AS091127 Aaron SASKATOONEXPRESS - September 11-17, 2017 - Page 1
WINDOW COVERING EVENT SAVE $200 ON HUNTER DOUGLAS ETTE SHADINGS place any new order for a minimum of five Silhouette and pirouette shadings.
% OFF 50HUNTER
DOUGLAS BLINDS & SHADES choose from designer roller shades and everwood Faux wood blinds.
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
S
askatoon’s June Avivi is the highlyinfluential voice of parents in the ongoing process of relocating those with intellectual disabilities from Valley View Centre (VVC) in Moose Jaw to more community-based services and support systems. VCC opened in 1955 and was once considered the ideal setting for as many as 1,400 participants. Since May 2013, Avivi and others in the VVC Family Group, as well as members from the Saskatchewan Association of Community Living (SACL) and Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Social People Services, have been putting forward a transition plan. At the beginning of the meetings there were 197 residents destined to be moved. There are 107 still there. Many will be moved later in this fiscal year and others, hopefully, sometime in 2018. “The quality of life has always been our highest priority,” said Avivi, noting that “for many, Valley View has been the only home they have known. What we do is person-centred. We have taken a careful and thoughtful approach to the transition process. We know the process will introduce a different model of support that many of the VVC residents and families haven’t seen before.” She suggests there is an opportunity to enrich the lives of the residents through intentional engagement, life skills development and ultimately through community living and inclusion. Avivi’s longtime commitment to the welfare of those with intellectual disabalities, as well as her leadership as a teacher and mentor in the Saskatoon Jewish community, are among the reasons why she has been chosen as a 2017 recipient of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. She will be honoured Nov. 29. A turning point in the lives of Avivi and her husband, Abe, came in 1956 when their second son, David, was born with some traces of Down Syndrome and autism; he was also non-verbal. When David was 12 years old, he moved to Valley View.
SAVE 25% On Our cuStOm- mAde drAperieS choose from our JF collection of linens, prints, textures and more.
ArrAnge yOur cOmplimentAry in-hOme cOnSultAtiOn tOdAy
CALL 306-668-2229 or 1-800-818-7779 September 8 to October 15, 2017. Savings off our regular prices.
Volume 16, Issue 36, Week of September 11, 2017
June Avivi:
tireless volunteer receives Sask. Order of Merit
NED POWERS
DC091125 Darlene
June Avivi has a longtime commitment to the welfare of those with intellectual disabilities. (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson)
“We appreciated the early help from people like John Dolan, when David went to his school, and from Alvin Buckwold, who arranged respite for us. When David moved, there was kind of a feeling that we were giving up responsibility for him. But it was the best option for him. At Valley View, the care was excellent and the staff was magnificent. Some worked there 30 to 40 years and they were so positive in everything they did.”
As the participants at Valley View grew older, so did the plant. “The physical plant and the infrastructure at Valley View was facing decline and the prospect of increasing expenses. It was about to reach a stage where the care and safety of its residents was going to be compromised in the deteriorating setting. “As the residents move, there will be some disruption in their daily lives. But during the transition, we want the impact to be
a positive one and we want them to have a high quality of life. “In our transition plan, the important thing was that the parents, SACL, the government, had to learn to trust each other. We did. It took us time to learn. In my opinion, June Draude, who was the minister of social services, was crucial. We talked. She kept the cabinet informed. She told them the recommendations were important.” (Continued on page 9)