Letter from the National Leaders Summer 2016 1 / 11
As one walks down the street, one catches a whiff of lilacs. Gardens are filled with tulips in full bloom. Vegetable seeds are being planted. The return of the sun, warmth and long days bring a new energy. An Abenakis woman explained to the attentive crowd at the Jardin Botanique in Montréal that the full moon of May is the beginning of their new year. The evidence of new life is around us. It is also the time of year where goodbyes are being said and hellos are around the corner. Enjoy the art as you read about the latest developments in the priorities of L’Arche Canada and learn news of fellow members.
About the artist Marie-Soleil is a young 32-year-old woman who lives with her family and has been coming to the Pot-en-Ciel workshop for the last two years. Not only is she learning to become adept at drawing but she is also learning to know the L’Arche Beloeil community. It is a place of learning and sharing that gives her a lot of life.
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News about members In her retirement, Peggy Keaney has become a snowbird, spending her winters in Arizona. This year after returning home, she had a health incident with her heart. She is doing well at home. She is making significant adjustments to her lifestyle. When asked if this news could be shared, she said: ‘Why not? I can always
By Hollee and Gabrielle
use more prayers’. So please pray for Peggy as she adapts to a new lifestyle. John Guido has arrived in his role as Outreach Officer for English L’Arche Canada. He is very enthusiastic about this role which involves working with the other members of L’Arche Canada’s communications team. As John Guido was arriving,
we said goodbye to John O’Donnell who carried the role of Director of Communications for three years. John is currently filling in as Chaplain in Halifax for the Canadian Army. He will continue to nurture his relationship with L’Arche Halifax.
News from the regions Atlantic The entire region gathered in Halifax at the end of May for a week-end of activities with the theme « Draw the circle wide ». The gathering was open to others who wanted to come and made for lots of fun and many new friends!
On the photo: Ainsley MacIsaac, JP MacNeil and John O’Donnell.
Several communities across the country have lived a series of deaths of founding or very long term members of the community. Please continue to pray for each other as these passages are lived.
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Lots of fun during AAQ’s meeting at a sugar house earlier this spring.
Mary Mather and Ross Moncrieff holding the cup won by L’Arche Hamilton.
Québec
Ontario
The Québec region held its annual visit to the Cabane à sucre. It is a joyful event. Should you ever be in the region in March, don’t miss it!
L’Arche Ontario’s 7th Annual Formosi Cup Championship
Update re the dialogue between L’Arche Canada and the Association des Arches du Québec (AAQ) Both the Agreement between L’Arche Canada and the Association des Arches du Québec and the Agreement between the L’Arche Canada Foundation (LCF) and La Fondation des Arches du Québec (FAQ) have been finalized. The LCF Board has supported the agreements and the L’Arche Canada Board has approved them. On June 11th, the Québec Region held their Annual Assembly. Both boards have committed to sign the agreements no later than December 2016. I do wish to express my appreciation to Sylvain Brabant, the board chair of the AAQ, Sylvie Morin, regional leader and Christiane Ménard and Patrice Paradis, vice regional leaders during the process, John Rietschlin, Gabrielle Beaulieu and Jean Philippe Bouchard, our facilitator for all that they have contributed over the last three years.
By Jeff Gilbreath It was a glorious 28 degree blue-sky June day, and six teams gathered to challenge for the seventh annual Formosi Cup. Although each team clearly embraced the spirit of the day, cheering loudly with placards and banners in hand, Arnprior set a new standard by actually travelling the night before and staying at a local hotel. Clearly they were determined to defend their trophy. The play on the field was thrilling from the outset, but after the first round of play it was clear that the traditional rivals, Daybreak and Hamilton, would play again for the championship. It came down to the last play in the final minute. 10-9 Hamilton wins! There were smiles and cheers, and many promises of revenge next summer. But for now, that mighty trophy will reside in steel-town. “We got it back”, said Michael Barry, long time Hamilton player, “and we won’t ever let it go.” Well, we’ll see Mike. No team has ever won it two years in a row.
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National Council We have issued a special National Council bulletin. Follow the link. Just to whet your appetite; here are a few photos that reflect the atmosphere of the meeting. Thanks to Jenn Power and Toinette Parisio for the photos! Beth Porter, Eileen Glass, Hollee and Joe Egan
Eileen Glass recently spent a week in Ontario. In this week, she spent two days with about sixty long term assistants from the Ontario region. What a joy to see so much life in the region!
