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ExtendAFamily Parents of handicapped get a break By CHRIS Herald Writer All parents need a break from the kids every once In a while but for parents of phyilcalry and mentally handicapped youngsters these Brief respites are often few and far between So alary Valeriote and Chris both parents of handicapped children decided to open a chapter of a service they learned about in Burlington recently Its called and as the title suggests It tries to place disabled children for short periods of time about a halfday a couple of times a month with another family And Mrs Dewdney and Mrs Valerloto agree Mary Valeriote left left have formed an Extend A Family chapter In North Thlsunlquevolunteercrvleematehei host parents with the natural parents of the physically snd mentally handicapped children Two or three times a month he host parent take care of the handicapped youngster allowing he child natural parents at long a half day to themselves Mrs Dewdney and Mr Valeriote are joined by Mrs Valeriote daughter Elinor there an benefits enjoyed by the child a parents the surrogate family and the child him or herself Handicapped children tend to be very Isolated from the rest of the community Mrs said They often go to different schools in different places than where they live By placing mem In other people homes even for very short perl of time community awareness of the hand capped and their needs Is heightened Mrs Valeri added AWARENESS an Important spinoff she said big handicapped children out Into the community and having them accept The Idea for an Extend- A Family chapter In North Halloa was seeded after Mr Dewdney and Mrs attended a meeting In Burlington of host and natural lies participating In vati Extend A Family Seeded last year the Idea took root In Septem and there are now two Halton Hills Family host families and another currently being screened Host families are volun teers as ore Mrs Dewd and Mrs Valeriote They often have small children of their own and the Introduction of a handicapped youngster Into their can be very enlightening for everyone The change of ronment can be very for the capped child Mrs Vale said The host family t have to do anything special they can carry on with their normal family activities like going tobogganing or to a hockey match RECRUITMENT Recruitment of host families la a carefully planned procedure Host families fill out en cation form the Family service meets the hosts and reviews the application cautiously The host parents see the handicapped child in meeting Is arranged between the natural family and the host parents and hopeful lya match is secured Any parenting can wear you out once in a while and you need to get out of the house Mrs said With Extend A Family It nice for my son to have friends and nice for his father and I to have someone to call on when we need to Of the response to the Extend A Family Mrs Valeriote noted There are people out there who really want to help and very willing to get involved Some Family chapt era have grandparents as host families Mrs ney said Meanwhile there are some Intrinsic benefits In working as a volunteer on the Extend A Family pro gram It a chance to get out and meet people Mrs Dewdney said A lot of things simply happen without volunte ers You have Mrs Vale added the person al satisfaction of know you can help Although the Family program Includes physically handicapped children for organizatio nal purposes It comes under the North Association for the Men tally Retarded umbrella If you wish more In formation on Family contact the at or NHAMR office Is Park Ave In Silver Creek TotfeO Saving billion For the first time Sta- This number of hours tiatica Canada is equivalent to question In their im- persons working Force Survey week for a full year loathe Volunteer Labour The average number Force What follows Is a of hours worked was 1ST short summary of the hours per person results of that research In the year ending volunteers February I960 ww to be paid at the a million Canadian average industrial wage worked as volunteers they mow- per cent of the adult billion populatlon The total number of hoars worked was volunteers were female per cent were male THE OLD GLEN MILL Beaumont Mills IS OPEN With Graft Supplies Super Sock Specials A warm welcome for new neighbors By CHRIS AAGAARD Herald Staff Witter Moving into a new community can be pardon the expression a little unsettling But two Halton Hills women are to take some of the anxiety out of opening a fresh chapter of life In an un familiar community Acton Linda Reeve and Georgetown s Joan Gillespie are Uvea with Hi Neighbor on all Canadian service which introduces new comers to community services and businesses With the exception of a stipend they receive from HI Neighbor s head office in Calgary to cover tele phone and gas expenses Mrs Reeve and Mrs Gillespie are one of hundreds of volunteers giving freely their time to help others There are HI Neighbor chapters In Canada Often a move to a new and strange community calls for the kind of friendship and assistance these Hi Neighbor reps Mrs Reeve and Mrs Gillespie were visit by HrNeJghbor reps when they first arrived in Halton Hills It was a big differ ence for us to move to JOAN GILLESPIE But we found the people here warm and friendly The Glllespies came to Georgetown about ten years ago from Montreal part of the wave of Lhou sands of who moved with their nles when he province political climate was perceived to grow more hostile to Englishspeak lng residents When they arc not coming new residents 111 Neighbor reps encourage local businesses to parti in their introduc tory program Newcom contacted by the Hi Neighbor service receive a folder crammed with useful information like maps and possibly a directory Shop proprietors featured in the folder offer coupons entitling the bearer to special wel coming gifts While it good promo tion for the merchants it also helps new residents get around in the commu nity familiarizing them selves with stores and services as as community network of streets Names of newcomers are sometimes supplied by real estate firms or reach the HI Neighbor reps by mouth When we get the name of a new family we moke an appointment for a where the schools and churches are who to call for this and that As volunteers Mr Reeve and Mrs reap rewards which nothing to do with making money It nice to get out and meet new people Mrs I like to talk to them and help them feel settled Often the move can be hardest on the homexnak who Is left alone during the day to do her own exploring In an unfa mill environment A lot of women who are part a transfer really love to have some one to talk to Mrs Reeve added noting that the Hi Neighbor rep Is a good listener as well as being one who arrives with lots of helpful advice There are rewards In meeting people and help ing them get Involved Mrs Gillespie comment One of coming out of the postmove blues he suggests Is by getting Involved with the commu nity as a volunteer It one way making a lot of friends she said Focussing on recruitment Continued from page M Mrs Thataexactly right Well I guess recognition is the name the game That what Volunteer Week is all about is trying to encourage the agencies By us recognizing them is thing but If the agency you work tor appreciates you then that going to mean a lot more than the volunteer The Herald What about the future of the Hills volunteer centre la term of Its own growth are there any certain area you would like to get Mrs Well certainly the recruitment I guess we re lust about through our second year and I see the recruitment and referral and resource centre as being my main focus for the next little while I think getting Information out the community to the agencies through the resource centre and through the media are very important Certainly in the future we would like to get into training pro grams with agencies courses that mighl be a benefit to several of the had some teenagers that were teaching computers to other kids and you know you get scouts and guiding and I could go on forever I guess I It sail volunteer work and it really the backbone of he community So I suppose what you say about the typical volunteer I don t think there really Is one The Herald What about the future volunteering There seems to be a trend when you look In terms straight economics People don t have the money now to rely on service where there are paid people Do you see the volunteer movement grow Mrs McCullum Well I can see there is certainly a need but I think the agencies are going to have to put a lot of emphasis In terms of benefits such as training volunteers If they want competent qualified people they re going to have to put their time Into supporting them the volunteers The Herald They have to that hey re appreciated as well WORK or SPORT SOCKS 10 navy PAIR PACK SPORT SOCKS 99 white with coloured stripes 8 6 PAIR PACK Garden or Work GLOVES Only OPEN ON SUNDAYS Noon to 30 p m GLEN 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