PSNF: September 22nd to November 2nd, 2025
Values, principles, and tools of Personal Support Network facilitation
Personal Support Network Facilitation:
Finding friendship and making personal connections in one’s community can present challenges for us all under the most robust of conditions; for those who are isolated due to disability, illness or old age, developing a personal support network can seem insurmountable. At the heart of Plan Institute is the belief that in creating a caring community with the knowledgeable assistance of a Network Facilitator, a person in isolation can have an active social network playing an important role in bringing resilience, purpose and joy to an otherwise solitary life.
Building on almost 30 years of experience in facilitating hundreds of personal support networks for people living in isolation, this is an on-line course of study using Plan Institute's sister organization, PLAN’s, proven approach to provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to become a Personal Support Network Facilitator. As a Facilitator, you will have the tools to re-chart a life of isolation towards a life at the centre of an active and caring social network.
“Thank you very much for all your help and support throughout the course! I really enjoyed the material and feel strongly that I will be more effective in my job for having learned it.”
“Thank you for making this course available! I have learned a lot. It truly has given me insight and alternative perspectives. A new way of thinking so to speak. I look forward to practicing these methods.”
The course consists of four easy to follow modules that are designed to be both practical and inspirational:
- Understanding personal support network facilitation
- Exploration in developing a personal support network
- Formation and maintenance of a network
- Addressing challenges and building confidence
Who should take this course
- Individuals working with or living with people who are socially isolated including seniors, people with disabilities and/or chronic health challenges, and youth.
- Caregivers
- Family members who have a loved-one with a disability
Designed by Vickie Cammack, Plan Institute and PLAN co-founder, and the Plan Institute team.
Your Facilitator
Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN) is non-profit organization founded in 1989 to help families secure the future for loved ones with disabilities.
Rebecca Pauls
Rebecca is an enthusiastic leader and creative facilitator with a broad range of experiences in community development and collaboration with people who have disabilities. She is passionate about seeing the unique gifts each of person has, and is convinced that our communities will be stronger, safer and more resilient when each of us is contributing and recognized for our gifts. As a mother to four children, Rebecca also has a deep appreciation for the roles that family and friends play in our lives, and is committed to connecting people with other people and places around them.
Rebecca is currently the Executive Director of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN), a Vancouver-based social enterprise that partners with families and people facing social isolation to secure their future by mobilizing relationships and leveraging community assets. Since joining PLAN, Rebecca has led a complete re-design of programming to integrate principles of person centred planning, ABCD, narrative practices and independent facilitation. After demonstrating the strength and flexibility of this community approach, Rebecca is regularly invited to consult with organizations about how it can be scaled and applied to population groups across North America.
In a career that’s taken her to communities across Canada and internationally to places such as Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Guatemala, Rebecca has chosen to settle in Vancouver, British Columbia. She and her partner currently reside in the Gastown neighbourhood, a community known as a hub of social innovation and for its immense diversity.
Shelley Nessman
Shelley’s passion is supporting people to discover, nurture and share their gifts, skills, and abilities. Her experience as a facilitator and planner has helped her to understand that when a person and their network combine their dreams with a plan for action – anything is possible!
Two significant experiences changed everything about the way Shelley views “the work”. First was an opportunity early in her career to be trained by Jack Pearpoint and Marsha Forrest as a PATH facilitator (followed by life altering training from Dave and Fay Wetherow). Second has been the privilege of sharing her home with people who experience disability. Life sharing has been a deep personal learning experience that shows up in everything she does. In the past 3 years, Shelley created her own consulting business “In the Company of Others” and has been privileged to work in BC, Ontario, Australia and the US.
You can reach Rebecca and Shelley at: [email protected]