"More confident in my future" with Independent Facilitation by Danny Steeves

January-23-19

​Dear Honourable Doug Ford,

I am writing to you today in regards to the funding project I have received from Facile Independent Facilitation. I have recently been informed that the funding project will be discontinued as of March 31, 2019. I would like to insist that it be reinstated.
My family, as well as others I know of, have benefited from this funding as it leaves my caregivers more time to care for my every day needs. Often, when caring for the daily needs of an adult living with physical disabilities, it is easy to get so caught up in the necessities that we often don’t have time or are too exhausted to plan for the future. I have some friends who have a hard time planning for the future and eventually their primary caregiver was ill and unable to care for them. This resulted in last minute decision making and, in some cases, placement in a nursing home at a young age as that was the only option where they could receive care.

With funding from Facile, I have been able to utilize the skills and knowledge of Diane Peacock who has helped me plan for my future so I don’t need to go through what my friends have gone through. I would like to continue this planning so that when my caregivers are unable to care for me then we will have a long-term plan in place. Diane has helped my friends and family come together to form a team that will help me for the rest of my life. We are just in the beginning stages of planning and would like to continue to do so, but as stated before, funding is necessary to continue our work.

Diane has helped us overcome the obstacles of planning for my future and I don’t know what we could accomplish without her. Having her help has made me more confident in my future and dreams and has helped me think differently as I’ve been supported in a bigger way. This has been different from my other supports as they have only been able to help with my daily cares.

I feel it is extremely important for the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services to provide funding for Independent Facilitation Organizations on an ongoing basis. Many families don’t have the kind of support that I’ve had this year and I believe it is critical in our daily changing world to have this level of support.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
​
Sincerely,
Danny Steeves