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Part 2: More Inclusive Housing Benefits our Communities, Not Just the Individual

Right now, all of us can relate to the rising cost of living and how challenging the housing market is becoming for renters and homeowners alike across BC and Canada. Even for the average person, earning the average income, housing is a challenge. After rent or mortgage payments and basic housing expenses, there is often little or no money left at the end of the month. We’d like you to close your eyes and imagine that all the challenges remain but in addition to that, you have an intellectual or developmental disability. This disability may mean that you have limited or no ability to work. It may mean more medical costs. As a result, your housing options become even more limited and life gets that much harder. By placing ourselves in the shoes of a person with a developmental disability, we can then start to understand why inclusive housing is so important for all of us. 

What is Inclusive Housing?

The concept of housing inclusivity stretches far beyond just a person having access to a home. Inclusive housing is all about providing a home that makes participating in the community easier – including being in a safe and accessible neighborhood where the person can develop connections with others; being able to choose where the person would like to live; and being in a home where a person has access to the supports they need to live a good life. At the moment, achieving this definition of inclusive housing is challenging and often unattainable for most. 

According to Inclusion BC, as of 2022, more than 5,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were looking for a home in BC. With the rising cost of housing, this number will likely continue to rise. While this statistic is important to highlight to demonstrate the scale of this issue, it is the individual stories that really make us all realize how important it is to focus on inclusive housing if we truly want to help people with developmental disabilities. If we want to build communities where everyone feels at home. 

Shared Living Accommodations are Also Feeling the Impact 

When a person with a developmental disability becomes an adult, many often seek out alternative living accommodations to gain independence and build new relationships across the community. At CVS, we work with Community Living BC (CLBC) to help people with disabilities find a shared living provider for their needs. With the rising cost of living and reduced availability of affordable housing options, it is increasingly becoming difficult to find shared living providers in our community.

Offering inclusive housing, in a shared living situation, can have a financial component to it but it also serves as a means of welcoming someone new into your home. In the past, caregivers who have opened their homes to people with a developmental disability have expressed how this has provided benefits to everyone in the family. These experiences are what makes a community thrive and what enables us to all be living and breathing Community Inclusion. To learn more about opening your heart and home to a person with a developmental disability, visit our Shared Living page

What Will Nurture Greater Housing Inclusivity in Our Communities?

We may not all have space in our home to open our doors to someone with a developmental disability. However, we may still want to build inclusive communities and help. What does that look like and what can we all do?

Be an Advocate for Change 

Every one of us can call on governments to promote and advocate for inclusive housing across our communities. We may think that we are only one person but if all of this did this, it would make a difference. People with developmental disabilities often need supplements to access the rental market. They also need to be included in housing developments and housing development planning. By advocating for these changes, we can all make a difference. As an agency, CVS advocates for the people we serve and with local governments to reinforce change. We encourage everyone who is passionate about this subject to do the same. 

Spread the Word

One of the best things you can do during Community Inclusion Month is to talk to your family and friends about these issues. We are all talking about how unaffordable housing is right now, so why not add in how this is impacting people with developmental disabilities? Each person that raises awareness about this issue, is one more person that can help to make a difference. 

Learn More

Take some time to look into websites and watch videos about Inclusive Housing. Like My home. My community. developed by Inclusion Canada or watch the video below by Inclusion BC that highlights the stories of 12 individuals in BC, demonstrating the power of a home to someone’s life. 

Copyright 2022, Inclusion BC

Let’s be advocates for change and be working towards inclusive communities – not just for the month of October but every single day. 

To learn more about Inclusive Housing, get in touch with us at CVS.

And…stay tuned for the 3rd part of our 4-part series coming out next week – The Power of Social Enterprises.

Resources – Truth & Reconciliation Day

CVS acknowledges that we work, live and operate on that we operate, learn and live on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples; locally the Kwikwəƛəm (Kwikwetlem First Nation), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish people), Tsleil-Waututh (The People of the Inlet), and Stó:lōFirst Nations (The River People). We thank these people for their enduring presence on these lands and their stewardship of the waters and all that is above and below.

Many of us will take time on September 30th to reflect about Truth & Reconciliation Day. Here are some resources to help guide you as you continue to learn more:

Resources continue to be released on the subject of Truth & Reconciliation. Having these resources helps us all process and bring to light the history behind reconciliation as we all move along the path to reconciliation.

Part 1:Inclusive Employment – Creating Wins for All

As we say hello to Fall, we say goodbye to BC Disability Employment Month which we celebrate every September. We now welcome one of our favourite months here at CVS- October – where we celebrate Community Inclusion Month. This is a month to celebrate people with diverse abilities and harness their special gifts. One of the most powerful ways a person with developmental disabilities can integrate into their communities is by being part of the workforce. Inclusive employment is an important topic for all of us in the community as hiring inclusively offers benefits for people with developmental disabilities, employers and the community. 

While employing people with disabilities can often be seen as an opportunity for a company to contribute to a social cause, there is actually an even bigger benefit for employers to hire inclusively than there is to the person being employed. Hiring people with diverse abilities can help organizations resolve staffing issues, bring on new people with creative ideas and create greater bonds within the organization and the community at large. 

The Advantage of Building an Inclusive Workforce

The difference between success and failure lies in the talent and diverse skill set of your workforce. Across Canada, there are close to 500,000 working-aged adults with an intellectual disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This largely untapped workforce can help address current labour shortages while making businesses stronger, more diverse and more productive. There is rapidly increasing pressure on businesses both large and small to be on the cutting edge of innovative practices, processes, and products. A business that can build and retain a diverse team where employees are engaged and invested, and where their skills and interests align with their roles, is much more likely to be successful. 

