Community Impact - Social Need & Health
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Everyone has gifts and one of Virginia Fawcett's gifts is the ability to paint. A grant from the Lethbridge Community Foundation enabled the Chinook L'Arche Society to take a series of Virginia's paintings and turn them into beautiful Christmas cards, which are being used to raise money for the organization. "We really could not have undertaken this worthwhile project without outside assistance," said Doug Wiebe, the Community Leader/Executive Director. "So we really appreciate the support we received from the Foundation and Warwick Printing."
Virginia is a resident in one of the two L'Arche homes in Lethbridge. "She has a passion and gift for painting. The Christmas cards were a way to make her gift more visible outside her immediate community and provided an outlet for her talent," said Mr. Wiebe, whose office has several framed examples of Virginia's artwork. The cards have proven popular and more than three quarters of them have already been sold. "The cards have also become a way for Virginia to contribute to her community because the funds raised from their sale go to support the local L'Arche Society."
Sharing Our Gifts
This has been an interesting experience for Virginia. "I'm out there talking to people now," she said. "I want them to see what handicapped people can do." Virginia has also had another local exhibition of her artwork, which sold out. She was selected two years in a row as the local delegate to the annual national L'Arche Society conference one year in Vancouver, the other in Edmonton.
The first L'Arche community was begun by Jean Vanier to provide a home for adults with a developmental disability so they could be fully included and live meaningful lives in the community. Now 130 L'Arche communities exist in more than 30 countries around the world. In each of the two residences operated by L'Arche in Lethbridge, four adults of varying ages and abilities live in a home setting with three or four full time assistants. This involves more than sharing space and responsibilities as roommates. Core members and assistants are invited to engage in real, appropriately intimate, and honest relationships in which the value and vocation of each person are revealed.
The L'Arche residences are real homes. And what is so wonderful, and sometimes unexpected, about the relationships that develop is that the assistants get just as much out of their interactions as the core members do. "I used to work as a physical therapist in a hospital," said Sheila Dizon, who came to Lethbridge from the Philippines two years ago. "What I love about L'Arche is that everyone is valued. We build strong relationships with the others in the house. We eat together, laugh together, share experiences about our day, and even socialize together. This provides a great quality of life for us all."
From LCF Report to the Community 2003
Updated September 2009
www.lethbridgecommunityfoundation.ca
403.328.5297 office@lethbridgecommunityfoundation.ca 404 8th St South
