Possibilities in Action

In this episode of Community Chats, Chris Beesley, CEO of Community Living Ontario, joins Brad Saunders, CEO of Community Living Toronto for a conversation about leadership, belonging, and the future of community living. 

Together, they explore how the sector has grown over the past decade, the importance of advocating for stronger systems that help people live the lives they choose, and what it truly means to build communities where people don’t just receive support - they belong. From creating more inclusive systems to leading with possibility, Chris shares what continues to inspire and drive the work of Community Living Ontario.

The conversation also turns personal as Chris reflects on his family's journey with his son, Mitchell. Through stories of employment, community connections, and creating a life built around Mitchell's interests and strengths, his story is a reminder that belonging starts with seeing the person first.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hi, it's Brad Saunders, the CEO at Community Living Toronto, and welcome to our Community Chats podcast. Today we're continuing our belonging series, where we're sitting down with people across the province who are shaping disability inclusion all across the province. I'm joined today by Chris Beasley, who's the CEO of Community Living Ontario and has been since 2013. Chris leads a network that has grown to almost 130 organizations across Ontario, and their role is to advocate both for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families, as well as the service organizations and supports that are provided for them. We also talk about what lessons Ontario can draw from its closures of institutions, the last one closed in 2009. We're also look ahead and to the gap between policy promises and lived reality, what meaningful inclusion really requires at a systems level and at a community. Also, what's next on Community Living Ontario's agenda? Chris brings a great perspective as a professional and a parent. We had a great conversation. As always, belonging begins with listening. So grab a coffee, perhaps an ice coffee, since it is deep in the summer, uh, and enjoy our conversation. So, Chris, thanks for joining us again today. Good to uh good to have you back.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yeah, great to be here. Thanks for the invitation.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Yeah, now we're deep into summer as we're having this conversation. How's uh how's the summer going?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Hey, the summer's short, so we're making the most of it. And uh yeah, we've got a family member who's staying with us for the summer. She's a university student, so kind of seeing Toronto and Ontario through the eyes of somebody who's never been here before. She's up from North Carolina, so that's been kind of fun. Okay. And uh then, yeah, spend some time up north outdoors, and uh yeah, like the rest of us, right? Trying to make the most of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Of the brief summer thaw that we have here in the summer. And it's so true, eh? You never get to see, we live in a great city, but you don't really take it in enough until you've got somebody else that's here and wants to go to all these places.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