West
Mary Millhouse with Hollee
Lots of good news from L’Arche Comox Valley. Christine Monier has accepted to continue as community leader for another mandate. As well the community centre (I belong Centre) is really taking shape with the first shovels hitting the ground in April. Thank you Christine; bravo to all the community! Hollee and Gabrielle with the regional leaders and L’Arche Canada board members
Patrice Paradis with Linda Morin
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Solidarity By Gabrielle Beaulieu During the National Leaders Group which met right before the National Council we continued to reflect on the main challenges of the program in this country. It was noted that the fund-raising goal is becoming more abstract given the current distinction between twinning and financial support. It seems to be more difficult to fund-raise for a project that we cannot “put a face on”. We also identified the need for clear, easily accessible information on Solidarity, such as the concrete impact of the funds we send on the life of communities that receive them. We brainstormed on possible solutions and came up with the following: • Propose tools and ways of proceeding, so that every employee of L’Arche in Canada can make a donation to the Solidarity program through a payroll deduction if they so wish. • Put together a booklet of best practices to be shared. We know that many creative and effective initiatives exist in communities already. • Promote and support the organization of an awareness event at the same time in all communities to fund-raise for Solidarity. This could perhaps take place on L’Arche Family Day (first Saturday of October) The conversation is not over and will continue at the Community Leaders meeting in the fall. Don’t hesitate to let me know how you keep the flame of solidarity alive in your community.
Communications This year with communications, we will be trying something new. The team of Bernard Lebleu, Jean Emmanuel Allard, John Guido (with Guillaume as administrative support), will work together to focus on creating content for social media, communities, the L’Arche Canada Foundation and the general public. The aim is to allow our message to have greater impact both within and beyond L’Arche.
Manu Allard, John Guido and Bernard Lebleu
Spirituality
By Landys Klyne
It is my honour to report to you on the work of the Spirituality Commission to date. Those serving on the commission are Fr. Ray Huntley, Sylvie Morin, Lynn Godfrey and myself. We have met three times since the new year. All meetings have been conducted using the Zoom conference system. It feels like we are sitting around the table enjoying a cup of tea together! We began our work together by reviewing the immediate priorities of the Spirituality Commission. They are summarized as follows; • Review the Retreats currently offered by L’Arche Canada; • Support communities to live the spirituality of L’Arche: link with Servant Leadership; • Update the retreat resources list. As you can see there is much to discuss and much to be accomplished. We are grateful to have been called to this task of serving on this important commission. We ask for your positive thoughts and prayers as we continue in our ensuing work. Please do not hesitate to contact one of us if you have any questions or concerns.
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Change is in the air By Amy Demoulin
As spring surrounds us with signs of new life and growth, we too look forward to a year of growth and newness as communities continue to integrate and take ownership for Servant Leadership tools and practices in daily life. The Servant Leadership team is happy to announce that the new recruitment website is officially up and live. Many thanks to all those who contributed by helping to develop and give feedback on the content, and, a special thank you to Bernard for all the work that went into the design and creation of the site. In the first month of going live, the new website received
close to 1000 views by those new to the site. If you haven’t had a chance to view the site, check it out at www.larchework.ca (the menu button allows you to choose your language) and please share the link with friends, alumni, and other contacts. We’re also happy to hear from you if you have any additional comments or feedback. Training continues to be a major focus of Servant Leadership team’s work this spring, in preparation for the September work session taking place in Montreal. A big “thank you” to all
Over the past several months we have continued to listen, learn and develop tools to support the growth path of L’Arche communities in Canada. Our work today is to continue to grow in our capacity to wisely respond. The Growth Narrative, Companions Spiritual Conversation Exercises and the Growth Funding initiative are all tools meant to build our capacity to develop
Growth
communities that have submitted training and formation materials over the past weeks. These materials are essential contributions to developing the new training modules that will reflect and strengthen our best practices across Canada. Change is not easy; so let’s continue to work together towards living the mission of L’Arche more deeply!
By Lori Vaanholt
and strengthen the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that communities need to share life in a sustainable way. As we write this, communities are engaged with these tools and are on many places along the growth trajectory. Growth funding is being allocated to serve as a catalyst for implementing new models of sharing life proposed by some communities. The realization of these models will inspire and inform the development of innovative expressions of sharing life within all of L’Arche Canada and extend the reach of our core values in Canadian society. We look forward to continuing to walk together to welcome that which builds our capacity to share life.
