We found this article by the CBC interesting and a spotlight on some of the challenges children & youth with disabilities are currently facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article focuses on the lack of supports and programs for children and youth with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
\”Families are just hanging on by a thread, they are absolutely spent,\” said Jennifer Charlesworth. \”Can you imagine providing 24 hour care to children … who have lost all supports?\”
The report, Left Out: Children and Youth with Special Needs in the Pandemic, calls for urgent government action and collaboration with families and community organizations to address a segment of the population that has been neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes a survey of over 500 families that paints a picture of the crisis many are facing.
The closure of community services and suspension of in-class learning has hit these families the hardest, leaving them without vital services for children with complex medical, physical, behavioural and cognitive needs.
Making matters worse, respite arrangements and community programs have also been cancelled or suspended because of the need for physical distancing.
Meanwhile, wait-times for assessments and diagnoses have grown longer.
Charlesworth said she is concerned that some families, pushed to their breaking point, will be left with no alternative other than to put their child or teen into foster care. The executive director of Inclusion B.C. said the pandemic has amplified frailties and fractures in the system that existed before COVID-19 hit.
The report makes the following recommendations:
- More and better communication between the Ministry of Children and Family Development and families, community providers, family networks and advocates.
- A one-year extension to fall 2021 of all pandemic-related benefits and processes for families with children and youth with special needs.
- Creation of a special working table bringing together families, community organizations, advocates and funding ministries for regular check-ins and problem solving.
- Funding support for community organizations to help families find alternative services.
- A review of virtual service provisions delivered in the first months of the pandemic.
- Streamlined processes for emergency benefits and approvals that minimize the paperwork and administrative burden for families.
- Exploration of the concept of support \”bubbles\” for in-home services to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for both family members and service providers.
CVS is in support of this report. We recognize how challenging of a time this has been for the children and families in our Children\’s programs. We are working hard to help but we hope the report above is taken into consideration for the betterment of the children and families who are being directly effected by this right now.
Posted: January 16, 2021 by cvsadmin
CVS Won 3rd Place in the PoCo Heritage Christmas Tree Festival
We were so excited to find out that we won 3rd place in the PoCo Heritage Christmas Tree Festival. Our folks worked really hard to pull together a winning tree and we did it!
We\’re collecting our trophy & prize next week but check out our final result:
Congrats to everyone who participated & made the festive season extra special!
Posted: January 16, 2021 by cvsadmin
Winter/Spring 2021 Music Nights
Music Night will be held virtually in 2021 too. Please make sure to clear a place so you can dance to Glenn\’s music! Happening every 2nd Thursday, starting January 7th, at 7-8pm.
Music Night is being supported and enhanced, and expect to offer special guest musicians as well as opportunities for more interaction virtually. We are able to deliver this Evening Program after being awarded a grant from the Port Moody Foundation. We are very grateful for this grant and the Foundation, so we can enhance our programming at CVS for the individuals we serve and their families.
The schedule is as follows –
January 7 & 21
February 4 & 18
March 4 & 18
April 1 & 15 & 29
May 13 & 27
June 10 & 24
Join Zoom Meeting –
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 834 2464 8971 Password: cvsmusic
Canada Dial by your location (audio only) +1 778 907 2071 Meeting ID: 834 2464 8971 Password: 854551
Posted: December 17, 2020 by cvsadmin
2020 CVS Christmas Message
Dear Folks,
On behalf of our Board of Directors, our staff, and the people we serve I am writing to wish you and yours a happy holiday season. 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us and it is especially painful for some of you who have been profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Human beings have a deeply felt need to have connections with other human beings. When we are denied that essential interaction it results in considerable emotional pain that does not bode well for our mental health. The pain is especially hard when we cannot see people who are close to our heart and it is even harder for people with disabilities who have fewer connections than most. With the current Public Health Order that asks us to stay within our immediate family units at this time of the year, there is no question that we are being tested.
At this time of the year we normally increase the number of people that we come into contact with as we are focused on our yearly mission of coming together in the spirit of the season. However, this year we are going to have to do things differently – and do our best to connect with each other by phone, Zoom or Facetime. So if you know someone that is lonely I invite you to please reach out to them. Further, if anyone in our circle needs help with mental health please contact us and we will try and help.
I feel that this time of year is important in that it calls us to be more inclusive, to count our blessings, and to maintain hope for a better future – and in my view there is hope for the future as demonstrated by our social cohesion in following the advice of the Public Health Officer as she asks us to be calm, kind and safe. It is the same kind of collective strength that we will need to advance our vision of inclusion for people with disabilities once we have all had the vaccine and things begin to return to normal.
In the meantime, you are all doing great! We are meeting the challenge and we will do our best to stay safe as we move forward. Not unlike muscles, we now have an opportunity to exercise and grow our emotional intelligence and personal resilience so that we come out of this crisis stronger, more skilled, and comfortable in the knowledge that together we can get through anything. With that in mind, please allow me to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely yours,
Kevin Lusignan
Executive Director
Posted: December 12, 2020 by cvsadmin
COVID-19 Vaccine
This week it was announced by the Canadian & BC governments that the COVID-19 vaccine would begin to be administered across Canada. Inclusion BC shared a recent Globe and Mail article that makes the case for ensuring that \”persons with intellectual disabilities across the lifespan are not overlooked, but rather, are prioritized for vaccination.\”
Inclusion BC has received assurances that people with intellectual disabilities will be prioritized here in BC. We recently asked the Deputy Provincial Health Officer for more details about the vaccine distribution strategy and learned that information about the strategy and priority groups will be made available in the coming week.