What's what's the highlight been uh for your guest so far?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Oh gosh, I think you know, she she went to the uh to the ROM this past weekend. She's been to um we went to Port Hope yesterday just as a date, sort of a bit of a day trip. Uh she's been to a concert, she's been to up the CN Tower, she's been to the aquarium, she's uh yeah, she's kind of trying to hit a lot of the uh uh cultural and entertainment aspects that you know coming from a smaller town, she doesn't normally have access to. And uh and from a Canadian perspective, we're trying to, she's uh her dad's Canadian, my cousin. So, you know, we're trying to connect her to her Canadian roots.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Good, good. That's uh excellent. Hope it uh hope it goes well and that the rest of the summer is a lot of fun. Um thanks for you. Um we're gonna talk a bit about belonging, but there's a lot going on, so I thought we we'll cover a bit of the waterfront here. Um starting off with sort of a maybe a retrospective question. You've been CEO at Community Living Ontario since 2013. Um how have a couple things, how have your priorities changed in those 13 years since you started? And um what have you seen evolve in the sector uh and and with um uh how people are supported and involved in their communities uh since then?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yeah, thanks. Um gosh, I think there's been an evolution, at least within the community living Ontario, and I think by extension to a lot of our members to really try and um bring in and pay attention to and work with uh the people that are, you know, who uh identify as having an intellectual or developmental disability and their families. So where there are supportive people, whether it's their chosen family or their actual family, uh how do we how do we listen to some people would say walk with, be relevant to and supportive of uh people and families? And I think we're I think we're doing a better job of doing that listening and connecting and working with so that the what we advocate for and the supports that our member organizations provide are um uh as much as possible unique to them and supporting their goals and their hopes and their dreams. Um there's always the the funding, the wait lists, the you know, the advocacy that Community Living Ontario does with uh uh with its members and with families and with people with lived experience. But I think coordinating a cohesive voice there, we've come a long way uh along those lines. So I'm yeah, I'm I'm kind of hopeful in that if we can go forward on that basis with uh a shared voice, a shared commitment, shared values, and shared priorities, that that's what's going to move things forward ultimately.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Okay. That's um that's good. And there's there's this piece around so the nice thing about the community living movement is it's always been very grassroots. Our organization goes back to 1948 and a letter to the star and a beaning in a church basement. Uh, many organizations across the province uh started that way. So the voice of families uh and the voice of people with disabilities has always been pretty prevalent. I is it just me or or we're sort of seeing this um continuation and greater involvement of people with lived experience. And there's an it's beyond just an evolution in language and moving from sort of self-advocates to people with disabilities to people with lived experience. Um, how are you seeing how's that evolved over the uh over the last number number of years? What do you what do you see that is bringing a lot of uh hope or inspiration for you?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah, we're certainly with with our own council, um, and again, council is a group of 12 elected people who identify as as having that uh that lived experience. Um and so the extent to which we've been able to have tons of people who are always um running for that for that position, we probably have more people who are interested running for council than we do on our board. Right. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's uh it's it's great to see the enthusiasm and the involvement that I think you know galvanizes certainly my resolve when I hear about the the perspective, the passion, and the priorities that that uh that council has, uh, and then connecting them with the people who make those decisions in government, right? And and and connecting to people who are going to school to work in this sector and and having them speak with and present to and educate them. Um it's really been an important piece of of the work when we we talk about belonging. Um, there it there's a lot more to it than the word. And and you know, even when we talk about the journey to belonging and that sort of ministry big picture initiative, um what does that actually mean and what's it gonna take to actually embed people in lives that they feel are are are worthwhile, are productive, and are contributing to their communities. Uh, and it's it is not in uh the historic places and spaces we've put people. Yeah so that's a that's a that's a tough conversation sometimes, but if we're willing to listen and willing to work with rather than do for, I think that's the that's the uh maybe that's part of the the secret ingredient.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yeah, the the the the other piece that uh uh at Community Living Toronto, we have a group called the influencers that are talking about passions that they have in their own lives in addition to issues related to disability. And the the internet, social media can kind of be a toxic environment. And I actually, to the degree that I spend too much time on these platforms, I I actually am starting to more seek out and trying to build an algorithm that is more focused on things that are positive and uplifting and people talking about what's going well in the world because there's a lot of noise around things that aren't going well. Um so I I think that uh that balance and again, you I think your uh your um council is a is an example of that, as are a bunch of other community livings around the province. Just talk about things that people are doing that are fun and interesting and and uh uh and a little more uplifting and inspiring than a lot of the negative stuff that we see.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

100%. I think that that influences your our own mental health and but also our attitudes and um what's that? There's that old there's an old saying, your your attitude determines your altitude.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

And so if you have a positive outlook, it it's not enough to have a positive outlook, but you need a positive outlook in order to move forward. If you think it's not, you know, it's why bother, it's all doom and gloom, there's no use, um, then you're not likely to do anything to make things better. Whereas if you have a a positive attitude and you are you it makes you more proactive and it makes you want to move forward and inspires you to do things. So, yeah, I would encourage anyone to uh put a positive spin on their algorithm because uh it's so easy to go down the rabbit hole of negativity. And and I think that's uh our tagline at Community Living Ontario is inspiring possibilities.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

So that that says what you're talking about right there.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Right a right line there. The other thing that's been quite cool with this is that how easy it is for people to just get on their phone or their computer and talk about their life experience and share what's going on. Uh and uh it, you know, in in a way that wasn't possible. Well, when even when you started 13 years ago, uh it's it's all been democratized. We can all get on and share our opinions. So uh more of us, I think, need to take that sort of approach, be a little more up, a little more positive. Life ain't so bad.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

I mean, there's there's the there's if you if you don't have challenges, you don't appreciate the good things, but let's let's put a spotlight on the good things so that again, conversely, when the challenges come along, we will be resilient enough to to move forward and and and be better.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah. Now you uh community living Ontario has always done a ton of advocacy, um, and again, societal advocacy where you're pushing for more inclusion and belonging and the in the education system. Um what are some of the what are some of the big wins or successes, progress that you've made in some of your advocacy files over the last uh number of years?

