Community Connections Support Services' Home on the Web
Hey everyone, October 24-31 is PRIDE WEEK in Kelowna, and there are a whole bunch of events going on to celebrate 25 Years of Kelowna Pride! You can check it all out here, including the bike derby, trans and non-binary storytelling evening and social, pride festival and pride cabaret.
You can find Kelowna Pride Society on Instagram at the link below, on Facebook here, and you can read about Pride Week on KelownaNow.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVQb3rgJCdP/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Hey everyone, we’ve been posting a series as part of Community Inclusion Month. Last week, we talked about where we’ve been in terms of disability rights and inclusion, and the work done by self-advocates who have brought the movement to where we are now. This week, we’re focusing on where we are by exploring some current issues and resources for self-advocacy.
So, what’s self-advocacy?
The BC People First Society (BCPF) talks about self-advocacy being what happens “when we stand up for our needs when they are not being met” and members help each other learn self-advocacy skills. Here is a video of the BCPF Advocacy Committee on Accessibility on YouTube.
The Self Advocate Net website has a whole page dedicated to self-advocacy topics, too, as well as a YouTube playlist of helpful videos here.
Here is an interview from Kelowna Now with Kelowna resident Shelley Decoste that was published on October 7th, to mark Community Inclusion Month. Shelley talks about her experiences and stereotypes about people with diverse abilities.
Here is a news article from CTV News about a young man from Toronto who is part of the Dear Everybody campaign put on each year by a rehabilitation hospital. He (and a team of young people with disabilities) are doing a virtual tour of classrooms and workplaces to talk about ableism.
What’s ableism?
Here’s how the Dear Everybody website explains it: Ableism is the discrimination towards someone based on their abilities, often favouring those who do not have a disability and seeing less value in those that do. And it needs to stop.
The idea is to get people talking about ableism, in order to end it — and that’s where self-advocates come in! Self-advocates can start great conversations about what’s wrong and how to fix it. You can see the videos made to start the Dear Everybody conversation here.
The Easter Seals website has a great idea on this page that would help start important conversations (like Shelley’s interview and like Dear Everybody). You can invite people you know to watch TED Talks about different disability issues, different people’s perspectives, and different experiences, and the then start a conversation about it, or a video chat, or have a talk on the phone. Or, if you’re interested in exploring another way to safely try out online community, you could post on the video page, a message board, or Facebook page, or post a comment below!
Check out the Easter Seals 10 suggested TED Talks about disability, accessibility, and inclusion to get started (printable list below).
Hey everyone, Plan Institute is offering their Level 1 and Level 2 webinars about the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) over the next few months.
Check out the info below to see which would be best for you, and click here if you’re interested in signing up!
Hey everyone, CLBC has announced the winners of this year’s Widening Our World (WOW) awards, check it out here!
Hey everyone, this past weekend marked the screening of the documentary “Shiny Objects – The Conductor with ADHD” in Kelowna. As CBC News reported back in August, the documentary won the New York International Film Awards’ best inspiration film title! The filmmaker, Gillie Richards, found out while she was making the documentary that she also had ADHD.
Check out more information in the video posted by Castanet about the documentary:
Hey everyone, CLBC is hosting a teleconference update this Thursday (Oct. 21) from 3:05 – 4 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time). Submit your COVID-19 questions by today at noon (Oct. 19) by email to CLBCInfo@gov.bc.ca with the subject line “OCT 21 COVID CALL”.
How to call in: 1-877-353-9184 (participant code: 99715#)
Hey everyone, we’ve been posting a series as part of Community Inclusion Month. We explored a bit last week about how we can participate in community while we all focus on keeping each other safe and healthy, using tools like technology and online communities.
We also talked about how everyone has a right to be included in their community – and, that this is part of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
So, why are we talking about it again this week?
We are looking at where we’ve been so that we can see how much progress we’ve made.
Progress on the road to community inclusion — like the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — can take a long, long, long time. That UN Convention we were talking about? That only happened 15 years ago, in 2006. It’s important to remember what things were like for people with disabilities at the start of the disability rights movement.
If you’re interested in hearing more about what it was like to fight for the rights of people with disabilities, you can check out this video featuring Judith Heumann (a disability rights activist from the US). YouTube is a great resource to find other people with disabilities sharing their stories and experiences.
When we see people and organizations (like CLBC) promoting community inclusion, human rights, and the rights of people with disabilities, we are seeing how far we’ve come thanks to the work of self-advocates all over the world (like Judith) — and we celebrate their achievements as part of Community Inclusion Month!
Hey everyone, we have posted about driving safety and about home maintenance to prepare for winter — and to finish off our series on “gearing up for winter” we are sharing information about extreme weather!
While there are benefits to being able to be outdoors enjoying winter activities, it’s important to be aware of the dangers of winter cold. This article posted on the Government of Canada website talks about extreme cold, and the factors that may make some people more vulnerable than others. It’s important to know about windburn, frostbite, and hypothermia, as well as how to mitigate these risks.
You can also be prepared for different kinds of winter weather (including storms). There is an article here that touches on winter storm preparedness, equipment, and cleanup.
Stay safe!
Hey everyone, this year’s Inclusion BC Summit is happening on THURSDAY (OCT 14) from 1-4 pm online! Check out the information below and at this webpage from Inclusion BC, and click here if you want to attend:
The virtual summit is a celebration of Community Inclusion Month. Through presentations and interactive break-out sessions, come explore how to build awareness, inspire action, and advance rights as a federation dedicated to the full inclusion of all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in all aspects of life.
