Role Posting: Assistant
Assistants come to L’Arche Daybreak from around the world and around the corner, so our community includes Canadians as well as people from many other countries. The key to life in L’Arche – for everyone – is being open to relationship. Assistants and core members (people with intellectual disabilities) create home together in households of six to eight people. Days are filled with the ordinary tasks of daily living – meals, bathing, cleaning and household chores, laundry, shopping, accompanying people to the doctor or the dentist – and regular community meetings and events. Home life is the cornerstone of L’Arche. The evening meal, birthdays and times of prayer are small but cherished celebrations that strengthen the bonds between people who live and work together.
Most people come with an initial commitment of one year. Assistants come with a broad range of backgrounds and qualifications. All new assistants participate in a program of orientation and training. Compensation and benefits are provided. Please continue reading below for more details on becoming an assistant in our community or visit the L’Arche Canada Recruitment website to read more about applying to any L’Arche community in Canada.
Our Community Make-up
Our community consists of eight homes in Richmond Hill, Ontario. All of our homes are within five minutes walking distance of other L’Arche homes and close to public transportation, libraries, restaurants and gyms. Richmond Hill is located about an hour north of Toronto. There are 37 core members (persons with intellectual disabilities) who have a home at Daybreak, living along with 32-34 assistants in our homes. Today, about half of our assistants come from other countries.
We also have five Day Programs where core members engage in a wide range of activities: making craft products, developing social skills, producing surveyor stakes and expressive arts. Recruitment for positions in the Day Programs occurs less frequently than for the Homes.
As part of a team of 4-5 assistants, House Assistants co-ordinate and participate in caring for the members of the home, ensuring adherence with the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services Guidelines and L’Arche Daybreak’s policies and procedures.
Ideal community members possess the following:
- Warm and friendly nature
- Easy to work with
- Initiative
- Effective communication skills – a good sense of humour is always appreciated in our homes!
- Creative problem solving skills
- Strong team-oriented perspective.