58 METIS NA TION Of ONT ARIO Annu A l Repo R t 20122013 Co MM un I ty s uppo R t s e R v IC es c SS The MNO Community Support Ser vices CSS pr ogram supports Metis and other Aboriginal people to live safely and independently in their own homes and communities for as long as they wish While the primar y ser vice tar gets of the CSS pr ogram ar e the elderly and the chr onically ill it is communityfocused and open to peo ple of all ages CSS pr ovides support for individual community members as well as their families and car egivers CSS ser vices include T ransportation to medical appointments T rained employees and volunteers transport and escort clients to medical appointments Home and telephone visitation CSS coor dinators r egularly follow up with clients in person and thr ough the telephone to pr ovide holistic support and wellness planning ser vices which pr omote safety independence and continued immersion of clients in the Metis community Facilitate access additional supports CSS coor dinators maintain viable community r elationships with a variety of stakeholders which in tur n facilitate valuable client r eferrals and opportunities for advocacy Support to car egivers Collaborative education and varied support is pr ovided by CSS coor dinators to the car e pr oviders in a client s family Participantbased education T ar geted partnerships between CSS coor dinators and other stakeholders allow for incr eased education and pr evention in r egar ds to issues pertinent to consumers of CSS ser vices CSS involve ment in MNO gatherings facilitates cultural immersion for clients and participants who may not other wise be able to attend on their own Recent notable achievements The CCS team was fully staf fed this year which as indicated in the charts r esulted in an incr ease in both the ser vices pr ovided and the number of clients r eceiving support fr om coor dinators An MNO inter branch training and plenar y session held in the autumn of 2012 allowed CSS coor dinators to signifcantly expand their understanding of the spectrum of Metis needs stakeholders and ser vices This r esulted in impr oved quality of ser vice for clients and participants of CSS pr ogramming Metis community festivals wer e held at several locations and attracted hundr eds of participants in the fall and summer of 2012 p ro G ram de T a I ls Funder Ministry of Health and Long t er m c ar e MHL tc Gover nment of o ntario n umber of s taf f 18 including supervisor and thr ee parttime staf f s taf f located in Bancr oft d ryden f ort f rances Kenora Midland n orth Bay o ttawa Sault Ste Marie Sudbury t immins t hunder Bay t or onto W elland W indsor e ligible Clientele Metis and other people who ar e frail andor elderly as well as Metis and other people with a chr onic disease or ter minal illness in need of assistance and support r egar dless of age