There is good news and bad news these days for Frontenac Transportation Services (FTS), which provides rides to medical and other appointments for residents of North, Central and South Frontenac from its base in Sharbot Lake.

The good news is that the agency, which is managed by Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) and provides rides for clients of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) as well, has improved its reach all over the County (with the exception of Frontenac Islands) and has seen ridership increase throughout.

“Our ridership has increased everywhere, and one of the biggest increases has been in the area of medical rides for seniors in the former Storrington District of South Frontenac,” said Gail Young, the co-ordinator of FTS.

The bad news is that this has put a burden on its corps of volunteer drivers. “We need more drivers throughout the county, but the need is more pronounced in South Frontenac and it is acute in the Inverary area,” she said.

Young added that volunteer drivers all receive training when they sign on to FTS and they also receive compensation in the form of mileage to cover fuel costs.

“We are looking for people who are willing to donate the gift of time, and we don't want them to have to go out of pocket in order to volunteer,” said Young. “Anyone who is interested can give us a call and we can go over all the details. It can be a very rewarding way to volunteer because transportation is one of the most important factors for people who really want to remain living in their own communities as they age or face medical or other challenges. Many of our drivers have been with us for years and have developed strong bonds with our clients.”

The precursor to FTS, Rural Routes Transportation Services, was set up by Northern Frontenac Community Services to help residents from Verona north to access medical and social services. In 2009, with the promise of stable funding of $80,000 annually from Frontenac County to cover administrative costs, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Northern and Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) in order to establish FTS. FTS now serves clients from both agencies and also provides rides for the Limestone District School Board, Ontario Disability Support Program, Ontario Works, Northern Connections, and Community Living (North Frontenac).

For further information or to volunteer, call 877-279-2044

Family and Children's Services of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington is looking to recruit new members for the Board of Directors.

We are a Children's Aid Society - a not-for-profit agency that protects children from abuse and neglect. We receive funding and our mandate from the Government of Ontario. We've been serving this community since 1894, making us one of the oldest continuing charities in Southeastern Ontario. Many CASs, like ours, are known as Family and Children's Services.

Every family needs help. We're there when families can't cope. We support them, and help them stay together. Sometimes, children come into our care. When that happens, we try to reunite them with their birth family or with their extended family. In some cases, children can't go back. We take care of them through foster care and try to find them a new permanent family through adoption.

The role of a board member is critical to the work we do. The Board of Directors provides high-level leadership and governance for the agency by providing oversight of the agency's operations, performance and outcomes.

Board Members are expected to attend regular meetings and serve on committees. They are also encouraged to attend agency events and participate in the life the organization.

What we are looking for: The agency strives to have a broad mix of skills, experience and demographic characteristics on the board. At this time we have identified the need for board members who fit one or more of the following criteria (in order of priority):

- Residents of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington outside of Kingston

- Visible minorities

- Experience in one of the following sectors: Justice, Education, Social services, business management, general public sector, experience in Board of Director governance practices, fluency in French.

All applications are welcome - you may still apply even if you do not meet these criteria.

Requirements - To be a member of the Board you must be 18 or older and live or work in Frontenac or Lennox and Addington counties, Ontario. You must also undergo a Criminal Reference Check (Vulnerable Sector Screening). Members of the Board cannot have an undischarged bankruptcy. No employee or spouse or immediate family, nor those under direction of the Agency, are eligible.

Deadline - Applications must be received by Friday, September 11, 2015.

How to apply - Go online to www.JoinOurBoard.ca

Learn more about the Agency - Go online to www.FamilyandChildren.ca.

Resources and support for people with disabilities

Independent Living is a world-wide movement of people with disabilities working together to create resources and support for themselves. It is often considered a key part of the disability sector, as its focus is on the “whole person”, empowerment, and self-direction.

Delivered through Independent Living Centres, “IL” programs are designed to connect with the personal experience and need of the consumer. They tend to be longer-term and more wide-ranging than most human services programs. They also connect with community services such as medical, employment, volunteering, educational, housing, justice or seniors services.

Core programs at IL Centres are Independent Living Skills, Information and Networking, Peer Support and Community Development.

IL Skills include disability management and is designed to assist individuals and families in personal change especially - gaining awareness, developing life and social skills, building plans, taking action and whatever else it takes to change one’s life for the better.

Information and Networking often connects with IL Skills as it assists individuals and families in understanding how services work in the community, getting and using information, completing applications and working with practitioners whose assistance is required.

