Celebrating 25 years of dedication to the human services field

submitted by Tracey Biggar

Canda MacNeill is celebrating 25 years of service in her chosen field. I want to congratulate her on being so AWESOME!

It is such a pleasure to take part in presenting her with the Danny Redmond Award. She is so deserving! She has made such a contribution to this field and has made such an incredible difference to the lives of people with disabilities.

This is the first ever Danny Redmond Award for Excellence in Supported Employment. This award recognizes an outstanding Case Manager or service agencies that have made significant contributions to collaboration and the promotion of full citizenship and personal capacity for all Islanders.

“Twenty-five years of dedication, loyalty, and hard work—a remarkable milestone achieved,” says Devon Broome, Executive Director, ResourceAbilities. “Canda’s unwavering commitment and contributions have shaped our organization and set a shining example for others.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude for her remarkable service and congratulate her on this achievement. I started my career in this field by learning from Canda, and I continue to learn from her everyday. She has the patience to understand unique challenges, kindness to provide support, and a genuine desire to empower every individual to reach their full potential. I think Danny would be happy to see such a deserving person win the inaugural Danny Redmond Award.

“Thank you, Canda, for your invaluable dedication, and here’s to many more years of breaking down barriers together.”

Canda’s career journey

In September 1998, this young graduate from Mount Saint Vincent University started her career working as a Community Access Worker with what was known back then as the PEI Council of the Disabled and now known as ResourceAbilities. I was also starting a new job with the organization at the same time, so we automatically had something in common.

In a short amount of time, it became abundantly clear to everyone Canda worked with that she had a passion for the role she had taken on.

Her initial responsibilities were to assist clients in completing Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefit applications and helping those whose appeals were denied. Throughout this process, she had an opportunity to get to know clients well.

She heard stories of struggles that each of these individuals had experienced and what had brought them to her for the CPP assistance they required. Canda always treated her clients with a level of compassion that was truly top notch.

Clients always felt heard, respected, and valued for the individuals they were. She was a safe place for those folks, and they certainly appreciated being treated with such dignity.

Canda would also go the extra mile in her role by baking specific pastries that clients said they liked or dropping off care packages for people in need. She was always going over and above and gained the respect of every colleague she ever worked with.

In August 2014, Canda took on a new role as an Employment Counsellor with ResourceAbilities in Kings County. She continued to put as much effort and dedication into this position as well.

Throughout our time working together, I was very fortunate to develop a lifelong friendship with Canda. I attended her wedding to her wonderful husband Jason and got to see her become an amazing mother to Skye and Shamus. Canda being a great mom certainly comes as no surprise to me though! She and Jason have raised such kind and thoughtful kids and they also touch the lives of people the same way their mom does!