Opening Plenary – Zuhy Sayeed

Getting Back to the Grass Roots:  Supporting Families for Change

Zuhy is the most recent past president of the Canadian Association for Community Living.  Zuhy and her family live in Lloydminister, Saskatchewan where her husband is a physician.  As a mother of a son with a disability Zuhy knows what families struggle with and she knows that Leaning on One Another is what can really make a difference in your families’ life.  In her role as President of the Canadian Association for Community Living Zuhy met with families at both the local level and at the international level; this has provided her with the opportunity to see the “Big Picture” on how families come together to support one another.  She will share her views on getting back to the grassroots – reaching families at a local level and how that can create local, national and international change that can impact and strengthen us and the disability community as a whole.

Closing Plenary – Bendina Miller

Support Beyond Family

Bendina is the President of the Canadian Association for Community Living.  She is a past board member at AiMHi – Prince George Association for Community Living here in Prince George and was also a board member of The BC Association for Community Living before moving to the national scene.  Bendina will be well known to many families in Prince George for her many years of work at our local School District #57 as a Special Education Teacher, and than as an Assistant Superintendent before becoming the Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain School District for the past eight (8) years.  Bendina will be talking about “Support Beyond Family: parents and families are not alone”.  The broader community of friends, neighbours, professionals and Community Living Associations can be there as effective supporters and can help build and strengthen supports through meaningful relationships with families and individuals with disabilities.  Bendina will share her personal observations and experiences in building “support beyond families”.