Amin presided

He called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

Frank gave the blessing, led the singing of O Canada and collected fines and happy bucks

Amin proposed the toast to the King and Canada.

 

Notifications

 

George V talked briefly about next year’s electronic car lottery – the first committee meeting is next Wednesday. Please let George know if you would like to join this committee.

Mike H talked about our online auction and reminded us to visit the website and bit on items.

Sundeep informed us that the next Global Medic hands-on event is Saturday 11am to 2pm. These are so popular that Burlington now has their own Global Medic hands-on event.

Mahendra talked about the annual Paul Harris Awards Dinner. The next one will be January 26, 2023, and will be in-person. Please think about people you would like to nominate for this award, and send your nominations to Mahendra.

 

Amin officially welcomed Jonathan McNeice as a new member of our club!

 

Sundeep introduced our speakers:

Michelle Bake-Murphy and Lindsey Court from Woodview Mental Health & Autism Services (WMHAS)

 

Woodview has been operational since 1960 and is now administrated from 3 locations plus 1 residence, and it provides services from 22 locations including 5 schools.

WMHAS is a registered charity and accredited provider of children and youth mental health services and supports and offers a variety of autism services for children, youth, and adults.

Don't need a formal diagnosis to get support from WMHAS.

Their multi disciplinary team supports 3,000 clients directly and through community partnerships.

WMHAS is 70% funded by government and the balance of their income is from grants, donations and fee-for-service.

They recently identified gaps in related support and have already started to fill these

E.g. pre-school and in-home programs

Michelle and Lindsey thank us for RCO CF’s recent donation that funded storage in their gym

Their current needs now include expanding their playground

 

Bob asked how they measure success and was informed about their most recent survey results that included 96% of clients and their families thought that they had been treated with respect and 95% would recommend WMHAS’s services.

Michelle also talked about their accreditation which is subject to an annual assessment

 

When asked what challenges they faced they talked about 4-year-olds with no communication skills and a 6-year-old that will only communicate through an iPad.

 

Peggy asked what caused autism and was told that nobody knows for sure yet. There has been an increase in autism diagnoses and there have been lots of rumours and theories about the causes.

 

Michelle and Lindsey were Thanked by Mitch Sabsabi.