Issue 61 - Spectrum Care

International Day of People withDisabilities – 3 December 2007This United Nations awareness day is a greatoccasion to celebrate New Zealand’s leadingrole in the international community ofadvocating for people with disabilities. It isalso an opportunity to raise the awarenessabout the need for further integration ofpeople with intellectual disabilities into society.Everyone is welcome to join Spectrum Careon the afternoon of Sunday 2 December atAotea Square, Auckland City.Please contact Roxanne de Bruyn on634 3790 ext 326 for more information.Leadership Team UpdateLast year the sunflower was officiallyincorporated into our branding. It representsthe people with intellectual disabilities thatwe support. The sunflower always followsthe sun; the shadows lay behind them, butto be at their best they need to be supported.This year, Spectrum Care unfurled its petalsand bloomed further, growing stronger, andbecoming taller, building new support.The organisation drew strength from itsOutcomes Program which is pivotal to ourperson-centred value. Organisational supportto help individuals achieve their personalgoals in a structured and measured wayhas received nourishment fromorganisational-wide training in bothOutcomes and in Social Role Valorisation– a program delivered to all staff thatembeds within Spectrum Care the notionthat every individual has intrinsic value andwhich we have renamed “Your Life Matters”.Our Aspirations Program providingdevelopmental activities for our peopleanywhere, anytime, anyplace is fertile groundfor people hungry for new experiences.Like the people we support, Spectrum Careneeds to be supported. We have beenfortunate to partner with some greatorganisations. Together with the Universityof Auckland we have grown a Bachelor ofHuman Services degree with papers inintellectual disability customised fororganisations like ours. Student placementsfrom the University of Auckland and Unitecat graduate and post-graduate levelsevidence our reputation as a place forprofessionals to grow in the sector. Ourproductive partnership with Te RoopuTaurima, which grew from the same seedas Spectrum Care, sees us helping eachother in business continuity situations inhard ground and socially in soft ground.Our service is founded on our staff and sowe are working with the Public ServiceAssociation to find ways to make our owngarden a good place to grow, to keepourselves strong by keeping our good people.Despite all our hard work, sometimes andthankfully rarely, we get buffeted by windsthat damage us. The measure of anyorganization is not the strength of the windor even the damage it does, but the attitudewe display in responding to it. It is in thecalm after these storms that a greatorganization will find opportunities to learnand grow stronger.We have a drive to grow strong. Our thirdseason of leadership courses is due withanother 12 staff gaining the skills that willtake us to that special place in the sector– the place occupied by the tallest andstrongest. We are emerging as a strongentity among others. Presentations at theWorld Quality Congress, the NationalOrganisational Development Conferenceand the Australian Society for the Study ofIntellectual Disability are examples of wherewe have stood tall. Our Certification andAccreditation results - the maximum 3 yearsfor each – and the warm shower ofcomplimentary comments gave strength toour commitment to our values. We providedhelp to other smaller neighbours in disasterplanning, and have contributed actively indeveloping the workforce around us thathas been neglected by others for so long.Our image has changed with a newly rebrandedwebsite still under-developmentand favourable international responses tothe changes remind us that we are on theglobal stage and that is the place wherewe will ultimately be measured. There is stilla long way to grow, but we have done muchof the stretch already and are hungry formore.Brett MarshGeneral Manager OrganisationalDevelopmentBrett MarshKim CaseyChris HigginsWarren Herring