2015 - 2016

Message from the Board PresidentThe board’s goal for Traverse Independence is to set and achieve ambitious benchmarks that relate to governance, engagement, integration and high quality services. The key themes of our strategic plan are Quality, System Outcomes and being Complex Capable (serving those with complex needs).

On the governance side, the board is focusing on Ethics and we instituted policies to safe-guard against real or perceived conflict of inter-est. We also recruited new board members with a focus on complementing the skill set of the existing members. This was done according to pre-determined guidelines and requirements laid out in our board policies. We have discussed including in the future qualified members with lived experience – clients of the health care system.

Last year, Traverse achieved the Primer Level accreditation from Accreditation Canada. We are further striving to achieve more substantial accreditation standards as we work toward the Qmentum level.

During the year, the board engaged in conver-sation with a variety of stakeholders to gain clarity and focus for the future. We presented to the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Inte-gration Network (WWLHIN) board of directors and participated in the LHIN’s workshops and

Traverse Programs• Supportive Housing for adults with physical

disabilities (Union Lane and Strasburg Rd.)

• ABI Transitional Living (Fergusson Place, Stanley Ave.)

• ABI Supported Living (Andes)

• ABI Group Home (Tagge St.)

• ABI Placement Based Assessment

• ABI Adult Day Program at the Opportunity Centre

• Specialized ABI Day Program at Beginnings

• ABI Outreach Services in Waterloo Region and Wellington County

HighlightsPage 1 Message from the Board PresidentPage 2 CEO ReportPage 3 Years of Service AwardsPage 4, 8 Client StoryPage 5 Assistive TechnologyPage 6 Financial StatementsPage 7 Client Services Statistics

2 TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT

CEO ReportWhen I think of the past year the word “reflec-tion” comes to mind. In our world change is ever constant - sometimes it is intense and some-times it is gentle. Not only is the landscape of health care changing dramatically but at Tra-verse we are constantly transforming - this is the new norm for health care organizations. What is different for Traverse is accreditation, and through the accreditation process many hours of reflection occurred as we looked both internally and externally at systems and processes.

As a result of this reflection we developed a number of frameworks, plans, policies and pro-cedures that will support us for years to come. Most significantly are the quality improvement and risk management systems, the ethics frame-work, emergency planning and client safety plan. As we designed new systems we looked at research, partner agencies and large institu-tions to understand how they created and imple-mented the new systems. We were driven to think differently about our culture of consultation and engagement. While we always understood

governance conferences. We also attended a provincial summit on independent living as the “independent living philosophy” is the essence of our mission at Traverse – living independently with support.

On client care, the board decided to put even more focus on clients and their families. In the future we plan to engage with everyone with the goal of gathering information and viewpoints and to “hear from and incorporate the voice and opinion of clients and families” in formulat-ing and measuring our mission, vision, values and strategic plan. This new direction shall be an ongoing practice that will be incorporated into our day to day work.

We continue to focus on governance as the operations of the organization are well managed by the management team. We know that we are a gold star organization due to the hard work of the front line staff who give their best efforts day in and day out to make sure our clients and their families are offered high quality services.

In the future, the board will continue to be even more transparent, inclusive and accountable with a focus on staff, client and family engage-ment. We look forward to talking with you, hear-ing what you have to say, exploring ideas you have and working together to ensure Traverse

Independence is providing the high quality ser-vices we are known for.

Mahmud Hassain Board President

TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT 3

that that our staff, clients and families have valu-able insight into quality services and how best to achieve excellence we are now looking at how we can facilitate those conversations.

Beyond accreditation in the same year we undertook a complete restructuring of the orga-nization. The impact of this was that over 85% of staff and clients experienced radical change with new supervisors and new job assignments. Despite all of this we managed to excel in all areas by meeting targets and service delivery outcomes expected by the WWLHIN. We ex-perienced a limited number of critical incidents, complaints or disasters and we provided service to over 300 clients. We made a difference for many by supporting them to become indepen-dent.

I would like to thank the governors for their vision and leadership, the management and ad-ministrative staff for their hard work and tenacity to get the job done and finally a big thank you to all of the front line staff for your input and ad-vice through the employee engagement, client safety and wellness surveys. This information will ground our work for the upcoming year and we look forward to lots of conversation as we work towards our final level of accreditation in September 2017!

Toby Harris CEO

Human ResourcesAt the end of March Traverse Independence had 132 employees. 19 of our staff members were recognized for their length of service at the April 16th staff Spring Gala.