Visit the Inclusion BC website for more media on this issue and for updates as they come in. CVS will also relay any new messages on this topic through our website.
Posted: December 12, 2020 by cvsadmin
BC Recovery Benefit & Changes to PWD Supplement
The Province of BC has announced a new BC Recovery Benefit. Amounts are determined on a sliding scale, based on income. Please check out more information here.
Inclusion BC is glad to see an extension of benefits for people with disabilities but we are disappointed that the disability top-up amount was reduced and subject to an application process. The application process will reduce access for those who require additional support to apply or get caught up on their taxes.
There is no guarantee of an extension past March. The federal government recently announced plans for a Federal Disability Benefit, which we hope will address the grossly inadequate assistance rates for people with disabilities.
We will try to pass this information on as it becomes available through the government and Inclusion BC.
Posted: December 4, 2020 by cvsadmin
Another Successful Paint Night at CVS
Just a quick message to say thank you to everyone who came out for Paint Night. Palette Posse Paint Parties led us through A Cup of Cocoa and it was a great night of painting & fun.
Here are a few of the beautiful paintings from the night. To send yours to be posted on this blog or our Facebook page, please email Miriam at [email protected].
Posted: December 4, 2020 by cvsadmin
Thank You to Body Craft Essentials
We wanted to send a quick thank you out to Body Craft Essentials. This is a new business that just launched recently. They are focused on producing plant-based body and skin care products.
They are also focused on giving back to their community and have graciously decided to donate 10% of all profits back to Community Ventures Society. We are very grateful for that gesture and the support you are providing to our organization. Thank You!
Please check out Body Craft Essentials and know when you buy a product from this organization, you are also helping to support CVS and all that we do!
You can also follow Body Craft Essentials on Instagram at @bodycraftessentials.
Posted: December 4, 2020 by cvsadmin
The Impact COVID-19 is having on children & youth with disabilities
We found this article by the CBC interesting and a spotlight on some of the challenges children & youth with disabilities are currently facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article focuses on the lack of supports and programs for children and youth with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
\”Families are just hanging on by a thread, they are absolutely spent,\” said Jennifer Charlesworth. \”Can you imagine providing 24 hour care to children … who have lost all supports?\”
The report, Left Out: Children and Youth with Special Needs in the Pandemic, calls for urgent government action and collaboration with families and community organizations to address a segment of the population that has been neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes a survey of over 500 families that paints a picture of the crisis many are facing.
The closure of community services and suspension of in-class learning has hit these families the hardest, leaving them without vital services for children with complex medical, physical, behavioural and cognitive needs.
Making matters worse, respite arrangements and community programs have also been cancelled or suspended because of the need for physical distancing.
Meanwhile, wait-times for assessments and diagnoses have grown longer.
Charlesworth said she is concerned that some families, pushed to their breaking point, will be left with no alternative other than to put their child or teen into foster care. The executive director of Inclusion B.C. said the pandemic has amplified frailties and fractures in the system that existed before COVID-19 hit.
The report makes the following recommendations:
CVS is in support of this report. We recognize how challenging of a time this has been for the children and families in our Children\’s programs. We are working hard to help but we hope the report above is taken into consideration for the betterment of the children and families who are being directly effected by this right now.
Posted: December 4, 2020 by cvsadmin
Inclusion BC & CLBC Launch New Site to Promote Inclusive Housing
Inclusion BC & Community Living BC (CLBC) has partnered up to create a new website called, Key to Home. The website is meant to bring awareness to the need for inclusive housing and to give you tools to promote inclusive housing in your community.
People with intellectual disabilities still face enormous barriers in the search for a home that is affordable, safe and inclusive. Housing is a priority for Inclusion BC, as it is for our members, the people we support, and our provincial and national counterparts across Canada.
The website includes:
One aim of the Key to Home campaign is to help people understand what makes for inclusive housing: affordability, accessibility, diversity as well choice and control.
The Key to Home campaign follows through on the 2018 Inclusive Taskforce plan to increase access to inclusive housing.
Inclusion BC will continue to advocate for inclusive housing and for personalized, flexible supports to be available where and when people need them. CVS is glad to see this initiative launch. As an agency that offers Shared Living services, we recognize the challenge of finding inclusive housing amongst our community. We hope this resource assists those that we serve & the community as a whole.
Posted: November 21, 2020 by cvsadmin
Check out our entry into the PoCo Heritage Xmas Tree Festival Competition
This year, our individuals got into the holiday spirit early and prepared an entry for the PoCo Heritage Christmas Tree Festival Competition.
We think everyone did an incredible job & we are crossing our fingers (& toes) that CVS comes home with a prize. Check it out –
Thanks to all the individuals and staff that brought this tree together! Merry Christmas!
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