Brett Barager- President

Brett Barager MSW, RSW, entered the social field 20 years ago with a Community Living association in Bracebridge. In 1988 he moved to York Region and has been active in Children's Mental Health since then. In 2001, Brett returned to his roots by joining the Community Living Newmarket/Aurora District Board of Directors. Brett has been actively involved with Quality Assurance as well as offering some in-house presentations to the Management Team as well as the Board. Brett currently has his Master of Social Work Degree and is a Registered Social Worker.

Helen Clark– Past President

Helen has been a volunteer member of the Board for Community Living Newmarket / Aurora District since June 2001.  She also volunteers one morning a week at the Ross Memorial Hospital coffee shop.  Commuting from Lindsay for Association and Board activities has become her way of life!  Helen has 3 married children, 1 son and 2 daughters, as well as 7 grandchildren.  One grandson lives very happily with an Associate Family under the   auspices of CLNAD.  She finds her involvement with all levels of the association very rewarding.   

Paul Popper - 1st Vice President

Paul Popper lives in Newmarket and has 2 children supported by Community Living Newmarket / Aurora District. He now runs an offshore Web development company. Paul was previously a board member for several years and he chaired the Rights Committee.   Regarding CLNAD, Paul's focus is to support personal outcome measures (POM), to encourage greater use of technology and Internet, and to work for improvements in  staff salaries and career prospects.

Dr R. Bahlieda - 2nd Vice President

Dr. Bahlieda is a retired elementary school principal with 37 years of professional experience in education. He holds a Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Toronto (O.I.S.E.) and a Master of Arts Degree in English from York University. He has resided in Newmarket for the past 20 years. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the St. Gabriel Childcare Centre in Woodbridge. 

Dr. Bahlieda has two adult sons. His oldest son Alexander has been supported by CLNAD for more than 20 years. He lives in Newmarket with his wife Marianne and their incredible Border Collie Claris. Dr. Bahlieda (and Claris) enjoy their favourite pastime - jogging.

Gerry Hedican - Comptroller

Gerry Hedican has been a close friend of many members of the Association for the past 15 years. He has served as a volunteer on a committee and as an advocate and   support person for various members. He has been a member of the Voices of Joy Choir since its beginning in 1998.  Married and father of 2 daughters, he has been a resident of Newmarket for over 30 years. His varied career includes 20 years as a teacher and over 20 years in an executive capacity on the boards of several mining companies.  

Janet Lorimer –Executive Director

Janet joined Community Living Newmarket/Aurora District in April 2009 in the newly created Deputy Executive Director position, and later assumed the position of Executive Director. Janet comes from Mississauga where she lives with her husband and a son and daughter. Prior to joining Community Living Newmarket/Aurora District, Janet was with another Community Living organization for 30 years where she held a variety of positions.  

Elaine Adam - Director

Elaine Adam has been involved as a volunteer with Community Living Newmarket / Aurora District for the past two years. She has lived in Newmarket since 1982 and retired from teaching in 2007, having been involved in Guidance and Special Education. She and her husband Fred have two sons, Thom and  Andrew. She enjoys palling around with her friend Jess, from CLNAD.

Salvatore A. Amenta - Director

Sal emigrated in 1952 from Italy to Toronto, where he  attended public and separate schools.  A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and three universities, he earned a Ph.D in 1980 from the University of Toronto, and taught there as well as several high schools.  After teaching for almost 30 years, he retired early to look after his ailing parents, and eventually achieved his lifelong dream:    living in the country with his wife Kathryn, son John-Paul, and their golden-doodle, Diva.  The Amenta family enjoys being outdoors, gardening and, as often as possible, traveling

John J. Dowson - Director

John Dowson has been a board member since 1995 with a 1 year hiatus. He chairs the Community Development Committee and the annual Tribute dinner. John’s involvement as an active member of CLNAD is a natural extension of his life calling, and its stated goal. John has dedicated his financial planning practice to helping parents of children with disabilities plan for their care and financial security. He has been instrumental in helping to shape provincial and federal policy that makes such planning possible, and literally hundreds of Ontario families have peace of mind that would not have been possible apart from John’s efforts.

Jan Stem - Director

Jan has been a friend of Community Living Newmarket /Aurora District for over 20 years. She has been an active volunteer and is involved with the Quality Assurance Committee.  Jan is currently an enthusiastic member of The People Ensuring Quality Group supporting self advocates to identify and achieve their own goals and to be responsive to their concerns .  Jan enjoys all aspects of music and is the accompanist for The Voices Of Joy Community Choir, a choir for people of all abilities. She is a business partner with Dynamic Greens Wheatgrass and has 4 adult children and 7 grandchildren.

Peter Vander Kooij - Director

Peter is married to Leni, father of 4 children, Gwen, Cynthia, Andrea and Peter John and has 4 delightful grandchildren. 

He has been associated with CLNAD since 1969, has served on the Board a number of times and is a Past President. He has also been involved with the Newmarket Advocacy Group and is a strong advocate for people who are developmentally handicapped.

He is a retired vegetable producer who has served on the Board of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Grower’s Association and the Bradford and District Vegetable Grower’s Association.  He is active in his church and has served on the Board of the Holland Marsh Christian Reformed Church and has also been active as a youth leader in his church.

At present he is a member of the “Voices of Joy” and delights in supporting our friends in this fun-filled, joyful choir.  He first became interested in the Association for the Mentally Retarded in 1969 as he saw the need for finding resources to help his eldest daughter, Gwen.  He will continue in his endeavour to enrich the lives of those whose needs are served through CLNAD.

Andrea Sager - Director

Andrea was born in Calgary, Alberta and moved to Ontario with her family in 1987.  She lived in the country near Schomberg before relocating to Newmarket.  Andrea received residential supports through Community Living in 2001 and now lives with a roommate, only receiving occasional supports.

Andrea is an active member of Community Living.  During her days you can often find her answering phones and keeping people organized at the Destinations building.  In her spare time she is actively involved with the People Ensuring Quality group and at one time served as their president.  Andrea believes that being an advocate for herself and others is important and she is now able to bring her experience and expertise to her new role as a member of the Community Living Board of Directors.  Andrea’s hobbies and pastimes include singing with the Voices of Joy choir, spending time with friends and collecting postcards.

Marion Doak - Director

Marion is the parent of Linda and realizing the need for early education and socializing for her daughter, in the 1960's she helped develop the first pre-school program with the assistance of many business/professional women and parents.  The program specialized in early training skills and socializing to several developmentally delayed and physically challenged  pre-schoolers, which allowed a few hours relaxation and relief to their parents.

Marion and her husband (deceased 1970) re-located to Newmarket in 1957 and has been involved with the Newmarket Association for the past 40 years.  She is the mother of three young adults, grandmother to four grandsons, a past president of the Newmarket Jaycettes and enjoys full time employment working from home for the same Toronto firm for the past seventeen years as Administration Manager.