apply for MAiD." Inclusion Canada

Update:

The final report of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) has been released, and there are serious concerns of the discrimination woven through the report and ignoring of people with disabilities and their allies.

 

To shed light on this issue, Inclusion Canada has released a video showing the mistreatment of Canada’s disability community by the AMAD committee. 

 

The video highlights the disrespectful and harmful behavior of committee members towards our community.

 

 Inclusion Canada MAiD Video

 

People First of Manitoba

Community Living Manitoba is a strong supporter of the People First movement and has offered funding support to People First of Manitoba over the years. People First is a self-advocate run organization that stands up for the rights of people labelled with an intellectual disability. Community Living Manitoba continues to make self-advocacy advancements a priority. 

 

Advocacy

Community Living Manitoba provides individualized advocacy to adults who have an intellectual or developmental disability, and to families of children who have an intellectual or developmental disability throughout Manitoba. You can call our office to get connected with someone who can offer advocacy support or connect you with the proper resources in your community. 

 

Note: Community Living Manitoba works hard to remove acronyms from their content. However, we find it important to inform community of their meanings as others continue to use them. Please let us know if you find unnecessary acronyms in our content and we will work to remove them. You can email us at admin@aclmb.ca

Supporting Families

 

Family Gathering

The Family Gathering (FG) grew out of a recognition of the importance for families to play a role in advancing inclusion in Manitoba and goals of re-vitalization and family-based leadership through engagement, breaking down isolation, and creating a vital community of parent/family member leadership in Manitoba. Through a grant from Federal Government, CLMB has been able to fund three Family Gatherings, in partnership with Innovative LIFE Options, Continuity Care, and Inclusion Winnipeg.

The 4th Family Gathering will be held April 17th and 18th, 2020, in Winnipeg (postponed due to COVID-19). It will again be rooted in the experience of parents/family members with two days of workshops organized around creating spaces that break down isolation and create solidarity. There will be sessions on creating a vision for the future of your child/family member as included citizen, the role of relationships in ensuring and safeguarding a positive future, and becoming an effective advocate.

 

Family Advocacy Network of Manitoba (FAN)

CLMB helps to fund the Family Advocacy Network of Manitoba (FAN), a group of family members and support network members/friends of both children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, some of whom may have a physical disability. FAN advocates to government officials for systemic change and imparts awareness of the ongoing struggles and needs experienced by Manitoba families.

Families who contact FAN are provided peer support. They are informed of valuable resources and information and referred to disability specific organizations. FAN is continuing to reach out and grow their membership, particularly in rural Manitoba.

 

Inclusion Canada Priority Issues

Canadian Disability Benefit (CDB)

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)

Ready Willing & Able (RWA)

Associations

Local Branch Associations

ACL Swan River
Daphne Currie
204-734-9114Email
Vocational Training Center: Flin Flon, MB
Samantha Thorimbert
204-687-7050Email
Inclusion Westman
Kristen Laing Breemersch
204-740-6358Email
ACL Interlake
Jimm Simon
204-467-9169Email
ACL Portage
Candace Preston
204-856-1190Email
ACL Red River
Jackie Prowse
204-347-5418Email
ACL Virden
Shelly Savy
204-748-1444Email

National Associations

Memberships and Collaborators

Donate

With the support of our donors, Community Living Manitoba continues to make a difference in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Together we are breaking down barriers and building the leadership of families, self-advocates and community supporters. This is only possible because of thoughtful contributions from people like you.

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Support

There are many ways in which you can get involved and help lend your support. We continue to change and adjust with emerging issues as resources allow.

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