{"id":26482,"date":"2018-04-04T16:39:50","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T20:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.communitylivingbc.ca\/?page_id=26482"},"modified":"2018-06-25T02:36:30","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T06:36:30","slug":"planning-teresa-celebrated-new-community","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.communitylivingbc.ca\/who-does-clbc-support\/individual-family-stories\/planning-teresa-celebrated-new-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrated by Her New Community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Teresa Pocock dances with glee at her art opening and book launch at Gallery Gachet. (Photo: Zack Embree)<\/p><\/div>\n

When Franke James introduces her sister Teresa as an artist, Teresa will usually jump in to add that she\u2019s also a poet, an author and a self advocate.<\/p>\n

Teresa recently published a book of her illustrations and poetry called \u201cPretty Amazing: How I Found Myself in the Downtown Eastside<\/a>,\u201d and her work was displayed at an exhibit and book launch at the\u00a0Gallery Gachet<\/a>\u00a0in Vancouver in June. Her book tells visual and written stories of herself as an artist who also happens to have Down syndrome. It also describes the connections she\u2019s made in her neighbourhood and her favourite places to go. In her opening poem, \u201cI am alive<\/a>,\u201d she says she\u2019s been reborn in Gastown.<\/p>\n

Teresa has come a long way and had many adventures before finding herself in the Gastown neighbourhood she now calls home. A few years ago, at the age of 49, Teresa was placed in a seniors\u2019 nursing home in Ontario that specialized in dementia and palliative care, after her 91-year-old father was no longer well enough to support her. Teresa and her father didn\u2019t want her to be there and it wasn\u2019t the right fit. So Franke and her husband, Billiam James, stepped in and invited Teresa to live with them. Soon after, they moved out west and eventually settled in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe myth is that if you take care of someone with a disability that you\u2019re going to be burdened, but in fact Teresa has opened up the world for us and taken us on all kinds of adventures,\u201d says Franke. When Franke looks back at photos from the past few years, she can\u2019t believe how many fun experiences the three of them have had together. Franke and Billiam both say living with Teresa has opened their eyes to the world of people with disabilities, introduced them to new people and inspired many exciting adventures and experiences as they helped Teresa develop her talents.<\/p>\n

After arriving in Vancouver, they worked on a vision and plan for Teresa\u2019s new life together with Community Living BC staff and the Spectrum Society for Community Living.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeresa and her family are an example of how we were able to put supports in place to help them succeed on their terms,\u201d says CLBC facilitator Tim Harrison. \u201cThey were very clear that they didn\u2019t want her to go to a day program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together they came up with ideas for activities in the community based on Teresa\u2019s interests. Physical fitness and art are priorities for them, so Teresa does activities like yoga three times a week and participates in a weekly expressive arts workshop at Gallery Gachet where she\u2019s met other artists. She also likes other activities like playing card games and Scrabble.<\/p>\n

Her book of art and poetry was made possible through a\u00a0DTES Small Arts Grant<\/a>\u00a0from the Vancouver Foundation and Carnegie Community Centre. Franke and Billiam observed that the making of the book became a focus and purpose for Teresa and became like her full-time job.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Teresa stands in front of her \u201cWe Love it Here\u201d poem and artwork, exhibited at Gallery Gachet in June 2016. The artwork and poems are featured in her Pretty Amazing book. (Photo: Franke James)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhen I read her poem, \u2018Butterflies,\u2019 I see it as a symbol of her transformation from feeling fearful, with butterflies in her stomach, to feeling free like a butterfly,\u201d says Billiam.<\/p>\n

Tim has also noticed the transformation in Teresa since she first arrived in Vancouver. He had the opportunity to see her network of friends and supporters at the gallery opening where they came to see her art.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really impressive to see her as an artist at the centre of the room and see people come in and really connecting with what she was doing,\u201d says Tim.<\/p>\n

Franke notes that individualized funding from CBLC has helped them tailor a plan that will help Teresa achieve her goals, and to adapt her plan if her needs change over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to look at what Teresa\u2019s talents are and create an environment where she can develop her talents,\u201d says Franke. \u201cHer art gives her an avenue to express her ideas and feelings about everything happening in her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franke is also an artist and author and her work has taken her to New York City and Washington, D.C., where Teresa got to join her to visit the White House. Teresa has spoken at conferences and has a\u00a0Twitter<\/a> account where she advocates for human rights and shares her thoughts and ideas through videos and her art.<\/p>\n

Teresa, Franke and Billiam\u2019s adventures together have just begun, and they plan to continue to spread the word about Teresa\u2019s stories and ideas as expressed through her book.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Planning<\/h2>\n

Visit the welcome and planning process page<\/a>\u00a0to learn how CLBC can help people identify supports and community activities that support their vision for their life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Franke James introduces her sister Teresa as an artist, Teresa will usually jump in to add that she\u2019s also a poet, an author and a self advocate. Teresa recently published a book of her illustrations and poetry called \u201cPretty Amazing: How I Found Myself in the Downtown Eastside,\u201d and …","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":26000,"menu_order":153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-26482","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrated by Her New Community - Community Living BC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Teresa Pocock and her sister Franke James worked on a plan for Teresa's life that included activities in the community based on her interests.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.communitylivingbc.ca\/who-does-clbc-support\/individual-family-stories\/planning-teresa-celebrated-new-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrated by Her New Community - 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