Every year, the Children’s Services department at CVS works hard to create a memorable Christmas for the children & families we support in our Children’s Respite program.
We are happy to announce that efforts have started to pull together resources for our 2023 Annual Christmas Campaign – click here.
Christmas is a special time but it can also be a very hard time for many families. This holiday season, we hope you might consider donating to this important campaign to make this time of year a memorable one for the families in our program.
One of the easiest ways to send your donation to us is through our online donation form which can be easily accessed through our website. Simply click here and you will be able to make your donation to the 2023 ChristmasCampaign.
If you would like to donate to the 2023 ChristmasCampaign in person, you can drop off your donation at our administrative office at #307-2502 St Johns Street in Port Moody to the attention of Joanne Weidinger.
We want to thank you in advance for supporting this important campaign. In past years, your support has made such a difference in the life of the children in our program and their families.
You’ve put smiles on their faces and happiness in their hearts in the past – we are excited to do the same this year.
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.
The Anxiety Stress Autism Program Research Laboratory at the University of British Columbia has recently launched a research study – the SCHEMA study – to better understand the relationship between social emotional processing and wellbeing in young adulthood. The research team is hoping to invite both autistic and non-autistic (allistic) individuals to our study.
SCHEMA is a three-part study that includes one in-person visit at UBC (1-2 hours) involving eye tracking and two online sessions (45 minutes each). The study takes approximately 2.5 hours (for non-autistic participants) to 4 hours total (for autistic participants). Participants receive $15 per hour in the form of an Amazon gift card.
Eligibility: To participate, participants must be:
18-30 yrs old
Fluent in English
Have no history of colour blindness, intellectual disability, psychosis, seizure, epilepsy, eye surgeries, head injury (last 6 months), eye movement abnormalities, glasses with more than one power
We would greatly appreciate it if you could spread the word about our study to your community through your communication channels, such as newsletters, websites, social media platforms, and any other means available to you. I have attached posters that you can send to any potential attendees or post online. Interested individuals can sign up for the study by clicking on this link directly: bit.ly/SCHEMA_G23. They can also learn more about our lab on our website.
For more information, contact the study organizers at [email protected].
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.
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.
As we say hello to Fall, we say goodbye to BC Disability Employment Monthwhich 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Posted: October 11, 2023 by cvsadmin
Make a Difference in the Life of a Child this Christmas – 2023 Campaign
Every year, the Children’s Services department at CVS works hard to create a memorable Christmas for the children & families we support in our Children’s Respite program.
We are happy to announce that efforts have started to pull together resources for our 2023 Annual Christmas Campaign – click here.
Christmas is a special time but it can also be a very hard time for many families. This holiday season, we hope you might consider donating to this important campaign to make this time of year a memorable one for the families in our program.
One of the easiest ways to send your donation to us is through our online donation form which can be easily accessed through our website. Simply click here and you will be able to make your donation to the 2023 Christmas Campaign.
If you would like to donate to the 2023 Christmas Campaign in person, you can drop off your donation at our administrative office at #307-2502 St Johns Street in Port Moody to the attention of Joanne Weidinger.
We want to thank you in advance for supporting this important campaign. In past years, your support has made such a difference in the life of the children in our program and their families.
You’ve put smiles on their faces and happiness in their hearts in the past – we are excited to do the same this year.
Posted: October 11, 2023 by cvsadmin
Part 3: Social Enterprises are Powerful Contributors to our Community
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:
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.
Posted: October 6, 2023 by cvsadmin
Research Participants Needed for UBC Study
The Anxiety Stress Autism Program Research Laboratory at the University of British Columbia has recently launched a research study – the SCHEMA study – to better understand the relationship between social emotional processing and wellbeing in young adulthood. The research team is hoping to invite both autistic and non-autistic (allistic) individuals to our study.
SCHEMA is a three-part study that includes one in-person visit at UBC (1-2 hours) involving eye tracking and two online sessions (45 minutes each). The study takes approximately 2.5 hours (for non-autistic participants) to 4 hours total (for autistic participants). Participants receive $15 per hour in the form of an Amazon gift card.
Eligibility: To participate, participants must be:
We would greatly appreciate it if you could spread the word about our study to your community through your communication channels, such as newsletters, websites, social media platforms, and any other means available to you. I have attached posters that you can send to any potential attendees or post online. Interested individuals can sign up for the study by clicking on this link directly: bit.ly/SCHEMA_G23. They can also learn more about our lab on our website.
For more information, contact the study organizers at [email protected].
Posted: October 4, 2023 by Miriam Hoolahan
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.
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.
Posted: September 29, 2023 by cvsadmin
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.
Posted: September 29, 2023 by cvsadmin
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:
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.
Posted: September 22, 2023 by cvsadmin
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.
Posted: July 28, 2023 by cvsadmin
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.
Posted: June 28, 2023 by cvsadmin
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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Posted: June 21, 2023 by cvsadmin
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.
Upcoming Events