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Uh I think you know, you know, it's it's it's funny. The the the wins come uh they feel very small a lot of the time, and yet they have a ripple effect or a larger impact over time. I remember I remember during during the pandemic where you know we we got government to shift what were eligible passport expenses and getting them to think about you know what is it that is eligible that around technology and around fitness equipment and what what what could be spent because people are locked down in in their homes. And yes, it's meant for community participation, but when there's no community and it's all online, how do we pivot uh that so you know that that that that was uh uh an example of government understanding and willing to shift things because we brought it to their attention. They weren't thinking about it, but when they did, it it made a lot of sense. I think about the you know, we and and and kind of connection and collaboration with Community Living Toronto and Provincial Network and OASIS and you know, trying to get them to recognize that hey, you can't paint a broad brush when it comes to not letting in international students uh because we we are short on developmental service workers. We need people in this sector to be committed to uh working in this sector. And so we were able to get some uh shift in in policy at the federal level. Um, so that's a great thing and a great example of collaboration. And you know, I think about uh uh employment and how you know we're that's a that's an evolving uh piece, but we have you know a national initiative that we're able to get uh funding for and continue to through our ready, willing, and able initiative. And that's connecting uh, you know, the the telling the story about a really ready, willing, and able talent pool who have developmental disabilities, uh, but talking to companies about that and and making that uh that pitch that's been really well received and continues to be. I think we're 12 years in now on that one. But then also looking provincially and some of the challenge around employment reform and working with the Ministry of Labor to say, yeah, you've you're it's no wrong door, but now unfortunately, there's no right door sometimes for people we're concerned about, and you know, having to work 20 hours a week before it's even registers on the scale of remuneration for uh uh an employment service agency and how it's cut, it's it's the bureaucracy has has eliminated many of our members from even being in that space, and so that's harmful to people. So again, that's an ongoing story, so stay tuned on that one. But it's it's those really, you know, really substantive um issues that we continually take on housing being another big one. And and and for community living Ontario, it's it's the yes, it's the it's the it's the having the conversations with the right people in the right ministries, um, and connecting to our federal counterparts and and doing some work there, but then connecting with with our member associations like Community Living Toronto and connecting to the work you're doing and and how does that, you know, you should talk too, and that, you know, that kind of thing. So we're we're the connectors in a lot of ways that you know we it often feels like the progress is sort of at a glacial pace, but but it's all the little, it's the it's the little meetings, it's the little connections, it's the webinars, it's the relationships that that build upon themselves where we do see over time that that evolution. So when we look at you know, institutional practice from the past and finally institutions closing and then moving into you know more community-based supportive living. And then we look now we're now we're talking about you know it community living Toronto and this vertical community initiative. It's a big difference from group homes of you know 40, 50 years ago and and what you're doing now. So the the the conversation is evolving, but as long as we can always are are willing to have the what's next and what might be better with the people supported, that's gonna be that's gonna move things forward. So we're we we always want to be at the table. We always want to be in that space, whether it's with locals, uh organizations, provincial, national governments, uh collaborating with other organizations who are kind of you know in shared spaces, sometimes very directly, other times more sort of um tangentially, and trying to make those common links have moved things forward on that space, which is a long-winded way of saying the work's ongoing, but we're doing our best.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Well, no, it's but you touch on an important point that you talked about a bunch of small changes that have happened over time. And you never want to miss the opportunity to hit a grand slam and have a big policy win or a big change where you go, wow, on this day. Like, you know, the the the the you you mentioned institutions, the last institution in Ontario closed in 2009. Like that's just yeah, and that was a culmination of more than 25 years of work uh to close those institutions. That is, you know, you look back and go, wow, that was a big day. Um, you don't get a lot of moments like that where you go, wow, this was significant. But uh it I think it's important as we do this work and as uh a federation of organizations that we're realizing the incremental change, incremental growth, incremental development over time. So the progress is going in the right way, even if and even if the steps along the way feel small uh or smaller than you'd smaller than you'd like.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Absolutely. And I think you know, our our advocacy efforts over the last three years or so of have you know been very targeted, very specific, and very intentional. And so it was the five to survive three years ago, right? Five we were looking for five percent core funding increase for agencies. We got three percent. So that felt like partial win, but it was it certainly, but it gave us a template of when there's coordinated effort, when there's speaking with one voice, when there's shared priorities, and then there's the various tactics that go along with that. I mean, the the the secret sauce there was, you know, I was the I was a talking head on the you know, the morning shows and all that kind of thing, and that's and that's fine, but it really was galvanizing our membership and the the the people and families they support to contact their MPPs to have the meetings, to have the conversations, so that at Queen's Park, they were all talking about it, they were talking about our sector.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Yeah, and and I guess there's a couple things. One, you you know, you're out there, you're delivering a message. How do you um and you've got more than a hundred members now, right? You're uh you're more than 128. That's fantastic. Um, how do you and then like from our perspective, right? We've you you've got uh a community living Toronto organization or our organization, we've got a board of directors, we've got committees, we've got members and stakeholders who all have priorities and all that, and then you multiply that times 128 agencies. How do you what's how do you pull all that together to get down to a one sort of campaign and I'll take five to survive, or we all belong? How do you pull that together? What's what's um what's the secret there?

