READ KARYN LAZARECK'S MOVING SPEECH ON BEING HONOURED FOR HER WORK TO BENEFIT CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Karyn Lazareck was honored at the DASCH Foundation’s Recognition Awards Luncheon on April 29th, 2011.

DASCH – which stands for Direct Action in Support of Community Homes – was established in 1974 and provides fully staffed homes and supportive living services for youth and adults with a range of intellectual disabilities. Currently DASCH owns and manages 50 homes in the Winnipeg area as well as running a number of specialized day programs for non-resident individuals and families who are part of the DASCH family.

Lazareck became a pioneer on the issue of special needs programing after learning that her son Jordan had autism .She opened up a fund at the Jewish Foundation for his Bar Mitzvah to help fund programs for special needs in the community-- a fund which grew from about 13, 000 dollars in 1994 to now over 1.2 million dollars.

Lazareck was introduced by Marsha Cowan, CEO of the Jewish Foundation,[to learn more about the importance of the Jewish Foundation and what it does, go to www.jewishfoundation.org.

Cowan who noted that in 1991 Lazareck spearheaded the special needs initiative in Winnipeg’s Jewish community, and a year later she co-chaired the community’s inaugural conference on special needs – a watershed event that launched major initiatives within the community and promoted inclusion in the areas of recreation, camping, education, religious life and vocational training.

“In her resourceful and engaging way she inspired many people to join her in this pursuit,” Cowan said. “How did it happen? First and foremost she is a mother… a mother with a child and a woman with a vision who knew that she could make the world a better place.”

In 1992 Karyn founded G.R.O.W. (Gaining Resources Our Way), a unique, non-denominational life skills summer program in Gimli, Manitoba designed to help young adults with autism and other cognitive disorders achieve greater independence through life skills training. Last year G.R.O.W. which is a program administered by the Rady J.C.C, launched a transitional 18-24 month day program here in Winnipeg offering a more intensive and comprehensive life skills education experience.

In 1938 a young boy and his parents boarded the train in Meridian Mississippi headed for Baltimore, Maryland .They were going there to consult the nation’s top child psychiatrist, Dr.Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins University.

The family came from the town of Forest,Mississippi and the child’s name was Donald Gray Triplett.Donald would be remembered forever as “Case #1-Donald T when Dr. Kanner published his research findings in 1943 in a journal called “The Nervous Child”. Donald was the first subject described as having the complex neurological ailment now most often called an autism spectrum disorder.That was 68 years ago.

Now 77 years old ,Donald still lives in his home town of Forest. When journalists recently went to see for themselves how life had turned out for the first person ever diagnosed with autism-they discovered that it had turned out remarkably well!

Donald’s life - now - resembles an idyllic version of how to live out ones golden years. He enjoys his morning coffee/drives out to the golf course where everyone recognizes his distinctive gait and even more distinctive swing/ has a weekly dinner date with his brother and sister-in law and successfully manages his daily requirements.It is interesting to note that he learned to play golf at 23-drive a car at 27 and at 37 began to travel the world.

It seems that Donald, who most assuredly is still autistic, reached his potential in large part because of how his community decided to respond to the odd child in its midst.

He was accepted by family,classmates and neighbours who were not only able to shrug off his oddities but openly admire his strengths.Donald was, and still is -part of his community.

His story is a wonderful example of what a community can and should be. It also serves as a reminder that the critical components for Donald’s success lay not only with his abilities and an accepting community , but with the financial support his family could provide and with the opportunities they were able to give him to learn new skills as he matured.

Donald’s story also struck a personal chord because of our experience in raising our youngest son Jordan , born 30 years ago , with a hearing loss and his own set of unusual behaviors.

We also travelled to different medical centres in an effort to find out more about our unusual child .We were searching-searching for a diagnosis-searching for a cure-searching for a miracle You might say that Jordan was Case#1-Jordan L. in the Winnipeg Jewish community since it seemed that until Jordan there hadn’t been a child as visible in our community who was so clearly affected with the singularities found in autistic individuals.

When Jordan was young most activities for children with special needs took place in the community at large.I discovered that inclusion of such children and adults into Jewish community life was not a priority let alone a consideration and what little support there was depended on the largesse and compassion of a few people-not on a policy of inclusion.

Frankly this came as a disappointment because I had grown up in Winnipeg during the 1950’s as part of a generation who enjoyed a rich community life.We were the lucky beneficiaries of earlier Jewish immigrants whose foresight and financial support had built an infrastructure and programming for children just like me.

Now 40 years later I realized that those activities which I had taken for granted were not an option for Jordan-or children like him.

The need was evident but my hands were already full- I was trying to maintain some semblance of regular family life while - at the same time devoting a lot of my time and energy to Jordan. Even so I knew I was lucky…I had a lot of support from family and friends that others did not-and Jordan was advancing.

So when I was encouraged to take what I had learned to spearhead a movement that would help the Jewish community become more responsive to people with special needs my reply was “What ,are you kidding?I have a husband who works 18 hours a day two rambunctious older boys and a mother with expectations! The challenge seemed monumental at most and misguided or Don Quixote-esque at the very least!

But nevertheless I found myself chair of a fledgling committee. We hosted a conference at the old YMHA on Hargrave – we planned for 40 and were overwhelmed by the 200 people who attended.It was sad to hear the same story told time and again by so many parents-most young people with disabilities had grown up isolated and disenfranchised while their parents had simply given up on the community meeting any of their needs.

There was a lot of work ahead if we were going to see any significant change.We formed a volunteer committee composed of parents and professionals- from the fields of education/ medicine and law who shared the same vision- a Jewish community that would be more inclusive and a leader in developing innovative programs for people with special needs .

Our first two years were spent advocating and offering assistance…..but if we wanted to make(any) real headway-we needed money.