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L'Arche Canada Board By John Rietschlin
Our May board meeting took place just prior to the National Council meeting at Villa Saint Martin, a pattern we have been following for a few years now. Meeting in this setting allows the board meeting to include conversations with the full national leadership team including all of the regional leaders. This year we were also able to widen the circle to include representatives of the L’Arche Canada Foundation: Gary Sim, the Foundation’s new President and CEO as well as Brian Dawkins, incoming chair of the Foundation Board and Marie-Claire Morin, a Foundation Board member. The board meeting focused on a number of major financial topics including ongoing work to revise the national and regional dues formula, the need to strengthen community and national fundraising capacity, Canada’s financial contribution to the International Federation, and our long-term financial plans. We discussed continued development of the Servant Leadership program, current work to update the national compensation policy, including Quebec’s need to adapt the policy to meet provincial legal requirements and next steps in the process to revise the membership agreement between L’Arche Canada and the communities. These, and other topics will be the focus of dialog during our annual meeting with communities in September. The board also passed resolutions to approve the legal agreements between L’Arche Canada and the Association des Arches du Quebec and the agreement between the L’Arche Canada Foundation and the Fondation des Arches du Quebec. Have a great summer and we are looking forward to seeing many of you in September.
Presentation of a Board Member
Nancy Marenick Nancy Marenick is from Antigonish,Nova Scotia and she was a Board member at L’Arche Antigonish for 18 years. During that time, she was secretary for at least ten years; she also served as Board chair for one full term, and later as interim chair for a year. Nancy has shared the following personal statement. I served with many inspiring people led by then Director, Gus Leuschner, and current Director Beth Wolters. We were relentless in advancing the view that the L’Arche model of care is the best model for our Core members, as we lived through renovations, financial shortfalls, and long, hard meetings with Department of Community Services (DCS). We also supported the growth of our day programs, now recognized by DCS. Through it all we survived, adapted, and shared community nights, desserts, and lots of laughs together. We were enriched by the efforts of many remarkable assistants past and present and our inspirational Core members. I am a trained teacher. Obviously, teaching in some form has always been a part of my life: I taught swimming lessons, aqua fit classes (which I still conduct), substituted in the school system, taught adult education, English as a second language and, for thirteen years, I was an instructor and, later, the coordinator of the StFX Writing Centre. My family is the centre of my life. My husband of 43 years is also a retired teacher, and our three children have grown into successful, respected adults who have made significant contributions to their communities.
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Interview with Marie-Paule Villeneuve Marie-Paule is one of the founding members of L’Arche Montreal where she has made her home for more than thirty years. She has actively participated in the Journey of L’Arche retreat in the past three years with her heartfelt sharing on life in L’Arche. Her experience in community life, her honest portrayal of the joys and suffering of daily life in the home and of the relationships that she has nurtured over time and that are part of who she is, invite us all to reflect on our own journey and commitment. I give thanks for her sincerity and for representing so very well those who do not have a voice. Thank you Marie-Paule. I hope that you will continue to share your experience because it touches people so deeply! Louise Provost
Interview with Gabrielle Beaulieu How many years now have you been sharing at the retreat? This was my third year. Louise Provost suggested it to me. The first year I said “I can’t really see myself there. I’m ready to risk it this one time, then we’ll see.” What do you talk about? My life in community. My arrival. How I feel with new assistants. What I find the most difficult is when assistants leave. We have a re-
Louise Provost with Marie-Paule
lationship. It’s normal that it would affect us. I respect their choice to leave but it isn’t easy. If I have a good relationship, I’ll tell them that. I still keep in touch with Claudette Lamothe, the founding director, through letters. How do you find your sharing goes? I noticed that people really listen. I talk for about an hour. If people have questions, they can ask them afterwards. This year I was very emotional because I talked about people leaving. I cried. Do you give advice to the assistants? Listen to core members. We’re there for the long term while assistants come for 6 months, 2 years; it depends. If someone has something
to say it’s important to listen to them. To respect their rhythm too. People who aren’t as autonomous take more time. That needs to be respected. With aging we are even slower. Anything else to add? In community we don’t just need assistants; we need volunteers as well- to make a meal, go on an outing with someone, play a game. What about next year? I’m ready to go back next year. When I first arrived in L’Arche I went to a retreat to listen to other people share. Now, 38 years later, it is my turn to give witness. Link to a L’Arche Montreal video featuring Marie-Paule introducing her neighbourhood.