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Oh wow, I it if there was a secret, I I think uh I I wish I'd like to know it. It's yeah, I think it's you know, so yes, it's it's it's pulling together the 128 times the the boards and the people and everything else, and and uh but it's also I think being aware of the bigger picture and the you know the 56,000 who are waiting right now for something.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

How do we um reach out to, work with, and be relevant to the 56,000? Because it's it's it's nice for us to have this conversation between you and me about you know the sector and agencies and people we support and all the important things that that uh that we do. But I think we we need to pull in more of those people and more of those families uh and never forget that you know more people are waiting than are being supported right now. And it's not that they you know can't do anything that people always have, you know. I hope they they see opportunity in their lives and I hope they have hope, but we need to do things to in order to keep that hope afloat. And you know, I think right now where we're our our targeted advocacy is around uh passport funding and that's you know, that being the the direct individualized funding that people can use to access their communities, to do the things they want to do, to have respite, to uh have the the tools to to connect. And we're saying if you're if you're eligible for support, you've been deemed, you've been assessed and been eligible, and then they've they've assessed um the level of support you would need within Passport, then you should get that full allocation because it's not enough to do two out of three when they're you know it's fees feels like being stuck on third base and you're looking to come home. So wave us home, give us the funding we need so that um we can we can people can do the things that they need to do.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

And just so people so as it stands now, most people there it's not an entitlement, but most people will receive an allocation of $5,500 uh when they uh when they're approved to for to receive passport. And then you wait until you are until you wait for something to happen until you get your the the amount that you're eligible to receive. So the advocacy has been to push, no, when you're when you're eligible, you should receive your full allocation because a lot of times people it's an at a younger age graduating out of school, uh maybe not don't have anything lined up post-secondary and are looking for things to do. It's a good opportunity that that we're missing to give people more uh more support, more ability ability to be involved in community instead of being shut out.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Absolutely. And it's you know, and where we were, you know, we were talking about that five to survive and waiting to belong and getting core funding, really important to have um sustainable support organizations in place so that if you know when you're when you're provided with those that passport funding to connect with the support you need, that there are organizations in place that are able to do that. So trying to work both sides of that equation as an organization to see a bigger picture and points of connection and and you know, how can agencies get develop more revenue streams? How can they be more um I'm gonna call customer centric, right? People that want it, what do they need, what are they looking for, what do they want, and how can we provide it? And and how do we provide advocate for the resources that are going to allow those connections to take place? So that's kind of for community living Ontario, that's that's a big piece of it. Because, you know, you said earlier or a couple of minutes ago, support. Is purely discretionary. It is at the discretion of the government of the day as to who gets when and how much. And you know, we think that by 2035, there should be some mandated supports here. There should be a recognition that if you are eligible and you need some support, you should get a reasonable amount of support in a reasonable amount of time. Um, like we have access to education and healthcare. And so um, yeah, I think we need to talk about that more. I think we it scares the heck out of government to think about that and what that looks like and how much that will cost. But if we don't set the goal and have the vision, we're not we're never gonna get there. So we need to talk about it because so many people don't have anything.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Um we talked about institutions closing in 2009, big accomplishment. Um looking back, what about that transition? Did uh did the province, did we as a sector get right? Uh, what went really well for people, and what are some of the things uh or areas where we have fallen short in that uh in that evolution?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Yeah, well, I mean that's that's that's uh armchair quarterback, right? Or Monday morning cup quarterback after after the Sunday game, it's it's easy to to to say. I think the the fact that it happened was huge, and and you know, and it happened in Ontario before after some provinces, but before a lot of others. So um, but it had to be done, it was the right thing to do. Uh I think where we saw uh group homes as the answer right at the time. And it's not that you know they and they were this was a gradual evolving of group homes and a devolution of institutions, which I think was a intentional and and and smart thing to do. Um, but at one time, Community Living Ontario, you know, advocated for well, maybe if it's a hundred people, it's okay. Right, right. So so our own thinking, right, as reflective of the broader conversation was well, you know, 100 people in an institution, well, maybe that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Well, of course it's back at a time when there were uh thousands of people in an organization and an institution, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Exactly. So that was progressive, that was an evolution of thinking and what might what might be better. And so as long as the conversation evolves and continues on what's next, what might be better, I think we got locked into the group home model, such that has the conversation evolved from, you know, well, then it was well supported independent living, what might that look like and family home type thing. So we did start thinking about what what else might be an option that would support people in in a home in their homes. But I think where we maybe, again, open for debate, where we did a misstep was there was a huge investment in the bricks and mortar, right? The government and and our local associations made that we spent a ton of money and continue to spend a ton of money to maintain those homes because it was a heck of a lot better than the institution where the hundreds and the thousands were. So we were of good intention, and you could say that about anything, right? Our our sheltered workshops and even our and our day programs, right? These are all founded in, like it's kind of like community living invented these things, right? Not out of you know, trying to do bad things. We're we're always thinking about how might we do better, how might we connect better. So it's all from a good place, but we also found there's unintended consequences. And when you get locked into the real estate, it becomes very difficult to divest and support people in different ways. And so the you know, the ability and the flexibility of an organization and of government to have that conversation can take years sometimes, right? It's very intertwined, it can be very bureaucratic, it can be very rules focused. And so while there's people who want different things, right, knocking on the door and saying, but I don't want what you got. How can you support me in the way that where I want to live and how I want to live and in a group home?

