Connecting for Caring at the Jazz Room (Uptown Waterloo, Ontario)

A night out to celebrate caring as love in action Join us for delicious food, good company, stories and creativity as we celebrate the caring hearts of Kitchener-Waterloo. Your caring matters. In families, friendships and neighbourhoods, people are doing extraordinary things every day—often quietly, often without recognition. Come spend an evening celebrating the many ways we care for one another and the difference that caring makes. Our gathering is inspired by Courage to Care: Ripples of Love in Action, a collection of more than 160 stories, poems, photographs, artworks and other creative expressions from across Canada, curated by Al Etmanski. Together, they reveal caring in its many forms: messy, tough and tender, full of sorrow and joy, and woven through our everyday lives. It is a book for anyone who has cared for another or been held by someone else’s care. Through readings, conversation and creative activities, we’ll celebrate the caring happening here—including the family leadership that has strengthened belonging and inspired social change over the decades. The evening shares the book’s four intentions: to let you know you are not alone; to honour your caring with beauty; to weave our caring together; and to make support for caring a national priority. Whether you give or receive care, support a neighbour, work alongside families or simply want to spend an evening in good company, there is a place for you here. You don’t need to have read the book or know anyone in the room. Bring a friend. Invite someone whose caring has touched your life. Courage to Care is published by PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network), a family-led organization that has placed caring relationships at the heart of its work for nearly 40 years. Together with people with disabilities and their families, PLAN helps build networks of friends, neighbours and supporters who share in everyday life and care for one another. The book grows from this experience and a conviction that a good life begins with belonging—and that none of us is meant to care alone. We are grateful to the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, Co-operators, and all the funders and foundations whose generous support helps bring Courage to Care and these gatherings to life.