LiveWorkPlay

10/08/2025

LiveWorkPlay was pleased to take part in a special session hosted by the Family Support Network for Employment at the recent Community Living Ontario conference, and we are sharing the news of their newly released FREE course on Framing the Pathway for Employment During the School Years.

https://fsne.ca/courses/peer-to-peer-knowledge-transfer-framing-the-pathway-for-employment-during-the-school-years/

There is a brief registration process, which is essential so you can log in and out as you progress through the course. The platform is easy to use and designed by family members, for family members.

10/08/2025

Ryan McBride and Heather McAdam asked if LiveWorkPlay could share a post about their recent week of travel to British Columbia, in and around Victoria and Vancouver.

Ryan and Heather built up a lot of supported travel experience in the past, and for this trip, the involvement of our Community Supports Team was very limited: an extra set of eyes on the travel schedule and packing list. The more travel you do, the more comfortable it becomes, and Heather and Ryan lifted off with a great deal of confidence!

The trip included visiting with family and friends, exploring various neighbourhoods by foot, a whale watching experience, a ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland, and riding a gondola to the top of the mountains!

"We hope that sharing our travel experience and pictures will inspire others to travel!" said Heather and Ryan.

Sunset photo credt: Craig Brown (Ryan's cousin).
Boat photo credit: Prince of Whales.

10/03/2025

As always, lots happening on Friday Nights, check out a couple of updates from September:

😂Jenny, Paul, Pat, Ish and Junaid enjoy good company and humour at Absolute Comedy

🏈Andrei, Zhenni, Jospeh, Josh, Ashley, Namitha and Lee enjoying the Ottawa Redblacks v. BC Lions game on Friday, September 5th at TD Place

09/30/2025

🧡 On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 🧡

We honour Survivors of residential schools, who continue to share their truths with courage.

We remember the children who were harmed, and those who never came home.

We stand in solidarity with families and communities impacted by residential schools.

We commit to advancing reconciliation by supporting Indigenous-led healing, respecting Survivors’ voices, and taking action on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

09/26/2025

Some of the Tuesday “Zoom Crew” met up - this time at Absolute Comedy. Jess, Steven, Lee, Rachel and Justin enjoyed at evening at Absolute Comedy on Sunday evening, playing pool and sharing some laughs together.

The LiveWorkPlay Zoom Room (videoconferencing meetups) continues Tuesday and Friday evenings, thanks to the support from amazing volunteers like Jessica and many other fantastic members of our volunteer team.

09/25/2025

Big thanks to Matthew Clarke, Jen Broad, Viki Tandon, Kathryn Morris, Wendy MacEwan, Carole Olsen, Daniel Joseph Anderson, Marlene Burton, Jim Mullins, Robert Olsen, Alastair McAlastair, Steve Suttie, Monica Gubersky, Jason Kershman, Doug Cooper, Shirley Lambert-McPhee, Veronica Ruth Anderson

for all your support! Congrats for being top fans on a streak 🔥!

09/24/2025

The Federal Employment Strategy Group had a great turn out with 64 participants in attendance for today’s quarterly meeting!

Thanks to presenters Mae Johnson and Arpita Dar from Employment and Social Development Canada for the comprehensive presentation on the Better Accommodations project and Clara Morgan and Maria Ibrahim from the Treasury Board of Canada Secritariat for sharing about the Accessibility Passport project and how federal organizations can engage with this project

Sancho Angulo, Co-chair of Infinity: The Network for Neurodivergent Public Servants, invited those interested to attend Public Service Neurodiversity Week 2025 October 20th 1-4pm.
🔗 Register here: https://wiki.gccollab.ca/Public_Service_Neurodiversity_Week

Robert Olsen from LiveWorkPlay and Megan Groh, Team Lead of Processing in the ATIP Office talk more about her experience hiring four employees supported by LiveWorkPlay and the assets they have been to their team.

Attendees got to learn about exciting new hiring opportunities with jobseeker profiles shared for Andrew James (Gateway Association, Edmonton AB) by Kazeem Abolaji, Olivia Bailey (LiveWorkPlay, Ottawa ON) by Aya Elkerdany and Patrick Dooley (LiveWorkPlay, Ottawa, ON) by Neil Abraham.

Thank you to everyone who attended this quarter’s FESG and the look out for the next FESG newsletter in the end of October. Our next meeting will be held Wednesday, November 26th at 11am EST, please get in touch with Anna Nelson if you are interested in attending.

09/22/2025

A classic, Melissa and Keenan deliver bigtime for 1000 people!

Melissa Cunningham was introduced by campaign chair Max Keeping. LiveWorkPlay co-leader Keenan Wellar conducted the interview. LiveWorkPlay supports people w...

09/19/2025

The LiveWorkPlay Community Partner Award for Options Bytown (now OPTIONS HOUSING) was announced back in April at our annual awards event, but we were not able to present it to them directly at that time. Yesterday afternoon (September18) at the Options Housing Annual General Meeting, Daniel Harris from our Community Supports team presented the award to Jessica Osabuohien. and made a short speech. Daniel has worked directly with Options Housing staff in support of LiveWorkPlay members, so he was honoured for the opportunity. Here are his remarks:

Hello, I am Daniel Harris, here tonight representing LiveWorkPlay, an Ottawa based charitable organization helping our community to welcome and include individuals with intellectual disabilities and autistic persons to live, work, and play as valued citizens..

Options Housing is a team of caring individuals. You are committed to ending homelessness in Ottawa. You believe that everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home, no matter their background, no matter their challenges. You want to see real and lasting change in our community, and you know that the best way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place. These beliefs underpin everything you do.

In recent years LiveWorkPlay was supporting two individuals who found themselves in urgent need of a home. Facing the prospect of an emergency shelter and the real possibility of being unhoused, we reached out to your team.

Thankfully, the stars aligned, and Options Housing was able to welcome these inditicuals into two of their housing communities. Both of these individuals were experiencing significant challenges in their lives, and the partnership and collaboration of Options Housing was life changing.

On behalf of LiveWorkPlay we want to thank you for being such a great partner, and we are happy to present you with the 2025 LiveWorkPlay Community Partner Award!