The late Janet Moore, the founder of l'Arche Cape Breton who was profiled here on her death in 2010, was a huge fan of Rita MacNeil. Janet's friend Mary MacDougall arranged for the two to meet at Rita's Tea Room on her 60th birthday, in 2007. Jenn Power, Atlantic Regional Co-ordinator for l'Arche (and my daughter-in-law) described the event on her blog. Those of us who love Janet were more than a little apprehensive as we prepared for the celebration. Janet is getting old, and showing her age. As with so many people with Down Syndrome, dementia is slowly creeping in and stealing...

17 April, 2013

Janet Evaline Moore, founder of L'Arche Cape Breton, died peacefully last night at her home in Orangedale, two days before her 63rd birthday. [caption id="attachment_5983" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Tom and Ann Gunn and Janet Moore"][/caption] Tom and Ann Gunn invited Janet to live with their family in 1983, marking the start of an intentional community that is now home to some 25 Core Members and a varied group of assistants from Cape Breton and around the world. Janet Moore was a gentle, funny, loving woman, with an out-sized capacity to move and inspire people around her. She and her long-time...

16 July, 2010
Josh glasses-csThis thread  (starting here and here) questioning efforts to "cure" Down syndrome began with a quick email from Jenn Power, community leader at L'Arche Cape Breton, mother of identical twins with Down syndrome, and—disclosure—Contrarian's daughter-in-law. At Contrarian's request, she has elaborated:
In the end, for me, this all comes back to people. Josh, Jacob, Mary, Cathy, Kate, Janet…these people have Down Syndrome. These people are my family, my friends, my teachers. Without the benefit of that extra chromosome, they would not be who they are. Their intellectual “impairment” gives them an insight and an emotional intelligence and maturity that I can only aspire to. They do not need a needle in their brain to make them more functional, to help them find their car keys. What they need is a society that values what they have to offer. I would like to think that I can be a part of creating that society
Full post after the jump.
27 November, 2009