Inclusion in Action

A newsletter from Inclusion BC

September 2023

Find out how Inclusion BC and our partners are advocating for the rights and opportunities of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

It’s Disability Employment Awareness Month! Follow Inclusion BC on social media as we share what’s going on in BC throughout the month.

We've also created a page for employers and businesses to learn more about inclusive hiring. Share it with your networks to promote more inclusive workplaces!

Inclusion BC in the Community

Our Inclusive Housing Team will be exhibiting at the 2023 Union of BC Municipalities Convention from September 20-21. We’ll be discussing inclusive housing options to over 2,000 local government decision-makers and influencers.

Inclusion BC will be hosting our Leadership Network meeting in Whistler on September 25th. This meeting will gather leadership teams from our federation members to coordinate our work for inclusion in our province.

We are excited to introduce the newest Inclusion BC staff members Social Media Coordinator, Wendy Goldsmith, and Special Events Coordinator, Ariel Pavic. These two have already hit the ground running in supporting the work of Inclusion BC, and we are very pleased to have them onboard!

A young woman with long brown hair stands outside. She is looking down at something she is doing and is visible from the shoulder up. White text over the image reads: Andrea.

Film: Andrea's Story

As a part of our ongoing Challenging Misconceptions campaign, the Inclusion BC team has been travelling BC to feature stories of people with disabilities. They are navigating a world that is too often not designed with their needs in mind but are nevertheless finding ways to thrive through ingenuity, determination, and the support of their communities.

Andrea’s is one such story.

Watch the film

Supporting Advocacy in the Community

Our Community Inclusion Advocacy Program works to support people to advocate for themselves, their families, and their community. We've summarized our work during the first quarter of this year and the trends we've noticed in the calls received.

Find out more about our Advocacy Program and how you can make a difference

Two women standing on either side a desk with papers on clipboards between them.

A woman with short brown hair wearing a red cardigan over a white shirt stands at the front of a room full of seated people where a projector screen is visible. She is holding a microphone up close to her face.

Attending the 2023 Self Advocacy Leadership Institute

This August, we supported the Self Advocacy Leadership Institute in Kelowna, a learning event for self advocates to learn from people with lived experience. During the event, we interviewed delegates from all over BC about their experience at the institute.

Read what the delegates said about the event

Every Child Matters Fundraiser: Housing is a Sovereign Right

Guest contributor Courtney Farrow-Lawrence shares about The Classroom Celebrating Neurodiversity. This youth group challenged themselves to organize an Orange Shirt Day project to build awareness and support housing security for Indigenous families in their community.

Order a shirt and read about the Orange Shirt Day event

A young girl with long dark brown hair standing on a bench outside. She is wearing a large orange Tshirt that reads: every child matters. She is smiling

a person stands in front of a white board with many illustrations on it. At the top is the large text that reads: Nanaimo.

An Open House for Inclusive Housing in Nanaimo

We traveled to Nanaimo to co-host an Open House with the Nanaimo Association for Community Living and SPARC BC. We heard powerful stories from guests at the event and learned about the positive strides being made in that community. We also gained important insights about work that still needs to be done for people with disabilities to thrive.

Making the Case for Inclusive Employment

We are excited to share that our Executive Director Karla Verschoor was featured in BC Business Magazine discussing the ways in which inclusive hiring benefits both employers and people with disabilities in our province.

Read BC Business' article here

Inclusion BC's executive director, Karla Verschoor. A front facing photo of her. Shoulders up. She is a white woman with light brown and blonde hair wearing a black and white striped sweater and dark-rimmed glasses. The photo looks professional

Support our work

By making a donation or signing up as a Circle of Friends monthly donor, you are helping us to advocate for the rights and opportunities of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

A young girl with blonde hair, a young girl with black hair, and a man with brown hair are in a classroom at a desk. The blonde child is holding a bottle with a tube that is attached to a painted and decorated egg carton that the man is holding. the child with black hair is looking at another decorated egg carton in front of her.

"In my journey to get adequate classroom support for my son, Inclusion BC paired me with a skilled and experienced advocate who listened to my concerns, gave me valuable advice on the escalation process, and sat in with me on important meetings. She gave me the confidence to advocate for my child's rights and also provided much-needed emotional and moral support during a high-stakes and stressful situation. My advocate had already walked many miles in my shoes before and, was able to provide a great level of empathy. I am deeply grateful for the Advocacy Program. "

-Parent

Help us continue to advocate for the rights and opportunities of people and their families.

Donate Today

In The News

Opportunities to Take Action

Apply for an Accessibility Project Grant with Disability Alliance BC

Share your hopes and dreams for public education in BC

Nominate an inclusive employer for an award with Community Living BC

You may have noticed we changed the format of our newsletter…we want to know what you think! Give us feedback about the new format here

If you know someone who would be interested in the work of Inclusion BC, please spread the word, share this email, and ask them to sign up for Inclusion in Action here

Inclusion BC is a non-profit federation working with partners to build community and enhance the lives of children, youth, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families. They do this by supporting people’s abilities, promoting positive action, and advocating for rights, responsibilities, and social justice. Inclusion BC is supported by a membership of individuals, families, and 65 member organizations that are working together to build inclusive communities across the province of British Columbia.

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