A month has passed in a flash and we had a wonderful Community Inclusion Month at CVS. As we reflect on an important month for us at CVS, we are happy to have been united with so many people across our community who are looking to spread the message of inclusion in their daily lives.

Here are some highlights from the month:

1. The Tri-City Newsletter Series – in partnership with The Tri-City News, we launched four articles into the public that discussed key elements of what inclusion is in our community – Inclusive Employment, Inclusive Housing, Social Enterprises, and Giving Back to Our Communities.
2. CVS Open House – on October 18th CVS hosted an open house and we had a wonderful time. It was a great afternoon and was lovely to open our doors to the public to celebrate Inclusion Month.
3. DisDaBomb Bath Bomb Making Workshops – on October 28th, our social enterprise, DisDaBomb hosted its 1st ever bath bomb making workshop. It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time making Halloween-inspired bath bombs that looked great while having loads of fun.
4. Attended The Chamber of Commerce Inclusive Growth Dialogue Series hosted by The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce and The Canadian Chamber of Commerce – this was a great opportunity for us to get out into the community and learn more of the great work many employers are doing to be more inclusive across the Tri-Cities and Greater Vancouver Area.

At CVS, we believe that everyone in our community has the ability to contribute and to make a difference. We invest a lot of time promoting the concept of inclusion in our community with local businesses, governments, and with the general public. We always want to practice what we preach. To that end, we encourage people we support at CVS to give back to our community. We encourage them to find ways to help make our community a better place. And, we encourage them to find ways to use their diverse talents for the betterment of our community as a whole. 

Luckily, the people we support at CVS have such a wide range of interests and diverse abilities. Some love animals, others love socializing and many others have specific skill sets that can be applied in our communities to help the environment that surrounds us. 

CVS has existed as an agency for 45 years in the Tri-Cities and, throughout that time, we’ve managed to help in so many ways. We’ve made a major impact in the neighborhoods around our office locations but have also extended our support well beyond our immediate neighbors. Let’s find out more about how we have given back to our community and spread the message of inclusion at the same time.  

Working in the Community 
Yes, employment helps the people we support earn a living and feel part of their community. However, as we discussed in Part 1 of our series a few weeks ago, it also helps others in the community feel better connected and it provides employers with loyal employees. Currently, there is a major labour shortage across the country. This has opened the eyes of many employers to bring in people with diverse abilities to see how this can help resolve gaps in employment within an organization. So, this helps the employer because it fills a job but it also helps the other employees as it enables them to work alongside a reliable colleague and to develop a new friend.

Supporting Local Businesses & Organizations 

At CVS, we are out in the community more than we are inside our offices. This is at the foundation of our organization and, actually, why our agency has the phrase “Community Ventures” right in it. We always want to get out and about into the community so we are able to enjoy all that our community has to offer. As a result, the people we support and our staff are supporting the operation of local businesses, facilities and programs. This has helped us expose the people we support to new experiences and others in the community but it has also helped those businesses and organizations grow their own businesses in the Tri-Cities.  

Volunteering as a Means of Giving Back 

All the people we support have dreams and aspirations like we all do. Many of the people we serve want to help others. When this aspiration comes up during one of our discovery sessions, we always look to pull in opportunities to volunteer in the community. We know that there are so many organizations throughout the Tri-Cities that are consistently looking for support to help them deliver their programs to the public. We are so glad that we’ve had a chance to be part of giving back to our community over the decades. 

In our local neighborhood in Port Moody, CVS has been a supporter of the Adopt-a-Street initiative for nearly 10 years. The people we serve go out and take pride in cleaning up the areas around St John’s and Kyle Street to ensure it remains a clean and welcoming place. Most recently, we’ve extended this into Coquitlam and have people we serve volunteering for the Adopt a Catch Basin program. This began on July 7th and we currently help clean three catch basins in the Coquitlam area. 