Peer Support is not only a program connecting individuals at a drop-in or dinner club - it’s also how things work at an IL Centre, which is an organization of people with Independent Living Centre Kingston 2 Resources and Support for People with Disabilities. Mentoring of people new to disability, giving real support to those becoming disabled, and grappling with barriers is our daily work.

Community Development, for Independent Living, means building IL into community services and assisting partner agencies or practitioners in understanding the value of consumer-direction (learning for oneself, taking ownership of a situation, connecting one’s person or one’s life to a process).

IL Centres may deliver other programs designed to build accessibility, consumer-direction, better living supports, co-operation and self-exploration.

Ontario’s “Self-Managed Attendant Services”, for instance, makes it possible for persons with mobility barriers to employ and manage their own attendants.

The Canada-wide “Navigating the Waters” project supported individuals seeking employment with wage subsidies, training dollars and longer-term personal assistance when it came to barriers in daily living.

Unique projects helping seniors and others with disabilities who are isolated are an essential component at many centres.

Workshops providing information and awareness, personal connections and practical experience about many topics are in development at IL Kingston.

IL Centres are often hubs connecting agencies and peer groups when it comes to fundamental living issues such as poverty, isolation, gaps in service, disability, abuse, addiction, underemployment and many other issues.

IL Centres are places where accessibility and accommodation, safe and confidential self exploration, co-operation and creativity make a very big difference for thousands of individuals with disabilities and their families each year.

Independent Living Canada, our national office, can be found on the Internet at www.ilcanada.ca. Our regional centre, in Kingston, can be found at www.ilckingston.com or 613-542-8353.

This article is provided by Independent Living Centre Kingston. It is intended to support self-awareness and community change. It is not intended as professional advice and is not meant to replace services by medical, legal or other practitioners. For more information, call 613-542-8353 or visit www.ilckingston.com.

Local politicians, visitors from other social service agencies, and members of the business community were well represented at Southern Frontenac Community Services’ (SFCS) AGM on June 24, which was held once again this year in the morning in order to accommodate the schedules of most of those in attendance.

Breakfast was served at 7:30 and the meeting started up at 8:00 in order to be wrapped before 9:00 last Wednesday.

A few milestones were marked at this, the 26th anniversary of the agency. Joan Cameron, who has been the board chair for six years, stepped down as chair and retired from the board. As was pointed out by the new board chair, Nona Mariotti, Cameron's legacy at SFCS is exemplified in the Grace Centre, where the meeting was held. It was Cameron who was the driving force in the development of the centre as a multi-purpose space that is used both for SFCS programming and administration as well as for public use as an arts centre, breathing life into the former United Church building.

In her final remarks, Cameron commended the efforts of the board in developing a governance model. She also reported that the agency has enjoyed its best year both in terms of service and finances.

Mariotti, who has chaired the Adult Services Committee of the agency and has been involved in developing and publicising events at the Grace Centre, takes over a six-member board, which is looking for three members to restore a full complement, including a new treasurer.

In his remarks to the membership, Executive Director David Townsend thanked the agency’s staff and talked about some of the new programming that SFCS has engaged in, including a homelessness initiative, as well as a palliative care counselling service for families throughout Frontenac County.

Tom Whiteman, then made a presentation on behalf of the United Way of Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington, of which he is a board member. He presented one of the agency’s annual Volunteer of the Year awards to John Trousdale. He said that Trousdale had been nominated by SFCS, which is a United Way member agency, and that when looking at the breadth of support he has provided to the agency and to the community of Sydenham, “It was very easy for us to make a decision.”

While many of John Trousdale’s contributions in Sydenham are well known, he has remained in the background over the 26-year history of SFCS, but on numerous occasions when there were either opportunities or crises, he has come through with a helping hand, either though in-kind or cash donations or by providing strategic advice.

Whiteman said that in recognition of his award, people in the community should “give John a hug”, something that Mayor Vandewal attempted to do later on without much success. Perhaps a simple handshake would suffice.

The keynote speech at the AGM was delivered by Donna Segal, the Chair of the Board of Directors for the South East Local Health Integration Network (SELHIN), which acts for the Ontario Ministry Health in funding hospitals, long-term care facilities, the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC), and also community support service agencies, of which SFCS is one. Segal said that the SELHIN spends about $1 billion annually, and one of its goals is to ensure that money is spent wisely and that service providers work together to provide “patient-centred care”, to cover all service gaps for patients and to avoid duplication of service.

She said that the SELHIN spends the second most money per capita among the 14 LHINS throughout Ontario on hospitals, the third most on long-term care, and the highest amount on home care, but the lowest amount per capita on community support services.

