Jeanette lives in Vancouver. She has served on the BCCPD Board since 1999. She is currently the Member at Large. She has been on the Executive since 2000 and was the President from 2003 to 2006. Jeanette lived at the George Pearson Centre until 1992 and was on the Pearson Centre's Residents' Council for several years. Her first attempt at advocacy was in getting benches, for visitors, placed around the spacious Pearson grounds (it took three years to convince the administrator!) In 1992 she moved into the Stanley Noble Strong Housing Co-op. Jeanette has been involved with Noble House from its inception and has served on its Board in several positions since 1990. Accessible housing and accessibility issues are interests of Jeanette's.
She worked for the BC Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs for over 10 years monitoring the media for deceptive and misleading advertising.
Jeanette has been the BC Association for Individualized Technology and Supports for People with Disabilities’ (BCITS) Peer-Support Co-coordinator with the Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program (PROP) since 2002. She was on the Advisory Committee on Disability Issues to the City of Vancouver from 2001 to 2007 and has recently been appointed on the re-formed committee. Jeanette also serves on the Board of the Disabled Independent Gardeners Association (DIGA.) "I enjoy gardening. It's a pleasure, and also a commitment as I am Chair of my Co-op's garden committee."
Sheryl Burns is a long-time social justice activist. She has been a participant in the women’s movement, working as a front line worker in transition houses and as a legal advocate for battered women. In addition she has been an activist in the disability rights movement for the past several years.
She has co-authored a report on the child protection system and mothers with disabilities which is called “Mothers with Disabilities and the BC Child Protection System”. She recently wrote two reports on behalf of YWCA Vancouver on Mothers without Legal Immigrant Status. The first is intended for front line support workers of mothers without status and is entitled “Single Mothers without Permanent Status in Canada: The Intersection of the Immigration System and the Family Law System: Information for Service Providers”. The second report designed to agitate for change is entitled “Single Mothers without Permanent Status: Caught in the Intersection Between Immigration Law and Family Law”.
As a social justice activist and person with a disability, Sheryl has also worked toward promoting the inclusion of and changes for persons with disabilities both within and outside the Labour movement. She is a former member of the City of Vancouver Disability Advisory Committee, a current Executive Board member of the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities, former Chair of the CUPE National Persons with Disabilities Working Group, former chair and current member of the CUPE BC Persons with Disabilities Working Group, former CUPE BC member representative on the CUPE National Women’s Task Force and current Persons with Disabilities Representative on the CUPE National Women’s Committee. As well, Sheryl represents persons with disabilities on the BC Federation of Labour Human Rights Committee and the BC Federation of Labour Executive Board. In addition, Sheryl has also been a member of Multi-Union Pride, a coalition of Pink Triangle activists who prepare a multi-union entry for the annual Pride parade in Vancouver.
Pat lives in Victoria. Pat has been active with the disability movement since the early '70s. She has taken a leadership role with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) and chairs CCD's Transportation Committee. CCD was successful in its 7 year legal fight with VIA rail's purchase of inaccessible train cars. She also is an active member of its Human Rights Committee. She is a founding mother of the Disabled Women's Network [DAWN]. Pat's career includes work for provincial and federal governments, the human rights commission, as well as the Canadian Labour Congress. She has specialized knowledge of rights and disability issues, policies and programs. Pat has served on a variety of committees including:
Lucy has served on the Board of the North Shore Disability Resource Centre for over 20 years. Residing in North Vancouver, she is currently on Interfit Society's fundraising committee. Interfit is non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities with outdoor recreational activities such as camping and hiking. Lucy is self-employed as a payroll administrator and bookkeeper.
Al lives in Kelowna. He has been on the BCCPD Board since 1997. He has served as the President as well as the Treasurer.
Al has lived with glaucoma-related blindness for over 40 years. He has been a Board member and a President for the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB). He also volunteered on the Kelowna Crisis Centre's crisis line, with the Canadian Institute for the Blind's Client Services and with Rutland Community Policing. In November of 2007, he was instrumental in starting up a new Kelowna chapter of the CCB and in October of 2008, Al was elected on the Board of the CCB - Yukon Division.
Al is a keen lawn bowler and is currently sitting on the Board of Bowls BC, which is a sighted group. He also oversees Blind Alley Bowling in Rutland and is a past President of the Kelowna Lawn Bowling club. He is the Vice-President of the Blind Bowls Association of Canada (BBAC). At home, Al is the Treasurer of his building's Strata Complex. He also oversees grounds maintenance and performs repairs and irrigation.
Al is dedicated to working with the disability community and helping people look beyond their disabilities. He feels the hard work associated with his many responsibilities is worth the knowledge that he can make a difference in people's lives. Al thinks being on the Board of the BCCPD is the most rewarding of his duties because he knows that together we do make a difference.
