Happy Pre-Halloween!

Well as always I am a little late with my "weekly" post. It has been an exciting few weeks though. My last post talked a bit about the National Canadian Alliance of Community Health Centre Associations Annual Conference that was being held in Saint John. I am happy to say that the event was a huge success. There were many people from all over Canada sharing the innovative ways Community Health Centres are re-shaping Canada's healthcare system. Most inspiring was a talk by Michael Rachlis on how Community Health Centre's could be the second phase of Medicare and provide much needed innovation Canada's health system. In fact, I am now reading his latest book "Prescription for Excellence" and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in healthcare.

Another great event I attended last week was the Annual Launch of the Saint John Community Loan Fund Christmas Card Fundraiser. There are some wonderful artists contributing their talents this year. To find out more about the Community Loan Fund and/or to purchase Christmas cards, click here.

On Friday of last week, FUSION Saint John Inc. had an Octoberfest event at O'Leary's pub and it was also a huge success. One of the goals of the event was to recruit more members and we were able to accomplish that task. I am on the Board for FUSION and am also the chair of the Community Engagement Committee which is always looking for new members so if you are interested please email me at dannyj@nbnet.nb.ca

Community Engagement Committee
Make Saint John your home by giving back to the community. Saint John's young residents have a lot to contribute - they just need to know where to direct their resources. The Community Engagement Committee (formerly known as Social Activism) liaises with local non-profit and charitable organizations to find opportunities for FUSION members to be involved. Partnering with the Events Committee, the Community Engagement Committee plans FUSION events that provide great networking opportunities to members and raise awareness of issues within the community.

On Sunday afternoon at attended an event organized by Port City Rainbow Pride Inc. where the discussion centered around the idea of merging many of the groups in Saint John that support the gay community into one overarching group. The other groups included Safe Space - Fundy Region, UNBSJ Q-Collective and the Saint John Chapter of PFLAG. I think this would be a great idea and hope that the leadership exists to move this venture forward. They are all great organizations and could benefit from the each others different mandates. If anyone out there is in need of support due to your sexuality or the sexuality of someone you know then I would encourage you contact one of the above mentioned groups. Get involved!

In my spare time I have been working away at my French and Management courses, was on call with Victim Services for one weekend and spent all day Saturday moving sixty pound patio blocks into my dog kennel. Needless to say, I am a little sore today! My brother also just had surgery in Halifax to reverse an ostomy he had previously as a result of Crohn's disease. Four out of my five family members have the disease so I am quite well versed on it and am especially grateful that I managed to escape the gene. Anyway, he is doing well and I am also very grateful for that as it has not been an easy road! Have a great week!