15th annual Mayors' Luncheon goes virtual

By Mark Ribble

REGIONAL -- The 15th annual Mayors' Luncheon hosted by Community Living Essex County (CLEC) attracted about 75 virtual participants last Friday.

The Zoom-based meeting was the first virtual Mayors' Luncheon put on by CLEC but they've been holding virtual events for the past few months.

With May being Community Living Month in Ontario, several speakers, including clients of CLEC, talked of their experiences with various subjects and about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their everyday living.

"As a local not-for-profit organization celebrating 60 years, we are pleased to be able to share our stories of resilience with you," said Sue Desjarlais, First Vice President of CLEC. "We want to celebrate inclusion and inspire possibilities."

The audience, which included mayors from all over Essex County, the media and other interested parties, heard stories about resilience and inspiration from all speakers.

About 75 people registered to participate in the annual Mayors’ Luncheon, hosted by Community Living Essex County. The event, normally held in-person, was held virtually due to COVID restrictions. Speakers offered presentations on the challenges and triumphs experienced by those with intellectual disabilities, as they navigated through the pandemic.

With CLEC celebrating 60 years this year, Manager of Community Relations and Resource Development, Tony De- Santis, spoke about plans to also hold events to commemorate the big milestone, including a lottery, a time capsule event and of course the Ruthven Apple Festival, which will once again be a virtual event.

Presentations were made by members of three of CLEC’s programs: New Day, Career Compass and Ensemble.

Brianne Taggart, the chair of New Day, an advocacy group made up of people with intellectual disabilities, spoke about how the group adjusted to deal with the pandemic.

“We used Microsoft Teams for virtual meetings and learned how to reconnect,” she said. “It helped us take a new look at the structure of New Day.”

Ensemble is a program that is a direct resource for parents caring for a person with a disability and has been around since 2000.

Career Compass is CLEC’s modernized employment service, which helps train clients in searching out jobs and pairing prospective employers with prospective employees.