National Conference Focuses on Celebrating Abilities

DISABLED PERSONS COMMISSION--National Conference Focuses on Celebrating Abilities

Participants from across the country and presenters from around the world will meet in Halifax this week at the sixth annual National Supported Employment Conference. The conference will celebrate abilities and will allow participants to discuss new trends and theories.

The conference will address how persons with disabilities can make a smooth transition to full participation in the workforce.

"This conference emphasizes an inclusive approach to planning and implementing measures for supported employment," said conference chair Judy Hughes.

The conference is being organized by the Nova Scotia Partnership Committees for Persons with Disabilities. It will include seminars and discussions, a gala dinner and two special luncheons with keynote speakers.

Terry Evanshen, an inductee in the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame, will speak about his disability and deliver his Seize Each Day presentation at the final luncheon. Tickets are still available for some events.

"We are very excited to have such a cross-section of participants and presenters from various backgrounds, geographic locations and fields of expertise," said Ms. Hughes.

The conference begins Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. and runs until Friday, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. All events will be held at the Sheraton Halifax Hotel.

This initiative is funded by the Saint Mary's University Atlantic Centre of Support for Students with Disabilities, Nova Scotia Neuro Trauma Society, Royal Bank, Michelin, Kimberly Clarke, Department of Community Services and Human Resources Development Canada.

A backgrounder with details on the conference follows:

BACKGROUNDER--National Supported Employment Conference

In conjunction with the Persons with Disabilities Partnerships and Human Resources Development Canada, Nova Scotia is proud to host the 6th National Supported Employment conference in Halifax on November 28, 29 and 30. This is a follow-up to last year's Sowing the Seeds conference held in Regina, Sask. This year's theme is Celebrating Abilities: New Trends, Theories and Themes.

Last year in Regina, several local representatives from the Partnership Committees for Persons with Disabilities in Nova Scotia were approached and asked to host the 2001 conference. These representatives then presented the proposal at the annual Nova Scotia Partnership Conference in March 2001 and a mandate was given by participants to move ahead. The 11 partnerships met and decided that with the community capacity in the Nova Scotia regions, this would be an opportune year to highlight the Nova Scotia Partnership Committees for Persons with Disabilities.

The rationale for hosting includes the opportunity to:

• emphasize rural needs and raise public awareness between consumers, agencies, business and government departments;
• highlight the community coordinator model with Nova Scotia Partnership Committees and Societies;
• solidify and strengthen the groundbreaking partnership structure in Nova Scotia;
• enable Nova Scotia to showcase innovative approaches to many of the barriers facing persons with disabilities.

The conference goals will emphasize individual learning, economic independence, skill enhancement and raise awareness on the issues for the consumer, community participants, public service sector, government officials and the business community. There will be people in attendance from the persons with disabilities community, local, provincial and federal government representatives and the business community.

HRDC has been working with the disabled community for the past several years to establish a consultation process that would provide the government with the expertise that is necessary to distribute resources appropriately to the disabled community. In the past two years, Nova Scotia has been moving forward to strengthen these 11 committees by formalizing their structure. The 11 committees are all registered non-profit organizations with business plans, approved by HRDC and the community. You will see from these multilateral partnerships an excellent example of how community capacity building works. The decision making is at the local level and the partnerships decide what approach is used according to the needs and priorities of each specific community.