YEARS OF SERVICE AWARDS

25 years

Tracey Brown and Brenda Schultz

15 years

Perry Curnew

10 years

Karen Marquis and Shelly Price

5 years

Alicia Pyke, Megan Stephenson, Leah Swann, Sandra Masyk, Adriana Francu, Jason Bailey,

Johanna Fischer, Marie Kennedy, Catherine Christian, Taylor Maus,

Matthew Henderson, Rosalina Baluyot, Stuart Eadie and Linda McFadden

4 TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT

Tim’s StoryMy name is Sua. I had the privi-lege of working with Tim Cole from November 2015 to June 2016. Tim has type 1 diabetes, a medical condition that caused him to suffer an acquired brain injury (ABI) due to low blood sugar. Before Tim came to Traverse Independence his blood sugar levels were unstable at times. They would be very high, then down very low, causing him to end up in the hospital a few times. Tim is an outgoing and very friendly person who loves life and enjoys being part of his community. Tim vol-unteers at the food bank two days a week and walks his daughter from school on a daily basis.

Tim’s goals were: to be able to take the public transit to the Traverse Independence Opportu-nity Centre from Cambridge where he lives; to exercise and eat healthy which he believes will help balance the glucose. It was a challenging journey, but Tim stuck to the plan and achieved his goals within 8 months. I assisted Tim in get-ting a pair of Nike shoes from Minds in Motion* and got him involved in the Diabetes Wellness program at the YMCA. Tim and I visited the Dia-betes Clinic on a weekly basis at first and gradu-ally moved to once a month at the time when Tim was discharged from Traverse.

Through the YMCA program Tim learned to set an exercise goal every week and monitor his blood pressure and blood sugar level before and after the exercise. At the Diabetes Clinic Tim learns to balance his blood sugar by following a plan that was put in place by the nurse and the dietician. Since I started working with Tim he has made one trip to the hospital that was related to his blood sugar being low, that I know of. By the end of the exercise program in June the nurse and the dietician were very pleased to see Tim’s progress.

In our last meeting Tim expressed to me that even his brother noticed that he was more “sen-sible”. Tim also told me that he started to notice his memory improved. He now remembers people and past events. Tim is the first client I worked with from intake to discharge and I was

* Read more about Minds in Motion on http://mimiwalks.com/

TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT 5

able to see the amazing progress he has made.

Tim bikes regularly now and continues to walk his daughter from school. His wife plans to get him a membership at the World Gym when the weather gets cooler so he can continue the exercise. Tim is scheduled to see the nurse and the dietician once a month just for maintenance.

In our last meeting, I asked Tim if he wanted to say anything to Traverse. In his own words he said, “Thank you for your time and patience” and he added, “Sua is a great girl, don’t ever let her go or you’ll go crazy!” We laughed. My heart is touched that I got to be a part of Tim’s journey to independence. He sent me away with a bless-ing. I asked Tim if there were other goals that he wants help with and his answer was, “You are done with me now, go and help the next one who needs your help.” Thanks Tim, keep up the great work!

Sua Ortiz-Yang Community Facilitator

Assistive TechnologyIn partnership with eSSENTIAL Accessibility, the Traverse website now offers a free assistive technology app that helps people with disabili-ties navigate the web and enables a more inclu-sive online experience.

Simple to use, the eSSENTIAL Accessibility app is activated in moments. Simply click on the icon at the top of our website and download the app.

WHO IT’S FOR

People who have trouble typing, moving a mouse or reading due to a variety of conditions such as:

Brain Injury, Stroke/paralysis, Arthritis, Mul-tiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, Cerebral Palsy (CP), Dyslexia, Mild visual impairment, Limited proficiency in English, Literacy deficiencies or other learning or read-ing issues.

SHARE

This information can be shared with your clients, family or friends who might benefit from this new accessibility feature.

6 TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT

Note: The figures are taken from the Audited Financial Statements for the business year April 1 through March 31.

