COMMUNITY INCLUSION MONTH: Where we’ve been

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!

2021 Virtual Inclusion BC Summit!

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.

COMMUNITY INCLUSION MONTH: Let’s celebrate!

Hey everyone, we posted last week to kick off Community Inclusion Month. This week, we are exploring community inclusion through how we participate. COMMUNITY is one of the 7 keys to citizenship listed in Inclusion BC’s video. Everyone has a right to be included in their community. It’s part of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), check it out here.

Given that we are still battling the COVID-19 pandemic, we can consider how we want to participate in community while still keeping ourselves and others safe and healthy — such as getting outside into local parks (like the upcoming Spooktacular Pumpkin Walk coming up in Kelowna), or participating in an online community, like on the Inclusion BC Facebook page, through an event listed in the Family Support Institute’s Calendar for Connection (like the upcoming Halloween Howl), or alongside your favorite interests and hobbies (like on Pinterest) — or, in the comments section here, too!

Want to hear more about online communities? Let us know in the comments!

It’s COMMUNITY INCLUSION MONTH!

Hey everyone, October is COMMUNITY INCLUSION MONTH – so let’s celebrate inclusion in our communities!

All month long, we will be posting ways to celebrate inclusion, ways to build inclusion, and ways to explore the meaning of inclusion.

To get started, here are some places you can check out all month long for community inclusion month information, events, and posts:

Small Business BC celebrates Accessibility!

Hey everyone, Small Business BC is celebrating Accessibility Month through September by offering a month of free business education webinars that feature ASL interpretation and closed captioning. Their webinar “HOW TO REMOVE BARRIERS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT YOUR BUSINESS” is running on Monday (Sep. 27) from 10:30 am – 12:00 pm. You can find out more (and register) here. Know someone who owns a business who could use some help making it more accessible? Send them the link!

Their website also has information about workplace accessibility grant funding. You can check out more information via YouTube as well:

Find out more about what Small Business BC has to say about accessibility on their Accessibility Month webpage, here.

Voting Day…

Hey everyone, the federal election is happening on Monday, September 20th.

There are health and safety precautions in place for voting day, you can read more about them here on the Elections Canada website or check out their video.

Elections Canada also has a page of COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions set up here.

Search for Self Advocates!

Hey everyone, as was reported in CLBC’s August 27th update, Down syndrome BC is forming a Self Advocate Advisory Committee! They are looking for self advocates with Down syndrome willing to volunteer their time to share their experiences and ideas.

Activities: The new Advisory Committee will meet a few times a year, discuss ideas and issues related to living with Down syndrome, and give feedback to Down syndrome BC about activities, vision and goals.

Requirements: Volunteers for this committee must be over the age of 16, live in BC, have Down syndrome and be interested in self advocacy work.

If you or someone you know is interested, send an email to hello@downsyndromebc.ca with “SAA Committee” in the subject line.

Accessibility