Sue Ablack wins Life membership Award from RFCS after a 35 year affiliation

Sep 16, 2020

Sue Ablack moved to Sharbot Lake in 1983, and in 1985 she was hired as the Coordinator of Programs and Services. At that time the agency was in a major growth phase as community-based services were being developed all the time.

“We were one of few multi-service agencies in the Province at the time, and one of only one or two that have survived. We became strong because of huge support from the community. The group I remember best were the feisty senior women. They did all the work in the community.

“It was attractive and so it led to a lot of contacts with outside groups and organisations who found they could workers to Sharbot Lake and the workers would not be out on their own, they would have a network to connect to.”

A lot of things developed out of the volunteer base, including the development of the Child Centre. It was a group of mothers who got together and setup a drop-in, and it grew from there. Among those women were Sue Leslie, Margaret Bell, Pam Woods, who were all mothers of young children at the time, and Audrey Tarasick. They became instrumental in the development of the Child Centre, which thrives to this day, with daycare that has been operating for 30 years, and the Early Years program for all of Frontenac County.

After working for what was then called North Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) in a programming role for almost ten year, Sue was feeling a pull towards returning to her initial profession in social work, with a focus on mental health. Providence Care, out of Kingston, had an outreach program based at the NFCS adult services program, which made her familiar with their work, and she took a job with them in Kingston.

“Karen McNaughton, who is from Kingston was the outreach worker in Sharbot Lake at the time, meeting with people with mental health issues on an ongoing basis, and I was working in Kingston. After a while she decided to transfer to a job in Kingston and stop commuting, and I took her job in Sharbot Lake and stopped commuting as well.”

Sue remained working for Providence Care as an affiliate of NFCS for about 20 years, before her first retirement in 2014. That was followed by two years working as a consultant to Providence Care working on a regional health care reform project, and then two more years working as a consultant in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, before she retired completely in 2018.

Aside from her professional career, Sue is a keen volunteer herself, sitting on the board of the Alzheimer’s Society and the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, and as a volunteer in the therapeutic yoga program that is run by Jill Dunkley at the Family Health Team. She has also volunteered to help out with the Christmas hamper program at Rural Frontenac Community Services every year.

“I was thrilled to hear I would be named a life member of Rural Frontenac Community Services. It is a fantastic organisation that continues to keep the community together,” she said, upon hearing that she will be receiving the Annual Life Membership Award at the RFCS Annual General Meeting, which will be held tonight, September 17 at 6:30pm as virtual meeting on Zoom.