SFCS has been advocating for increases in its own funding from the LHIN for its popular Adult Day Program for the frail elderly.

Segal did not say if changes are coming to community support services funding, but she did indicate that the CCAC system, which provides nursing and other home services, may be seeing major changes in the near future.

For the past six years Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation (SFCSC) has hosted an Annual Golf Tournament in support of their Senior Services programs. The Annual 50+ Classic Family & Friends Golf Tournament fundraiser is one of the largest events of the year for SFCS and is supported by over 30 sponsors and 132 expected golfers. This year’s tournament is scheduled for Friday July 17, at Rivendell Golf Course in Verona. It is organized by long-time volunteers, Dave Linton and Bill Hartwick, with support from other volunteers and SFCSC staff members.

SFCSC is looking for additional golfers and sponsors to help make this the biggest and best tournament ever.

In 2014-15, SFCSC continued to provide programs and services for well over 800 seniors, all residents of our community of South Frontenac. As demand for additional supports grows, the agency will continue to meet the needs of our community. We have all heard through media channels that our governments have no more money to support health care and health supports. South Frontenac is the fastest growing township in all of South East Ontario for seniors and if SFCSC is to continue to meet the needs of these seniors and our community, we must now rely on our community helping out. This golf tournament is one such avenue to support seniors in our own community.

Come out and join us on Friday, July 17, at Rivendell Golf Course, 7359 Highway 38, Verona. Time – 4 Person Scramble – Shotgun Start 1:30pm; cost is $80 per person; $65 for Rivendell members (includes dinner, prizes, cart). All attendees will receive a gift bag and prizing at the tournament. Deadline for registration is Friday, July 10. Please call 613-376-6477 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Louise Moody, the newly appointed executive director of Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS), attended her first event with the organization at their sixth annual Great Outdoor Adventure, which took place at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake on June 13.

The event, which was funded in part by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Kingston Community Foundation with help from Pathways for Children and Youth, included many activities for youngsters, an Aboriginal corner, live music courtesy of Tom Asselstine and the Kokumis Drummers and a United Way yard sale. New this year were demonstrations and workshops in snowshoeing and lacrosse that came about thanks to a successful two-year grant obtained by NFCS through the Ontario Sports and Recreation Communities Fund.

A partnership with the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, the Limestone District School Board, the First Nations Youth Advisory, Kingston Kross Fire Lacrosse League and the Northern Rural Youth Partnership will make these two new traditional sports activities available to local children in the community, who will also now have access to a snow shoe lending library and will be able to participate in a new lacrosse league as well as in a number of skills-related workshops and demonstrations in both activities.

Maribeth Scott, manager of children services at NFCS, was thrilled with the opportunities these two new activities will bring to youth in the area. “Getting local youth active in a relevant, cultural way is exciting. We have a large population of native families here and now through this grant, we are able to continue to encourage youth to be active by introducing them to these two culturally relevant activities.”

Close to 200 visitors attended the third annual Touch-A-Truck event that took place at the Flinton Recreation Club, where a wide assortment of township and other vehicles were on hand for youngsters to explore. These included transport trucks, a Hydro One vehicle, various trucks from the local township and the local fire department as well race cars, ATVs, a hearse, a school bus, motorcycles and more. Sparky and Smokey the Bear were also on hand to entertain youngsters.

The event, which is put on by Lennox and Addington Resources for Children, (LARC), part of the Ontario Early Years programming, aims to make youngsters comfortable with the vehicles and staff who operate them and to teach them about safety issues.

I spoke to Becky Kavanaugh, a parent educator with LARC, who said the fun-based event is to give children a chance to explore and learn. “Young children rarely have an opportunity to get up close to these vehicles and understand what they do and the event also offers an educational component where we also talk about safety, which helps them to understand how the staff who operate them are there to help them.”

Kavanaugh thanked all the people involved who volunteer their time for the event, including members of the Flinton Recreation Club, who offer up the hall and provide all of the food that was available on site. A wide variety of door prizes and safety memorabilia were also handed out by the various organizations who attended.

TAMI, which stands for Talking About Mental Ilness, is a program run by volunteers that is based on an awareness program originally called “Beyond the Cuckoo's Nest”, which was developed in Toronto in 1988.

“TAMI is about public awareness and reducing the stigma of mental illness, which affects 1 in 5 people some time in their life” said Laura Tuepah, a TAMI volunteer who is also an occupational therapist with Providence Care, based in Kingston.

The Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, in conjunction with Northern Frontenac Community Services, is presenting a TAMI event next Wednesday, June 17 from 6 to 8 pm in the lower level of the Family Health Team offices.

As part of the presentation, a number of people who have dealt with mental health issues will be on hand to talk about their experiences, about overcoming the stigma of the disease and about the kinds of treatments that were available to them.

In Frontenac County there are a number of resources available for people suffering from Mental Health issues, and professionals who provide service in the Sharbot Lake region under the umbrella of medical or community agencies will be on hand to talk about what they offer.

Laura Baldwin, program manager at the Family Health Team, says that one of the messages that the therapists and other service providers attending the meeting will be getting across is that they all work together on different kinds of issues that people face, and that “any of their phone numbers is the right phone number.”

Among the agencies that provide service in the Central and North Frontenac region are the Family Health Team, which has both a part-time mental health worker and psychiatrist on staff; Northern Frontenac Community Services, which has a full-time family counselor on staff; affiliate agencies such as Providence Care, and Addictions and Mental Health Services (KFL&A); and other addictions service providers as well.

“In rural communities isolation can be an issue that compounds mental health issues, and what TAMI is all about is providing people with an opportunity to share their experiences, find out they are not alone, and also give a chance for them to find out what help there is and how to access it,” said Laura Baldwin.

“It is also a chance for people to let the professionals know what they need and make suggestions about services they could use.”

TAMI is open to all, and pre-registration is not required. For more information call 279-2100 or 279-3151. 

You are invited to attend a FREE community public information session about Advance Care Planning.

“…it’s about making choices now, while you are capable, about how you wish to be cared for in the future if you become incapable of making decisions. It is also about giving someone you trust the information and authority to act on those wishes for you…” (Ontario Government’s “The Advance Care Planning Guide).

Have you made these plans? Does your family know what these plans are? Do you have an up-to-date Power of Attorney for your Personal Care should you not be capable of expressing your plans before you die? Is your will up-to-date? Do you want to have extreme medical procedures done to prolong your life if you are in a coma or situation with no hope for a full recovery? Have you made funeral arrangements?

Although these are difficult questions to face, unfortunately each of us will eventually die, and more and more people are looking into these question to make sure their plans are carried out. Such pre-planning also spares family and friend the difficult task of making such decisions, saving them much time and extra stress. It also means peace of mind for us as we don’t have to worry or think about it again. The information sessions will provide the opportunity to have these and other questions answered as the presenters include a physician, lawyer, family member who experienced this, a representative from the Alzheimer Society, and a funeral home staff person.

This event takes place on two occasions: Wed. June 10, 2-4pm, at Sydenham Grace Centre, 4295 Stagecoach Road, and Wed. June 17, 2-4 pm, at Verona Lions Centre, 5404 Verona Sand Road. It is sponsored by the Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation, in cooperation with the Verona Medical Clinic. Coffee and refreshments will be served.

It is suggested that you pre-register as seating is limited. To pre-register for either session, contact Southern Frontenac Community Services office at 613-376-6477 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Northern Frontenac Community Services announced last week that after an extensive search they have hired Louise Moody to head the organisation.

Moody has worked in leadership roles in social services agencies in York Region and the City of Toronto for the past 25 years. Her work has ranged from children's services to working with young mothers and families. She spent six years as executive director (ED) at Humewood House Association in Toronto, which offers residential and other services for young mothers and their children, and most recently was the executive director of the Regent Park Community Food Centre in Toronto, which offers both food and housing programs.

Part of her attraction to the NFCS position was a desire to return to a more rural environment and the opportunity to live close to her mother, who lives near Elphin.

“Having experienced the beauty of the area for over 20 years, I would now like to get to know the families and communities who live there,” Louise Moody said. "It's an exciting opportunity for me to be coming to the area. I'm thrilled to be working with young families and excited by the opportunity to learn about working with seniors.”

“We are extremely pleased that Louise will be joining our staff team,” said NFCS Board Chair, Linda Chappel. “She was our first choice among a strong group of candidates for the position, and our selection committee felt her skill set and personality were a match for an agency that provides services for children, youth, adults, and seniors in a rural setting.”

Chappel also expressed her thanks for the continuity of service that has been provided by NFCS staff ever since the former executive director, Don Amos, left in late December to take a job in Kingston.

“We are particularly grateful to Catherine Tysick (Adult Services) and Maribeth Scott (Children's Services) for stepping in over the winter to keep the agency on solid footing,” said Chappel.

For her part, Lousie Moody's first day of work at NFCS will be May 19.