By: Kevin Chan
We held our 67th Annual General Meeting on June 19, 2019, and were joined by members of the Association, Board of Directors, staff, family and other interested parties. To kick-off the meeting, we welcomed back Aether, a collaborative service robot developed by JDQ. Through an ongoing partnership with JDQ, Aether has taken steps forward in its learning ability and can now recognize faces, identify people, give appointment reminders, provide bus schedules, and more. We also shared the highlights from this year’s annual report including:
- Infant Development Program provided over 1,800 home visits;
- Child Development Centres supported 425 families including 89 spaces to serve children with special needs;
- Day Programs served over 225 participants across six Day Services centres; Jobs West supported 238 job seekers this year, with 70 of our candidates receiving jobs and 16 participating in work experiences this year; Family Support Services supported 213 families with 1,500 service hours;
- Residential Services has tapped into assistive technology as a means to increase learning and independence. Currently, there are 79 individuals using assistive technology.
The annual report also had a focus on community involvement which includes:
- 13,198 community volunteer hours by Day Programs;
- 1,236 staff hours attending meetings with various hospitals and universities, municipal committees and government ministries;
- Over 30 community partnerships and 19 community agencies served.
