Community Ventures Society is so excited to be the winner of the Tri-City News A-List competition for the 3rd year in a row. Thank you to everyone who voted for us as the Best Community Service Organization in Port Moody.

Your support for all that we do means the world to us!

For a full list of winners, check out the A-List magazine that will also be in every Tri-City News paper, published yesterday (Thursday October 29th).

CVS was recently presented with the results of CLBC\’s Include Me! Quality of Life initiative that took place from October 2019 to January 2020.

We were delighted to receive fantastic results from the initiative and are excited that the response was so positive. The quality of life surveys measure agency performance based on pre-set criteria that assesses the following categories for the individuals we serve –

• Emotional well being
• Physical well being
• Material well being
• Personal development
• Self-determination
• Rights
• Interpersonal relations
• Social inclusion

CVS ranked above average in all categories above compared to the overall results across agencies in BC apart from one category (self-determination) where we were on par with the average. For full details on the report, please check out the full report on our website by clicking here.

We want to thank all of the individuals we serve, families, caregivers and staff for participating in this survey. It really helps us all to assess how we are doing and areas for improvement.

We are sad to say that one of the individuals we serve through our Footloose program, Richard Patenade, passed away early this morning. Richard has been with CVS for over 25 years. He had been unwell and in hospital. Richard was well liked by all at CVS and will be deeply missed.

CVS will announce the details of a service when they become known.

If you haven\’t hit the polls yet, please take the time to read the information below courtesy of Inclusion BC to help you as you cast your ballot –

Election Day is this Saturday, October 24th! In this email you\’ll find information about where the parties stand on issues that matter, tools to help you vote or to help you support someone else to vote

Inclusion BC wrote to the three main political parties to find out where they stand on a number of issues important to people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Read our questions here.

This is how they answered:

• BC NDP
• BC Green Party
• BC Liberal Party

Inclusion BC has updated the plain language \”You Can Vote\” participation guide with information about the 2020 BC Election.

View the guide on our website

Inclusion BC Executive Director Karla Verschoor spoke with the Tyee about the failure of all political parties to address issues important to people with disabilities in their platforms and campaign messaging.

\”The pandemic has highlighted the big gaps in supports for people with intellectual disabilities in B.C., says Inclusion BC, which represents families and more than 60 advocacy organizations.\”

Read the full article here

Learn More about Voting through the video below – 

On October 14, 2020, Inclusion BC welcomed Melanie Callas, Outreach Coordinator with Elections BC, to host the 5th webinar in our Virtual Learning Series.

Melanie talked about the voting process and answered questions about voting and the election.

Helpful Links from Elections BC

• Advance voting locations (TODAY is the last day to advance vote)
• Returning your voting package (it\’s too late to mail but you can still drop it off in person!)
• Voting Safely and Covid-19
• Where to Vote! (find out where to vote on election day)
• Services for at-risk voters and voters with disabilities

We wanted to extend our sympathies to the family and loved ones of Cyndy Kirk-Foreman who passed on October 16th, 2020.

Cyndy served on the Community Ventures Society Board and was our Treasurer for many years. She was also a key advocate for keeping our Coffee House going with Kinsight.  She was a major ambassador for CVS with Tri Cities city councils.

To read more about Cyndy and her life, please read her obituary in the Vancouver Sun by clicking here.

Inclusion BC is inviting youth with intellectual disabilities (under 30 years old) to submit visual artwork and photography for our 2021 virtual Youth Employment Summit.

• The chosen artist will receive a $500 cash honorarium
• The deadline for submissions is October 23, 2020.

What to Submit:

• Name of the artist
• The age of the artist
• Contact information for the artist
• An electronic version of the design (pdf or jpeg file) to [email protected]
• An artist’s statement, describing key aspects of the work (under 250 words)

Save the Date! 

The Youth Employment Summit will be held over three days, from February 18-20, 2021.

Highlights of the Summit:

• Virtual job fair with employers looking to hire
• Live hip hop performance by Missy D
• Opportunities for employee mentorships
• Random prize draws throughout the event
• Free gift in the mail (receive a one of a kind t-shirt and a tasty snack)

Inclusion BC is providing tools to get out the vote and put disability and inclusion issues on the elections agenda.

• Webinar with Elections BC: Join us next week on Wednesday, October 14 as we host Melanie Callas from Elections BC.
• Questions to party leaders: we\’ve written to the NDP, BC Liberals and Greens to find out where they stand on issues important to our federation.
• You Can Vote: We\’ve updated the popular You can Vote guide for the BC Election.

For all this and more, visit our elections page: https://inclusionbc.org/bc-votes-2020/