Rock concert to raise funds for independent-living centre

The Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre will host its first RockRaiser, a music concert fundraiser, on Feb. 17 at Greenfield’s Pub and Eatery.

The all-ages event will run from 3 to 10 p.m., with six local acts taking part: Coffee and Cardigans, Epyllion, the Robert Farrell Band, Arms of the Girl, Finding Chuck and the Airliner Blues Band. Boom 99.7FM radio personality Kim Sullivan will MC the event, which will also feature a silent auction and a 50-50 draw.

“It’s great for the late-afternoon (and) dinner crowd, those who want to come later at night and for music lovers, who will come for the whole thing,” says Sasha Gilchrist, one of the organizers and the Centre’s empowerment and life skills co-ordinator.

The Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre assists persons with disabilities with support programs ranging from direct funding to employment assistance to peer support. The centre has been serving the area for just over 20 years, and its national office celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011.

The centre serves more than 2,500 individuals yearly, but interactions with those consumers can be as many as 10,000 times a year, says executive director Katie Paialunga. People who use the centre average from 20 to 60 years old.

The centre’s goal is to allow persons with disabilities to overcome barriers, be they financial, social, physical or attitudinal — a task that isn’t always easy, says Jamie Eddy, iLEAP employment skills co-ordinator (iLEAP, the Independent Living Employment Assistance Program, is funded by the United Way). He points to the challenge of even finding an accessible venue for the event, praising Greenfield’s for its “forward thinking.”

The show’s headliner, the Airliner Blues Band, will provide an opportunity for some of those barriers to be addressed. The frontman, Mubarak Farah, is legally blind. “Having him as a headliner is another example of how to focus on the abilities, not the disabilities,” says Eddy.

For his part, Farah promises “a great, rocking good time.” He was happy for the opportunity to be associated with the event, and echoes the centre’s philosophy: “If you set your mind to something, there’s absolutely no way that you can’t do it. Your brain is like a big tool box and if you just open it, you can put all of its possibilities to good use.”

The $10 cover fee will go toward programs at the centre, which is feeling the recent cutbacks from the federal and provincial governments, says Paialunga.

Gilchrist added that the centre would like to thank the bands, who are performing for free and donating potions of their merchandise sales, as well as Greenfield’s, which did not charge for the venue rental.

While the centre staff are not sure what revenue will be, they are already dreaming big and hoping to make the show an annual event.

“We’re very positive about it — we’re already thinking ahead to future years,” says Eddy. “After all, Bluesfest started small, didn’t it?”

For more information, or to help sponsor the event, please contact Sasha Gilchrist at sasha-ileap@oilrc.com.