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

How do we respond and and and and make that happen? And I think that's where we're at right now in the evolution of supports.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Well, and the I believe this and have said it for years that the one of the things that I I love about uh the work that we do is uh you you're never stuck in one spot. You're things are always we've had different, you know, journey to belonging, uh making services work for people. There's there's the sort of policy evolution, but then there's just the on-the-ground people making choices every day about how they want to live their lives and what that looks like. And I think one of our strengths is that we try and over time move towards uh being much more centered on what people actually want and trying to figure out ways to make that work. Um, and and again, it's that gradual present uh progression over time to see things change for the better.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Yeah. Now you you um this this is your job, but you this is also personal for you. So you're um uh you're a father of an individual with an intellectual disability. So you're not just talking about this stuff um as part of your job, but it's your you're living it every day too. What what what's what's going on? Tell us about your uh uh your son and what's uh what's going on there. How do you make journey to belong, or how do you make community living or belonging uh real for you and your family?

SPEAKER_00 27:40

How do I walk the talk? Is that the question, perhaps?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Yeah, better way you're usually doing the interview. That's a much much cleaner question.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

No, it's a great question. It's a you know, our son Mitchell is uh he's 31 years old now. And um, you know, I I think like many parents, like many families, you you don't know what you don't know. Um, and you you see the the landscape and you, you know, is it is it special ed classes going into then a special day program, then going into a special group home and call it a life, and and wanting the best that those can be, right? If that's what you've seen, that's what you hear, that's what you know. And that was kind of certainly where we started out, and then you know, can but but you know, plug for uh CL Toronto, connected there for you know, what does daycare look like and what does school look like, and how might it be inclusive and in the regular classroom in our neighborhood school? And so we got support to do that, and and so that was great, but then it was it was we still um I'm I'm sorry to say, lacked vision as parents to say, well, and what would be after that? Right, what would what would life look like? And again, we probably I think we still had a sort of a group home day program perception, and and then through getting the position I have now was was exposed to sort of you know some other conversations and other thinking, and and was invited to what we hold as a family leadership series, series of weekends bringing families together to talk about what what might a good life look like, uh again, beyond the system, is creating the life and then looking at the support rather than looking at what the system has and then trying to call that a life. And so that kind of flipped it around, right, for us, which seems I don't know, maybe it seems obvious, but but it it wasn't at the time. And so there's a it was a bit of a light bulb moment to say okay, if we could call together enough resources to hire support people that would focus on Mitchell and where he was interested and the things he wanted to explore and the person that he wanted to become, that was a whole different way of looking at it. And so, you know, it sort of worked out that he was finishing up high school at that time and we were thinking about what's next. And and so, really, for for him now he's connected to the things he wants to do. And so he, you know, he right now he's he's he's dying to have a uh job on a farm, and I'm hoping this week he's going to an alpaca farm to visit that. He's trying to try to figure out there's they're they're interested in hiring him. So yeah, never don't know anything, but he's yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

