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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday May 21, 2003 C3 OPTIONS Conference for women seeking to improve their employment By Jennifer Grieve S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Women in Peel. Halton and Dufferin who are unem ployed o r underemployed are invited to attend the fourth annual OPTIONS C onference at the Oakville Conference and Banquet Centre on June 10 and 12. "The theme or focus o f the confer ence is pretty much the same as previ ous years." says Judy Henderson o f Perris Training and Developm ent, who w ith Debra Perris, is in charge o f organ izing the event. "It's an em ploym ent and careerfocused conference for w omen who are looking at the challenge o f finding a career or a job." Carole Bertuzzi-Luciani from CB L Presentations is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at this y ear's confer ence. G uest speakers will also include experts from several organizations, such as the C entre for S kills and D evelopment Training. EduService and Wescam. and w om en w ho have met the challenge o f finding a job. Women who attend the conference have to attend both days. M any infor mation sessions from different agencies in the area regarding em ploym ent will be covered. "This is a com m unity partnership conference." says H enderson. "All o f the people involved in it are considered partners. A large num ber o f agencies provide support by providing speakers and displays as part o f their contribution to the conference." In the workshops, the w om en will be given w orkbooks, and facilitators will work through it. helping the w omen identify their strengths. T he facilitator also helps the w om en com e up with an "action plan" to help them set and achieve their goals. "The w omen receive support from each other," says Henderson. "They get stim ulated and get ideas from other peo ple and each other." Only 150 w om en are allowed to attend the event, and those who are interested in attending the conference must register ahead o f tim e by phoning 905-825-6000. ext. 4176 or visiting the O PT IO N S C on feren ce W eb site at w w w .o p tio n sco n feren ce.ca. A tele phone interview will be conducted with the w om en w ho register. Pre-registration is required to attend O PTIO NS. "It's because the groups are divided up. and anyone can 't ju st show up," says H enderson. "Plus. 50 per cent o f those w ho do reg ister m ust be on E m ploym ent Insurance. W e're creating the aw areness o f w hat's out there and w hat's available." Judi Smith from Bateman M aclay atten d ed the H alton O PT IO N S C onference in May 2002. "T he O P T IO N S C onference changed my life in an incredibly posi tive way. I w as at a crossroad in my life. I knew I had to m ake a change, and needed to start making m oney fast. I really w anted to pursue an idea I had for a business but did not know how to go about it." said Smith. Smith attended the Conference, and said that not only did it show her options, it also gave her confidence and enthusiasm . Som e time after the Conference, she met w ith Gary Bateman, the senior part ner o f Batem an M aclay, CA . After explaining her idea about offering an auditing service that would protect busi nesses from vendor billing m istakes and paying m ore for their telecom m unica tions services. Bateman approved the idea and stated that the service w ould be an extension to the cost recovery spe cialization to the firm. "Eight w eeks later. I opened the new T elecom m unications C ost R ecovery department. The departm ent has dou bled in size and I landed a large, m ulti million dollar account. ·T he OPriONS C onference gave m e a confidence to expand my horizons and maintain an independent approach to bu sin ess. Until attending the O PTIO N S Conference. I had no idea o f the resources available to women," said Smith. O PTIO N S w as created in early 2<X X > and is now a jo in t venture between H um an R esources D evelopm ent Canada, the regional municipalities of Halton and Peel. Perris Training and