Milestones

Across the country, many jobs go unfilled because individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability are not considered as potential candidates. Their strengths and talents are often overlooked due to outdated and false perceptions that focus on the ‘disability’ rather than the ‘ability’. Common concerns for Canadian businesses in considering hiring an individual with a disability include:  

  • Productivity and performance  
  • Impact on corporate culture  
  • Impact on consumers  
  • Safety  
  • Cost of accommodations 

These preconceived concerns about hiring employees with an intellectual or developmental disability averaged 42% higher than the challenges actually experienced in hiring them according to research from the Institute for Corporate Productivity. 

Ready, Willing & Able (RWA) is a national initiative of the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL), the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance (CASDA) and their member organizations. Funded by the Government of Canada and active in each province and territory across the country, RWA supports Canadian businesses to build an inclusive workplace that capitalizes on the skills and qualifications of people with an intellectual disability or ASD. Through this program, some interesting finds about the misconceptions listed above were uncovered –

Source: Ready, Willing & Able

Right now there is a labour shortage occurring across Canada. Employers are finding it tough to find people to fulfil roles. Hiring inclusively helps to provide a solution to this issue and may be the key to thinking differently about how to structure jobs in a way that takes best advantage of people’s diverse abilities. As we celebrate Community Inclusion Month, it’s important that we all open up our minds and celebrate our uniqueness. 

To learn more about Inclusive Employment, get in touch with us at CVS.

And…stay tuned for our 2nd part of our 4-part series next week – Inclusive Housing.

Inclusion Every Day

Community Ventures Society (CVS) has been committed to its community for over 40 years. CVS was founded on the principles that everyone belongs and everyone is welcome. They are welcome in our CVS locations, communities and in our hearts. CVS – today and every day – is committed to promoting and spreading the message of diversity, equity and inclusion. We work hard every day to make people feel part of the community and that they can participate in all areas of day-to-day life. Let’s celebrate working and living in a safe and loving community focused on spreading kindness every day.

Join a CLBC Connections Event

Community Living BC will be hosting a virtual Connections event to get people engaged more about what’s happening across the province. It’s a great opportunity to network and hear about things that are on the minds of us all.

It will be happening every Thursday at noon. Click here for more information on the event, including a Zoom link.

Annual Report 2022/2023

2022/2023 was an exciting year for CVS. We went through a new strategic planning process resulting in 4 s new strategic priorities for us to focus on for the next four years. We also got back out into community, attending many events, working, volunteering and making every day special. Please take the time to check out our annual report this year.   

Download the 2022/2023 CVS Annual Report  

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Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day

CVS wanted to take this opportunity to wish every a Happy National Indigenous People’s Day. This day is celebrated in various forms in different communities across the Lower Mainland each year. While this is a day that has been set aside to highlight and honour Indigenous people it is this respect, this dignity, this celebration that should be given, every day.

On this day and every day, we acknowledge that we live, work, and play on the unceded, occupied, ancestral and traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples; locally the Kwikwetlem, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Stó:lōirst Nations.

The beautiful visual below, created by The Government of Canada, pulls together elements that symbolize the First Nations, Inuit and Metis as well as four elements of nature (water, fire, air and earth). To learn more about the symbolism of the image, check out the graphic below.

We hope you all have an opportunity to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day. If you are looking to do something locally, there will be a celebration of this special day at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody. Festivities start at 5pm and will include food, music and a Water Ceremony. For more information, click here.

Welcome to Crystal Thornton – our New Finance

We want to take this opportunity to welcome Crystal Thornton to the CVS team. Crystal will be joining our Finance team as Payroll & Accounting Clerk and will be taking over the responsibilities for union payroll.

Crystal just moved to BC from Saskatchewan and is originally from Ontario. She has 13 years of experience working in an office setting, from Payables to receivables and payroll including owning her own business . Over the last 2 years she has specialized further and taken her Payroll Practitioner certification and recently completed it on June 10th. In her spare time, Crystal enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her family. On rainy days, she likes doing crafts and baking. We are excited to welcome Crystal and look forward to working with her in the coming weeks and months.

Crystal can be reached at [email protected] or at extension 2017.

paint-a-pot-2023

Join CVS and Palette Posse Paint For Paint Night!

CVS is thrilled to host another Palette Posse Paint event at The Cat and Fiddle Pub on April 24, 2023!

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to unleash your creativity and have a blast with fellow art enthusiasts while enjoying some food and drinks. Please note that this event is intended only for members of the CVS community including employees, individuals, or related family members or friends. 

Key Details:
Date: April 24, 2023
Time: 6 pm for food, 7 pm for painting
Location: The Cat and Fiddle Pub
Cost: $10 for painting a pot (CVS is covering $15), $12.50 for a burger and beer (optional)
Availability: Limited to 30 spaces, please register early!
Registration Deadline:  April 21st

Register For Paint Night Below!

Name

Would You Like The Burger And Drink Option?

Untitled

There are 2 choices of pots that you can paint, but you can decide which you prefer at the time of the event. Your choices for which pot you prefer are shown in the images above.

The registration deadline is April 21st!
Secure your spot now and get ready for a fun-filled evening of art and community. 

Alternatively, you can reach out to Alison Goulding directly
for more information and to secure your seats
by email at [email protected] or by phone at 604-764-1513