So I was gonna ask you what I think I know what an alpaca is, but I don't know how much picture.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

Uh yeah, maybe it's a it's not a llama and it's not a donkey, and it's not a horse, and it's but that's an alpaca. I think that'll be the thing, yeah. So so that's his you know, a piece, a piece of the puzzle that he wants to develop right now. Um, you know, he's a member of his local gym. He has a personal trainer a couple of days a week. Um, so he and he's and again, this is passport funding that pays for his personal training and gym membership. Yeah, and it's fantastic. I mean, the people that that he he has met there, he's got a whole social network now of people that I don't know. I know a couple of them, but most of them I don't. And you know, we'll take him to the they have an open house Christmas party every year, and you know, I walk in and nobody looks twice. He walks in and says, Hey Mitch, right? Come on, let's go, right? And off he goes and and does his thing. And that's you know, the the owner of the gym gave him a at Christmas gave him a key to the gym. He said, You you you are part of of us here. You can come and go whenever you want, because you uh you you've you're you're part of the family thing. That's that's pretty cool, you know. And he's and he's got his his egg delivery business that he started during the pandemic, right? Six years in now. Okay. Um, where he's he delivers, goes up to a farm, gets the egg, farm fresh eggs, and delivers them in the neighborhood to his customers. And again, they see him as uh as a business owner who's delivering awesome eggs to their door. That's pretty cool, right? And he's got yesterday was 51 dozen he was delivering. So he makes a little bit of money. But uh has support. We hire a support worker who's gonna take him to the farm to help him get the eggs. And you know, at first the the support worker had to, you know, go up to the door with him, and you know, he'd be like, Come with me, come with me, come with me. But then he started making those connections with with our neighbors whom he knows better than I do. And then it was like, No, you stay here, you stay here. Right. And he would he goes up now and has that little interaction and that. So it's the evolution of relationships and connecting to his community that yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

So he he's he's he's created with your support uh the uh uh a life for himself in a community where he feels safe and he belongs and he has purpose and he's enjoying himself uh and and has a life of his own. So that's and according to the that's every family's goal, I would think.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

The cis assessment says his needs for support are greater than 86% of the population in the state.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

So don't go by the number, right? It kits it's you know, I I often see, and and and this also isn't you know, well, that's great for your kid, but it would never work for mine. That's the point. What works for my kid probably won't work, probably won't work, right? And that's the point. And I but I think if you focus on the person first, and yeah, money money matters, you need some money, but you also need people around you. The people at the gym, I mean, his personal trainer gets paid twice a week to work with him, but nobody else is getting paid there who knows him and values him as a member and wants to talk to him and wants to go across the street for a slice of pizza with him.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

And yeah, they're friends, they become acquaintances, they're just part of his community, part of his life.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Yeah, so sure money matters, but it's the how do you leverage whatever support to broaden the connection. Yeah, right. And that's the that's the key.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Good. What an uh uh good way to end. I'm glad to hear things are going uh uh going well. Uh thank you for your leadership with CLO and uh the successes that you've had in the advocacy stuff and the work that you do that I can't imagine is easy, kind of keeping 128 of us organizations kind of trying to all row generally in the same direction, uh, and sometimes with really good success. Uh often actually, I think with really good success uh in what we're able to achieve. So thank you. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

It's uh it's it's the it it's the honor of my life, as I'm sure you feel the same way, right? Yeah, to be able to do this kind of work. And you know, for me, it's it's yeah, it's my life every day 24-7, but it's uh it's important work and it's things that uh are important to people. And like I said, keeping always remembering who isn't at the table and trying to broaden access and as I said, you know, inspire possibilities. Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

It's all about enjoy the rest of the summer.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Yeah, thanks, Brad. You too.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Take care. Thanks. Thank you for listening, watching, and sharing. We release a new episode of Community Chats on the 15th and the 30th of each month, so don't forget to subscribe to stay up to date.