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L'Arche Canada Foundation As the new President & CEO of L’Arche Canada Foundation, my team and I look forward to working with L’Arche Canada and all communities in order to generate the resources required to allow the L’Arche family to boldly achieve its strategic vision. I have had the opportunity to meet with most of the regional leadership and am buoyed by the enthusiastic welcome and willingness to work together to build from a platform of trust, collaboration and transparency. The $20 million campaign that we have launched will impact every region and every community, so I hope to work with you to uncover new prospects and build new relationships. Please do not hesitate to call me or any member of my team if we can be of service.
By Gary Sim
Marianne McQuillan, Director of Development; Manchula Thayalan, Bookeeper; Chelsea Budgell, Development Officer/ Executive Assistant; and Nicole Lalonde, Research and Stewardship Officer.
National Grant Program By Pat Desnoyers On April 22nd and 23rd, L’Arche Edmonton was very excited to host their very first Art from the Heart, a celebration of creativity by L’Arche Edmonton’s Day Program members. This exhibition was a culmination of a 15 month art therapy project with the core members led by a graduate student in the Art Therapy Program at St. Stephen’s College through the University of Alberta. Over the year that preceded, Joyce Aita, the graduate student, worked with each core member individually,
Andrew Zapach with mom Iris and dad John.
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helping and encouraging each one to explore their emotions and express themselves through various forms of art. Joyce recognized at the outset that she needed to build trust with the core members in order to encourage them to open up and express themselves. She took time to become acquainted with them and to become familiar with their gifts, their interests, and their personalities. She met with core members in group sessions and later, individually, creating a caring and supportive place for each of them to open up to her, share their stories, and reveal themselves to her. At the end of the year, the core members were asked if they would like to work on an art expression of their choice and present it to the public. 9 of the core members chose to feature their creative expression at Art from the Heart.
The exhibition was held at Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, a creative art studio in the heart of Edmonton for people with disabilities. The art was all attractively framed and prominently displayed in their professional studio. The entire project was funded by a L’Arche Canada grant through the fundraising efforts of the L’Arche Canada Foundation. The art therapy project has been such a successful and rewarding opportunity for L’Arche Edmonton that the project is continuing for another year with the assistance of another L’Arche Canada grant. We are very grateful for this assistance which has clearly helped our core members grow personally and creatively and has helped us reach out to the broader public and together celebrate the gifts of people with disabilities. Article from a local newspaper: www.wcr.ab.ca/This-Week/Stories/entryid/7425
Dues News By Donna Diskos Over the past year, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about dues. Community dues are a very important component of funding the National and Regional structures and initiatives that support the mission and vision of L’Arche in Canada. In the fall of 2014, the Board of L’Arche Canada established a dues committee with the mandate of reviewing the National and Regional dues formulas. The committee has representatives from communities in each region and they have considered the level of dues and how dues should be assessed. The dues committee recommendations include the assessment of dues based upon the principles of equity, transparency and simplicity. Over the next few months, consultations will occur with community boards to obtain feedback on the dues committee recommendations. In September 2016, the dues formula will be presented at the L’Arche Canada annual meeting. Stay tuned for more news about dues.
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Retreats
By Gabrielle Beaulieu
Retreats at L’Arche Canada happen because individuals and communities are willing to give of their time, energy and expertise. They do this because they believe in the importance of retreats in life of assistants. To each of you who have been part of the teams, please accept our gratitude for sharing your gifts. Thank you!! Joe Egan, Tamaki Saga, Chris Jarvis, Gray Gillies, Robert Larouche, Honey Jose Leon, Marg Van Herk-Paradis, Louise Provost. Also, thank you Hortense and Cathy for the translation and accompaniment!
Participants at Emmaus 2016 Retreat
Thank you to L’Arche Lethbridge, L’Arche Saint-John, L’Arche Edmonton and L’Arche Daybreak, who have freed up members in order to participate in these retreats.
Conclusion The theme at the recent National Council was on Transitions and Changes. Marni Davis, the regional leader of Western Canada, has been in L’Arche for over 40 years. She shared about the changes that she has experienced in L’Arche over that time. One of her striking statements was that the L’Arche that she committed to at the beginning no longer exists. While she highlighted many differences, she concluded by saying how grateful she is for this journey.
Marni Davis
Throughout these changes, three words continue to guide us: Relationship-Transformation-Sign. We are a people of relationship who share values and a mission. These relationships change us; they help us become more loving and honest. As we live out our mission, we are a sign to the world that it is possible to go beyond differences and difficulties to create peace. Hollee and Gabrielle