STATEMENT OF OPERATION 2016 2015

Operations Eligible for Provincial SubsidyProgram Revenues 5,804,571 5,263,808Program Expenses 5,804,571 5,263,808Excess (Deficit) 0 0

Other Operations (Including Fee for Service)Other Revenues 835,034 929,053Other Expenses 786,161 851,186Excess (Deficit) 48,873 77,867

Excess (Deficit) of Revenues over ExpensesOperating Fund 48,873 77,867Capital Fund -54,712 -59,743Transportation Fund -8,374 -513

Excess of Revenues over Expenses (All Funds) -14,213 17,611

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 2016 2015

AssetsCurrent Assets 550,712 434,911Property and Equipment 1,208,929 1,257,647Mortgage Receivable 169,695 167,805Total Assets 1,929,336 1,860,363

LiabilitiesCurrent Liabilities 628,290 524,954Mortgage Payable 152,804 172,954Total Liabilities 781,094 697,908

Net AssetsUnrestricted Assets 112,267 97,912Invested in Capital Assets 1,035,975 1,064,543Net Assets 1,148,242 1,162,455

Total Net Assets and Liabilities 1,929,336 1,860,363

TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT 7

10246

2172

4389

7151

10338

2180

4235

7868

Supportive Housing Group Home ABI Transitional Living

ABI Day Programs

Service by the Day2014/2015 2015/2016

32

622

132

30

6

27

134

Supportive Housing Group Home ABI Transitional Living

ABI Day Programs

Clients Served2014/2015 2015/2016

7755

3415

7450

3205

ABI Outreach ABI Supported Living (Andes)

Service by the Hour2014/2015 2015/2016

127

7

106

9

ABI Outreach ABI Supported Living (Andes)

Hourly Clients Served2014/2015 2015/2016

8 TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT

Mike’s StoryMike has had a physical disability since birth – he is visually impaired or legally blind. Unfor-tunately he also suffered a brain injury at the age of 15 when he was involved in a toboggan-ing accident. Prior to the accident he was fairly independent with his physical disability, using a cane to get around his community. He moved through his life gradu-ating from school, and eventually getting his own place in Toronto where he lived inde-pendently for many years.

As happens with brain injuries there were cognitive impairments that were not identi-fied after his accident and in 2013 he was referred for a psychi-atric evaluation as he was not taking care of himself or his environ-ment. He was isolating himself from others and generally not functioning well. At this time it was determined that while he had been independent

despite his visual impairment prior to the brain injury, the accident had actually impacted many of his coping mechanisms. His team felt he needed specialized ABI assessment and sup-port so he was sent to a neurobehavioural unit. After he completed his stay in the rehabilitation facility he was transferred to Long Term Care as his final destination.

Unfortunately this was not a successful place-ment. He was highly agitated most of the time, swinging his cane at others, hitting, pushing, flailing his arms and shouting on a regular basis.

TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT 9

As a result the facility had no choice but to dis-charge. He was sent to hospital where he stayed for close to six months.

It was at this time that he was referred to Tra-verse Independence where a complete intake and assessment was completed. It was de-termined that not only did he have cognitive impairments but that these, combined with his visual impairment, were really causing him great stress.

He was quickly assigned a Community Facilita-tor who worked with him while in the hospital. The focus was on getting out in the community, learning how to function with a brain injury AND a visual impairment and working on behaviours. This was a bridging program for Mike while he waited for a unit in our transitional living pro-gram, which he got in April 2015.

Upon arrival in his new apartment the CNIB was involved along with our clinical supports to look at strategies to do housework, safety skills and braille so he would be more independent. Along with the supports for his physical disability we worked on maintaining a stable routine, work-ing on communication and coping skills. His behaviours and anxiety quickly diminished with the right environment and the right approach. He settled into transitional living and worked hard to

achieve his goals.

With his exceptional improve-ments he was accepted for supportive housing where he found his forever home. He now receives personal sup-port services daily as staff assist him to be independent

and he is comfortable with his physical disability in his accessible environment.

His life is full and he attends our day program five times a week where he has become a con-tributing member of the day program community. After a very long journey Mike has come home and he is a treasured member of the Traverse family.

Toby Harris CEO

10 TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT

Board of Directors• Mahmud Hassain, President

• Stephen Spracklin, Vice-President

• Danielle Critch, Secretary-Treasurer

• Directors: Brandee Faulds, Kristin Mueller, Brian Clarke, Deb Randall, Linda Lusis and Chris Kosumovic

Management Team• Toby Harris, CEO

• Shelly Price, Director of Human Resources

• Andrea Vlasata, Director of Finance

• Jim Izzard, Manager Supportive Housing Union Lane and Transitional Living Fergusson Place

• Jessica Bates, Manager Supportive Housing Strasburg Road and ABI Independent Living

• Karen Liphard, Manager Group Home and ABI Day Programs

• Aaron Willmott, Manager Transitional Living Stanley Avenue and ABI Outreach

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TRAVERSE INDEPENDENCE1-1382 Weber Street East

Kitchener, ON N2A 1C4

tel: (519) 741-5845 - email: info@travind.ca

www.traverseindependence.ca