D evelopm ent, the C entre for Skills D evelopm ent and Training. Workway. and the C entre for E ducation and Training. Together, they presented a confer ence for 150 unem ployed and underem ployed w om en w ho were attempting to find their place in the labour market. Due to the results. OPTIO NS returned to Halton in 2001. O PTIO N S is open to all unemployed and underem ployed w om en in the com munity. The funding states that 50 per cent o f the participants must be on E m ploym ent Insurance (including R eachback). O ntario Works, or Ontario Disability Support Program benefits: however, 50 per cent o f the participants can be from the general public. For m ore inform ation, call 905-8256(XX) ext. 4176. or visit the Web site at w w w .optionsconference.ca. Mass to honour pioneers In honour o f O ak v ille's first Portuguese pioneers Jose Peixoto and Jos6 Vargas - as w ell all o f the Portuguese im m igrants w ho have passed away, a mass will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. at St. Jo se p h 's Portuguese Roman Catholic Church at 2451 Bronte Rd. M ayor Ann M ulvale. as well as other local dignitaries, will be in attendance. A reception will follow. The mass is part o f the festivities to celebrate the declaration o f the month of May as Portuguese Month in O akville. Other activities to celebrate the month is an all-day picnic on the church grounds on May 31, com plete with fresh sardines, corn bread and delicio u s P ortuguese sausage. T he L ondon Portuguese Folklore G roup will per form a variety o f dances. For m ore inform ation about the upcom ing festivities call Ed Viana at 905-845-2761. * A nnual & P e re n n ia l G rasses Buy O ne, G et O ne Comes Alive... W ith The Gardening Experts H i m y name is Kerry Gallagher I have hod my paper route with the Oakville Beaver lor almost 1 year and a half and I enjoy delivering the papers very much. I'm 12 years old and in Grade 6 at St. Matthews. My favourite subjects are gym, art & music. My Favourite teocher is Miss Kuchma. My favourite sports one soccer, basketball and hockey. My favourite sports team is the Glasgow Celtic, and Henrik Larson is my favourite player. On weekends my favourite thing to do is get together with friends fora sleepover. I have a brother named Uam and a pet cat named Charlie. My favourite foods are chicken curry, garlic chicken and chocolate ice cream. I plan to buy a DVD with my points c o iu n m n coupon; D elicate flowers and fine foliage. Ideal for pots, planters, rock gardens and borders. Lobelia of equal or lesser 1/2 PRICE Kerry Gallagher Winning Carriers receive a large 3 topping pizza courtesy of: I C iim es A live... W ith T h e G.Uik*niru! co lo u r | Shade NAM E OF YOUR SC H O O L GROUP OR ORGANIZATION: Send or drop off your collected coupons to: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER. 467 SPEERS RD. OAKVILLE ON L6K 3S4 O n t a v i o ' s # 7 P iz z a ,? To join our delivery team call 905-845-9742 No copies or reproductions accepted Take a Hike! at th e 5tli Annual Life Hike L a c e u p y o u r b oots an d a quick rourr; 3t two. martinis a; dinner dx-en Join iis Saturday, June 14th Lions Valley Park Oakville · · · · · T -S h irts H i k e r 's P a c k In c e n tiv e s, P riz e s , R a n d o m d raw s · Snacks E n te rta in m e n t · L u n cli · K i d 's C o r n e r · S ile n t A u ctio n AT'.i's,!! tji-.i.r, KNlKdtto' , f o i d o v v '- ti s i n g information please-call 9.Q5-337-5.595 AvsiifaHlp C+raptpr* & In d rao lib &Uri»t;»t?Wslt:l (bBKMlte.& !Miy>&&auga. A fa o ;m BtftJkws, D o w n to w n (Sfeffodfe P le d g e f o r m s a v a i l a b l e @ w w w . s t r e p . c a 905-827-9633 f. aLonidwhe. I < ^ |i ~ » m Surviving Strep Strategies for LIFE 9 W li0 k s 0 6 W A w a r e n e s s , E d u c a t io n & R esea rch *00 fo r R e c o g n itio n , T r e a tm e n t & P r e v e n tio n d is c o v e r irt to d a y . tie m m b « u x a a w s or G r o u p A S t r e p B a c t e r i a 6c R e s u l t i n g I ll n e s s W W W . CL #assKss».«.. Rvi 1 1e b e a v e r.c o rn . x i ' e f ·. ~a T , .<r».x 'r -1 .r it.-