A message from Jay Burdon, Director, Health, Wellness & Accessibility Services – Daniel J. Patterson Campus
It is with mixed emotions that I announce the retirement of Trina Washington. Trina’s retirement date is scheduled for December 31, but with vacation time and holiday closures, her last day of work will be December 11.
Trina has been a counsellor at Niagara College for 24 years. During that time, she has had the pleasure of helping so many students successfully navigate post-secondary education. She finds nothing more rewarding than seeing them cross the stage at graduation. With her extraordinary memory, I suspect that she remembers the name of each one.
I have had the pleasure of working with Trina throughout my career at Niagara College, but I had the good fortune to meet her in a prior role where we shared a mutual client. It was this chance encounter that ignited my interest in joining the Niagara College community. The passion, commitment and dedication that Trina demonstrated in her support for this client to be successful at Niagara College was inspirational, and I have never forgotten the regard with which this student spoke about Trina’s commitment to their success. These are accolades I have heard echoed by many students since.
Trina has been a mentor to me and so many others. She has a genuine interest in seeing others succeed, and she gives selflessly to help them achieve their goals.
Throughout her career, Trina has been a strong advocate for disability rights. For many years she held the position of Chair for the formerly named College Committee on Disability Issues (now known as the College Committee on Accessibility Issues). In this role she met the Former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, David Onley, who called on Trina on many occasions to collaborate on disability issues and to further champion their shared belief that true accessibility only occurs when people can fully participate in the social, cultural, and economic aspects of their communities.
To that end, for many years, Trina sat as the Niagara College representative on the Niagara Transit Accessibility Committee in a pursuit to make transportation throughout the Niagara Region more readily accessible. This is a goal that has since come to fruition.
In 2015, Trina was recognized by the College Committee on Disability Issues (CCDI) with the Disability Award of Excellence for her contributions to disability services in Ontario. This is not the only honour Trina received. She was also named counsellor of the year at Niagara University where she was an advisory committee member in the College of Education, and she was the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013.
Trina has always been an active member of the community. Besides serving as chair for CCDI and a representative on the Niagara Transit Accessibility Committee, she was a member of Colleges Ontario Planning committee for their Mental Health Summit, a liaison with the Canadian Association for Mental Health, a member of the Niagara College Accessibility Committee and most recently worked with students to champion a Food Security Garden for them.
The legacy that Trina leaves extends beyond Niagara College and the Niagara Region. During her career, she partnered with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to increase training opportunities to address the complex needs of students experiencing mental health challenges. She worked with Ontario colleges, universities and their student unions to successfully lobby for ongoing funding to expand health resources for post-secondary, resulting in the creation of Good to Talk support and the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health which provids ongoing support to colleges and universities throughout Canada. Trina’s contributions to improving conditions for student well-being will be long lasting across the Canadian post-secondary landscape.
As Trina transitions into retirement, she looks forward to spending time with her husband David and their son Dave. She will undoubtedly continue to be involved with Niagara College, her community and the post-secondary environment. Please join me in thanking Trina for the valuable contributions she has made to Niagara College and wishing her continued success as she begins the next chapter of her life.