Jordan’s Bar mitzvah was approaching ,so our family decided that in lieu of gifts we would establish the Jordan Lazareck fund for special needs- at the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. This would be a way to contribute financial support to the existing programs and fund some of the initiatives our committee hoped to develop.

Jordan’s Bar –Mitzvah was a triumph - everyone responded with tremendous generosity….and the fund that bore his name was off to a flying start.

At first the distribution from the endowment was modest, but what it symbolized was substantial and that was our commitment to entrench the special needs initiatives throughout the community in perpetuity. We were here to stay!

Jordan has been the inspiration for all I have undertaken and the best example is the creation of our first G.R.O.W. program.

I’d encouraged the notion that Jordan would go away to school as his brothers had and he had been accepted at a program in New Haven Ct. But after a visit to the school I returned home certain he could not survive there--he just didn’t have the skills.

Sending him there would have set him up for failure and that would not do-I had to give him a chance to succeed.So I devised a 12 month plan to help him build a good foundation of functional lifeskills -the plan included banking/ budgeting/cooking and an awareness of current events-as reported in the Winnipeg Sun.

One year later as I left Jordan at his new school in New Haven the concept for GROW ( an acronym for gaining resources our way)was firmly planted in my imagination.

GROW in Gimli came to life under the direction of the original Special Needs steering committee in collaboration with the department of occupational therapy at the University of Manitoba…I imagined it as an interdisciplinary teaching program with peers,for young people focusing on the goal of learning new lifeskills - and I envisioned it operating out of our family cottage in Gimli.

The cottage had been purchased on Mother’s Day the year before Jordan was born and I felt that it was predestined to be a gift for many mothers who would see their sons and daughters gain new levels of independence by attending our program.

This year we are entering our 9th summer of operation and we continue to evaluate and refine the program always striving for excellence.

Excellence and special needs-it’s not often you hear these two words spoken in the same sentence-but excellence is precisely what I had in mind when I started on this road so long ago-and why not???

Jordan was fortunate in being able to leave Winnipeg to continue to learn how to be more independent and along the way I learned something too.

Even though a summer lifeskills program might be sufficient for some of our Gimli participants, for others a more extensive program would be essential to help them move forward to greater independence. So riding on the success and experience of the Gimli program we forged ahead with plans for GROW in Winnipeg a 24 month transitional program focused on teaching lifeskills and improving social competency.

This was an exciting project though we were very aware that the responsibility would be greater and the risk for failure much higher. Nonetheless we moved ahead and purchased a house at 93 Willow which today functions as the location for G.R.O.W. in Winnipeg…..We hired professional staff and became an authorized day program under the Provincial department of supported living. Like G.R.O.W.in Gimli -G.R.O.W. in Winnipeg is a nondenominational program under the administration of the Rady Jewish Community Centre-- which is well located across the street from 93 Willow,allowing us easy access to the wonderful amenities they have to offer.

It’s hard to believe we are approaching the end of our first year of operation and we’re already running a full house . We learn as we go along always striving for excellence.

We believe our particular focus on post high school education is necessary and probably overdue in the world of people with special needs. After all, who among us can really say that all the information required to build a successful life was acquired before the age of 21, and yet for these folks that’s precisely when the “teaching” part of their lives comes to an abrupt halt.

I suspect with the explosion of new cases of autism in recent years efforts to understand and accommodate the condition in childhood will eventually translate into more innovative approaches to education, social competency and vocational opportunities. One can only imagine what our programs will look like in 10-15 years when today’s youngsters become young adults.

This leads me back to our young adult , Jordan Lazareck, and to the fund in his name which we established- 17 years ago. I’m not usually known for my financial savvy other than calculating discounts on sale items .In fact- I have been the brunt of many jokes on this topic, but not when it came to the Special Needs endowment.

I knew that monies allocated for our type of programming could dry up in the blink of an eye. Downturns in the economy tight budgets and presto the special needs support-would disappear……

So 17 years ago I committed myself to the growth of the fund with considerable zeal-I wanted the distribution to reach programs and individuals throughout the city and province.

But the most important thing about the Jordan Lazareck special needs fund is that it has expanded to include funds from many other families and individuals .

Because of this it has grown from “ approximately” $13,689.71 in 1994 to more than 1.2 million dollars at the end of 2010.

This is a donor advised fund and I am privileged and proud to be the advisor even though the infusion of funds it enjoys comes from so many people- every dollar is appreciated-and needed !

We anticipate that over time the yearly distribution received from the foundation will be used in many worthwhile ways… the creation of new programs …. opportunities for professional development for staff members who want to turn jobs into careers . Business development where we employ young people with special needs in ways that utilize their unique aptitudes in an environment designed to be sensitive to the stresses that often undermine their success. Just imagine what we can- and must- do to meet the needs of the hundreds of Winnipegers with intellectual challenges who will become adults in this decade alone.

Just imagine if every one of them could look forward to the education ,financial and community support that has made a good life possible for Donald Triplett and Jordan Lazareck .

And now I want to thank the Dasch Foundation for the wonderful honour you have bestowed on me today.

I am deeply touched and humbled to follow in the footsteps of former recipients whom I hold in such high esteem - including the late Helen Steinkopf a pioneer and champion in the field of persons with disabilities and my friend Duncan Jessiman founder of the Dasch foundation .My passion is rooted in the special needs community because of personal experience and a desire to meet a need that had not been addressed -but I did not and do not do this alone…so if you just glance over at the table to my right you will see some of the remarkable individuals who are members of the persons with disabilities committees. We have worked together for a very long time. Their contribution is beyond measure and I share this wonderful award with them.

When people ask why I do this work I often quip”It’s a living” but the truth of the matter is –it’s really a life-one for which I am most grateful.