CLN 30th Anniversary Annual Report
Transcript
00:27The heart of the whole Community Learning Program
00:30has always been serving learners.
00:33To serve the learners, was to have staff
00:37to help meet that need.
00:38The intent was always
00:40to provide training and supports for the coordinators.
00:46We had flexibility to do what was necessary
00:49to bring learners into learning.
00:52It wasn't very long before we had to go back and really think hard
00:56about what's our business, what's our purpose.
01:02It was just very, very clear
01:04that the focus had to come back to the membership
01:06and the membership had to be our organizations.
01:10The people who receive CALP grants
01:14to do this job.
01:16That's who we had to focus on.
01:18And once the CLN sorted that out,
01:22man, it was just like a Disney movie.
01:24Things happened.
01:25Sparks flew.
01:26It was great.
01:30All of us within CALP are on the same journey.
01:33We might take different paths.
01:35But, just as we're helping our students,
01:38we have to get help too.
02:00The resource staff enabled
02:03more just-in-time connections.
02:07Our staff at the provincial organization was...
02:10We didn't have very many people there,
02:12and they were just stretched to the nines.
02:14So to provide the support that were necessary
02:17to 84 councils was asking an awful lot.
02:39What we have now is a well-trained
02:42and suitably funded resource staff
02:46that can provide amazing resources
02:49in knowledge and expertise and facilitation
02:53to the communities that they're responsible for.
02:56World of Difference
03:12I find our regional support worker Cheryl Lovstrom,
03:16a great asset to us
03:18in providing resources and information and guidance.
03:24I really appreciate her work.
03:26When I first started here, I'm not gonna lie, frantic, panic.
03:31Oh my god, what am I doing?
03:33Why am I here?
03:35There was a lot to take in, but I stuck it out.
03:47Our regional support was amazing.
03:49She had walked me through a lot of things.
03:51The first meet set a lot of my nerves at ease.
03:55And with the help of staff and Cheryl
03:58and even the Portal, I'm here today.
04:03I've been in the workforce for many, many years.
04:06I've gone from binders to file folders
04:09to antiquated working resources.
04:14And the resources on the Portal are all current.
04:18They're being used now
04:20by real people in their communities.
04:34I think one of the largest things
04:36that has impacted my own personal progress
04:39is the availability of information
04:43and the sharing of that information within the CALP organization.
04:54Anything I don't know I can put a question out and ask.
04:59You get from five or six or more responses to any single question
05:02no matter how silly or crazy the question might be.
05:07Somebody is going to respond and usually
05:09with information that I can use and go forward with.
05:25When I first went to my first regional meeting,
05:27I think it was in Big Valley, it was quite awesome for me.
05:31I got to meet a lot of valuable people
05:34and make some new friendships and relationships.
05:39It was welcoming.
05:40I appreciated that very much.
05:43I enjoyed sitting with the team
05:45and hearing different ideas and different successes.
05:48So that was quite valuable to me.
05:51It was, for me, it was an honor and a privilege.
05:56The layout of the day was a combination
05:58of learning new information and new skills,
06:01but there were also many, many opportunities to share.
06:06And so we would move from table to table
06:08and have opportunities to meet people throughout Alberta.
06:23As of July 1, 2017, we are now one organization.
06:27We spent a year formally, really, looking at
06:31the process of blending our organizations
06:36The CLN came in and put both boards at ease
06:42and gave us a set of transition guidelines,
06:46things that we might want to think about,
06:47but it was never like, "This is how you should do it."
06:50It was always, "Here's some possibilities,
06:54"what you choose to do is up to you."
07:06The support that we've received has largely been moral support,
07:11but there's definitely been some expertise there that has guided us
07:17at a more operational level to move forward.
07:22Don't be afraid to ask questions.
07:24Draw on the expertise and experience of other people
07:28that have been here even a year longer than you
07:31because they're that much further down the path.
07:34Take a deep breath.
07:35You don't have to take everything in at once,
07:37which is what I tried to do.
07:39I tried to take as much as I could in all at once.
07:43I was so brain overloaded
07:46and that made it really hard.
07:48The biggest thing is to breathe.
07:50Because, at the end of the day, the learners,
07:52when they walk out of your door,
07:54and they're saying, "Bye. See you next week,"
07:57that all on its own makes this position worth it.
08:02Sometimes when you're working
08:03in a smaller area or you're alone,
08:05you start doubting yourself.
08:08And, even at this age and stage, I still appreciate some affirmation.
08:12Yes, you're on the right path.
08:14Yes, this is something that other agencies experience.
08:18And yes, go for it.
08:35I think that all of us within CALP are in the business
08:41of helping people learn
08:43and find the information that they need.
08:45All the other CALP organizations
08:48have a different journey that they've been on.
08:51They might have crossed a bridge
08:53before I've gotten there.
08:55They can help me figure out how to get across,
08:57so it's just been really a wonderful culture
09:02of sharing and caring.