Building Our Direction

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Dr. Michael Kendrick, PhD

January 28-31, 2013

All Southwest support staff along with other professionals from other agencies in the province dedicated to enriching the quality of life for people living with a developmental disability took part in the welcome return of Dr. Michael Kendrick to share his insight and sound teaching.
 

"In the end, we do not get far with just knowledge alone, as its ideal companion for bearing fruit is wisdom.   It is wisdom that is at the heart of the selection of the values the are most likely to lead to authentic service.   The search for wisdom is not in vain, as there is a certainly eternal wisdom to be found by the sincere seeker and actor who seeks out and honours the wellbeing of themselves and others."

Reflection from Letting in the Light by Dr. Michael Kendrick, PhD

Dr. Michael Kendrick, PhD,  is currently an independent international consultant in human services and community work with a focus on work in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as well as occasionally in other countries, e.g. Nicaragua, Honduras, Ireland, and Belgium etc.  His interests,involvements and writings have included leadership, service quality, the creation of safeguards for vulnerable persons, social integration, change, innovation, values, advocacy, the role of individual persons and small groups in creating advances, evaluation, alternatives to bureaucracy, personalized approaches to supporting people, and reform in the human service field amongst others.  He has most consistently worked in the disability,mental health and aged care fields for nearly thirty years but has also occasionally worked in areas such as drug abuse, child protection and community education. In this work he has occupied a variety of roles including being the Assistant Commissioner for Program Development with the Massachusetts government, the Director for the Institute for Leadership and Community Development and the Director of the Safeguards Project.  He is very active as public speaker and trainer as well as evaluator, consultant, and advisor to advocates, governments, agencies and community groups.  His masters and doctoral work was in social work and sociology.  He regularly teaches at various universities both here and abroad as time allows.  He also writes quite extensively and his publications are available upon request. 

Some of the topics in the two-day sessions included:
                      ~ Service trends in the sector and economic assumptions about some of the trends
                      ~ Models that are out of date and those that are on the horizon
                      ~ Supports for individuals at higher risk and with higher needs
                      ~ Lessons learned from other jurisdictions around the world
                      ~ Building capacity within government and community

The conversation continues...

 Dr. Michael Kendrick
 Presentation / Workshop

October 29 & 30, 2012

"The transformative power of even a single citizen should never be underestimated because there have been too many instances where that power has prevailed against improbable odds.   The starting point for the many is always the few, and the gathering of the few is always begun by the small, significant actions of one."

Reflection from “The Influence of One Person: Citizen as Change-Agent”; Letting in the Light 
 by Dr. Michael Kendrick, PhD  

On October 29 & 30, 2012, Southwest Community Options was very pleased to host an insightful, reinforcing and thoughtful presentation by Dr. Michael Kendrick, PhD, an internationally respected leader and sought after speaker, trainer, evaluator, consultant and advisor to advocates and agencies, governments and community groups in the field of human services and community work. 

While in our midst, Dr. Kendrick presented his thoughts and ideas on opportunities to assist people with development of meaningful relationships in community and meaningful employment. The training session was attended by Southwest Board members, management and house supervisors; as well as a number of people from other agencies in Manitoba.

Dr. Kendrick's interests, involvements and extensive written works have included leadership, service quality, the creation of safeguards for vulnerable persons, social integration, change, innovation, values, advocacy, the role of individual persons and small groups in creating advances, evaluation, alternatives to bureaucracy, personalized approaches to supporting people, and reform in the human service field for over thirty years.

Following the two day event, Dr. Kendrick remained with us for an additional two days to provide mentorship and to share his wealth of practical wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of investing his energies and expertise into "the challenge of supporting human fulfilment" through innovative, individualized approaches that have shown to achieve a good quality of life for people.

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