Derek has been involved with disability issues for approximately 30 years. He has a Master's degree from Simon Fraser University, and is currently the Webmaster for the Voice of Cerebral Palsied of Greater Vancouver (VCP). He was also Webmaster for his housing cooperative until his recent move.
Derek has worked on many committees during his academic/advocacy career. He is especially interested in education, transportation, children's issues, mental health, and health issues generally. He has served the BCCPD as Vice-President, Member-at-large, and Secretary. Derek has won several awards for his work, including the 1996-97 Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) Regional Award, and special recognition from his Burnaby-Douglas constituency. As a person with cerebral palsy and a speech impairment, he contributes a different perspective on disability issues to the Board, along with patience and dedication to the Coalition.
Johanna is a special education and classroom teacher with a long history of volunteer involvement with the disability community through the BC Paraplegic Association, TETRA Society, and a support group for women with disabilities.
A member of the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers Association, Johanna is passionate about education and health issues. She currently teaches Kindergarten at Nootka Elementary.
Chris has an extensive background working with and for the disability community. He is currently the Chair of the Cowichan Valley Resource Centre for the Disabled and is involved with training and supervising programs designed to prepare people with disabilities for the labour market.
Chris was very involved in a program designed to teach sailing to people with disabilities; the program had sailboats rigged with assistive equipment. Under the Disability Resource Centre’s umbrella, Chris formed a recreation program that provides land and sea opportunities. The land program is a therapeutic riding club.
Chris was instrumental in setting up a “Loan Cupboard” four years ago to provide all types of medical equipment for those unable to purchase equipment on their own.
Chris has been the Chair of Cowichan Independent Living for eight years and the Spinal Cord Chapter Head for the past seven years. He organizes an annual golf tournament for Spinal Cord Research, and leads a monthly coffee klatch to support and advise people with disabilities.
Terry Pipkey is 60 years old and lives in Prince George. Until the organization faced significant service cutbacks last year, he spent 11 years working as an Employment Counsellor for the Canadian National Institute of the Blind (CNIB). He has been an advocate for persons living with disabilities for more than twenty years. He will further pursue this interest through his work as a new BCCPD Board member.
Terry’s community activities, past and present, include:
He is currently pursuing funding to obtain low vision equipment and software that will better enable him to read printed materials, so he can more successfully access computer programs and the internet. This equipment and software will enable him to become fully functional again and further his advocacy work for people with disabilities.
Jill Stainsby has been involved with mental health services since her mother was diagnosed with a mental illness when Jill was five years old, and she was herself similarly diagnosed in her early twenties. She was employed by Riverview Hospital for five years and then by the Vancouver Community Mental Health Services for six years. She was the recipient of the 2003 Courage to Come Back Award for Mental Health from Coast Foundation.
In the spring of 2006, Jill completed a Masters of Social Work Degree at UBC and then briefly taught in the Thompson Rivers University Human Services Program in Lillooet, followed by terms in Prince Rupert, Abbotsford and Chilliwack. She is now a mental health case manager in Chilliwack and currently lives in Vancouver.
Jill is very pleased to be a member of the BCCPD Board and enjoys working with BCCPD's staff, volunteers, membership and other community activists.
Bernie lives in North Vancouver. He has been on the BCCPD Board since 2001. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1984 and is a member of the MS Society. Before he developed MS he was a seaman for 12 years working on deep-sea tugboats. He served on the Seaman’s Section 400 ILWU Union Executive for 15 years. Before he went to sea, Bernie did ‘high work’, painting tall buildings, chimneys, and bridges – including the Lions’ Gate.
Bernie worked with the BCCPD from 1985-1989 until his second child was born. Since then he has volunteered in executive capacities with Scouts Canada and the Bowen Island Parks and Recreation Commission. He is a founding member of the Bowen Island Coalition of People with Disabilities.
Valerie is a member of the BC Ferries Advisory Committee on Disability Issues. She is currently exploring the possibility of setting up a DAWN group in the Cowichan Valley. Valerie is working with her local municipality on Emergency Preparedness for the disabled community. Valerie has served on the Board of Option Youth Society (Vancouver). She is a founding member of the Vancouver branch of the Cheshire Homes Society that provides transitional housing for people with severe brain injuries. Valerie is a former BC representative of the Canada Pension Advisory Board, and has served as Chairperson of the CPP Sub-committee on the Definition of Disability. She was previously the BCCPD's representative on the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. She has participated on the Mayor of Duncan Advisory Committee on Accessible Communities. She is Past-President of the Mid-Island Aids Society and a former instructor at Malaspina University.
Before moving to Maple Bay five years ago, Valerie ran a very successful consulting business in Vancouver called Thoem International Consultants. Her firm specialized in development and training programs for the not-for-profit sector, small business development, and lobbied all levels of government on behalf of clients.
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