Yesterday evening, PLAN hosted our quarterly large group Community Connector meeting.
Liz’s opening remarks set the stage for an hour of connection, reflections, laughs and challenges. Here is what she said to start us out:
“We have a whole mix of people here. People that are new and people that have been around for a while. All of you are really important and valued here at PLAN. The work that you do in connecting networks and building friendships is at the heart of what we do at PLAN. We’re just so thankful for all of you. Tonight we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to meet each other to share what’s working well, what you would like support on.
As a group, we spent the rest of our time together welcoming the newest Connectors by introducing ourselves and sharing how and when we joined the PLAN family. We also talked about what has been going well within the networks during COVID, and the parts that have been hard.
Here are a few of the most memorable quotes from the Mentors and Community Connectors:
“The person I connect with and I both have a good amount of spice and sass. That’s why we get along so well.”
“I’m hoping to be able to help the person I connect with to get more plugged into communities in her neighborhood and also potentially the BIPOC communities of disabled folks in Vancouver. I would also like to get more connected, so that I can be helpful to her.”
“My philosophy is that I want people and families to be making decisions based on hope instead of fear. So the bigger the network, the more people that you’ve got in your corner, the more hope you have, and the bigger your world can be.”
“I have been a Connector with PLAN for more than 25 years. Sometimes I wonder if it is the right time to start fading out of the networks, but I enjoy it too much so I’m still doing it!”
“I started with PLAN about eight years ago. I can hardly believe that! It blows my mind. It has been the best thing for me. I’ve loved every minute of it. I live in the Kerrisdale area and all of the people that I’m connecting with live in this area too. Throughout the last few years, each of them have had their battles because of their own aging needs, that of their parents, or their parents have passed away. I’m a gerontologist and I’m well matched with them, because that’s my passion and expertise.”
“I came to PLAN through an ad I saw somewhere. When I read the description, it was like “Yep, that’s me and I this is what I want to do!”
“Through my work at PLAN with all of the families and the Lifetime Members I have hundreds of people in my life that I feel connected to and have the joy of working with and getting to know.”
“I feel like the work that I do at PLAN matches my values and I love bringing people together. I care about relationships and about friendships and think that PLAN is the model of how all of us should live. We all need a circle of friends, not just to get by, but also to thrive.”
“I heard that you were looking for more Connectors so I applied and now I am in and it is going really well. I feel like I’ve made a new friend.”
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PLAN is continuing to welcome new families and expand in the ways that we are able to offer support for network development, planning and advocacy and to support family driven innovations and leadership.
If you, or someone that you know is interested in joining our team, please connect with us at hello(at)plan.ca.