Meet Cindy.

If you're new to Community Living Guelph Wellington, you may not know that we had a change at the helm. Cindy joined CLGW as the Executive Director in December of 2020 - right smack dab in the middle of this pandemic.

In her time, she's witnessed the strength, perseverance and endless creativity of our team. She's been inspired by the many stories of our Direct Support Professionals, our frontline warriors, finding ways to keep people going when the world is anything but normal. She sees the dedication of every person at CLGW, from top to bottom, supporting each other to reach this mission. She sees people giving their all to have meaningful impact in the work that we do.

Thank you for being you, and for bringing that dedication and commitment to CLGW every day.

The toughest part of starting a new job in the midst of a pandemic? Cindy would tell you it's not getting to meet people. She's a social person, who loves to listen, share stories, and get to know people. As much as meeting people virtually has helped bridge the gap, once it's safe to do so, Cindy's really looking forward to hitting the road and breaking bread with many of the people we support and our Direct Support Professionals.

If you pop by her office, you'll find a bowl of treats waiting for the next story or neat idea you want to share with her. Her door is open, and the bowl is topped up regularly.

When we set out on this photo series, Cindy really helped coin the catch phrase: "We've got this". A group of us sat around a virtual table, and chatted about all the people we thought might participate, and what we had hoped to capture. As we chatted about the resilience, the hard work, the just-keep-swimming mentality that we've all had to live through this past year, we came back to strength. It takes strength to continue to press on. It takes strength to keep saying "we've got this". And that's something we've seen in abundance, from families, from people we support, from our teams, and even within ourselves.

As we close out Community Living Month, we hope you've enjoyed seeing these stories and learning about the strength, determination and resilience of 30+ people connected to CLGW. While these stories do not capture everyone's reality, they can offer you hope in the moments when you're just done with this pandemic. These stories act as testaments and reminders that there are many people in our community, one's that maybe you haven't heard from in a while, who are pressing on just like you. They are an opportunity to reach out, to say hi, to remind someone close to you that you're thinking of them. Because together, we've got this.

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To support CLGW in the work that we do, consider making a donation, or make a pledge to Cindy as she faces off in the Swing into Summer - Charity Golf Tournament.