In the past, we’ve also helped out with animals at the BCSPCA, volunteered with seniors in the community and volunteered time at the Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship Church, doing various tasks at the Church that are needed by their volunteer community. The House of Omeed in Port Moody also has partnered with CVS to bring in volunteers, helping with breaking down cardboard for their food bank housed within. This began on May 26th 2023 and is a regular volunteering opportunity that helps this smaller food bank deliver much needed support to its community. 

We continue to look for opportunities to donate our time into the community. We recognize the need that there is out there right now and if we can help, we want to. The people we support want to. 

Why Giving Back to the Community is Important 

Giving back to the community is at the foundation of community inclusion and what it means for us all to live together in our society. When there are needs, we need to look outwards to see who can help and we need to understand how all of our diverse abilities can be applied to things that need to be done. We can all do the things – we may do them differently, but that’s OK and it is often welcomed. The more we work together, the happier we’ll be. 

To learn more about how CVS gives back to our community or if you have a volunteer opportunity you’d like to tell us about, please reach out. We want to take this time to thank everyone for reading our 4-part series. If you want to catch up on any of the articles we’ve released over the past few weeks, please visit our Blog and always feel free to reach out on social media via Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

The term social enterprise is becoming much more well known and here at CVS we are so excited to hear that. The value of a social enterprise can be seen across our entire community – not just for the social enterprise itself. When a social enterprise is created, it enables a group of people to pull together products and services that are valued in the community. However, by delivering these products and services through a social enterprise model, every purchase gives back to the community whether that is through jobs that are created or enabling employment for people in our communities. 

What is a Social Enterprise?

Although awareness of social enterprises is rising, it is still important to define what a social enterprise is. Simply put, a social enterprise is a business with social objectives. Maximizing profits is not the primary goal of a social enterprise as is the case with a traditional business. Social enterprises do not give away products for free, employees are not volunteers. The business operates like a traditional business but the business model is not driven by profits. All proceeds from the business usually get reinvested back into the business. In the case of CVS, every time we sell a bath bomb or walk a dog, the money earned goes to cover raw material costs or to pay a fair wage to the people who are working within the business.

A Social Enterprise Offers Connections and the Ability to Showcase Abilities

CVS began its social enterprise journey in 2017. Since that time, we’ve really observed the people we support create new products, develop their sales skills and fine-tune new skills that will help them work in the community for years to come. The opportunity a social enterprise presents for people with developmental disabilities is that it highlights the diverse ability of each person and allows each person to champion that unique piece of the puzzle. DisDaBomb and adVentures Dog Walking have given people we serve a chance to contribute and earn an income while being part of a supportive team. 

A Benefit to the Community, Not Just the Person with the Developmental Disability 

Social enterprises seek to create mutual benefit for people across the community and people within the business. We can speak endless hours about examples of how this has benefited the people we serve at CVS. It has given them greater independence and confidence, being part of the enterprise has sparked creativity and an opportunity to develop skills they may not even know they had. As part of our work at CVS, we do our best to match these passions to the job an individual does. By aligning the passion, the people who are working in these businesses come to work excited for the day ahead and are eager to make the most of their role in the success of the business. This creates products and services that are of value to the community and an enthusiasm when distributing them. When you purchase a bath bomb or hire us to walk your dogs, you are not only obtaining a high quality product or service, you are also supporting a small business and helping to offer fair wages for people with developmental disabilities. It is really a win-win for everyone. 

How You Can Support Social Enterprises 

There are a number of ways you can help to support social enterprises, including:

• Become a customer – pop into a store or buy products or services online 
• Tell friends or family – spread the word of the social enterprises in the local area – make a difference just by telling others
• Raise awareness about social enterprises – share this post and let others know what social enterprises are all about

To learn more about our Social Enterprises at CVS, check out our website. To check out our bath bombs visit our DisDaBomb website or pop into our store at 2342 Clarke Street. To find out more about our adVentures Dog Walking business follow us on Facebook (@adventuresdog) or Instagram (@cvslovesdogs).

And…stay tuned for the final part of our 4-part series coming out next week – Giving Back to Our Communities.

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. 

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.

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 –

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.