We found this video produced by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to be an excellent one that sends an important message to us all.

Watch the video and learn some interesting statistics & information about the Price of Exclusion – 

At CVS, we believe in inclusion – for everyone in our community – whatever your faith, gender, sexual orientation, or abilities. We work hard every day to make our community more inclusive and hope you can do the same.

Enjoy the video!

In February, the BC government outlined Community Living BC\’s Mandate. When the NDP government was appointed in 2017, they made three key commitments to British Columbians that all ministries and Crown agencies are expected to work together to help the government achieve.

Since Community Living BC (CLBC) is a provincial crown agency, they will work to assist the BC government in achieving the following three commitments –

1. Making life more affordable, to help manage the daily cost of living
   for British Columbians.
2. Delivering services that people count on, building on programs that are working well, and making improvements where needed, to ensure British Columbians get quality and timely customer service from public sector organizations across the province.
3. Building a strong, sustainable, innovative economy that works for everyone.

Honourable Shane Simpson, the Minister of Social Development & Poverty Reduction highlighted the following priorities for CLBC to help in achieving the three commitments above –

1. Meet regularly with families, advocates, service providers and their representatives to continuously improve collaboration, understand service delivery issues and identify solutions that support a responsive, sustainable network of disability-related services that supplement other supports to assist adults with developmental disabilities to live quality lives and be full participants in their communities.
2. Engage home share providers and their representative groups to identify support
   needs and return to the Minister with recommendations for improvement by
   June 29, 2018.
3. Improve supports to CLBC eligible youth who are experiencing transitions by:
   • implementing a more effective CLBC planning approach to improve the experiences of youth and their families transitioning to CLBC services; and
   • participating in the Services to Adults with Developmental Disabilities (STADD) initiative.
4. Improve supports to older adults who are experiencing transitions by:
   • implementing a more effective planning approach to improve the experiences of older adults; and
   • working with the Ministry of Health to complete the remaining activities flowing from the three-year, joint CLBC-Ministry of Health Plan on Aging.
5. Increase the participation rate of CLBC eligible individuals in employment by:
   • developing a new service that supports individuals with all abilities to find employment that fits with an individual’s goals as well as meeting their other support needs;
   • utilizing performance measures and business case results to increase the effectiveness of CLBC employment service delivery model; and
   • engaging with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (SDPR) to leverage Employment Program of British Columbia programming and maximize efficiency and effectiveness of employment programming for CLBC clients.
6. Work with the Ministry of Health and Health Authorities to identify interests, issues and an action plan to address added care funding which will lead to:
   • a consistent, standardized and joint approach to high intensity care needs and goals for care for CLBC clients with complex functional and medical issues,
   • providing appropriate services and supports for CLBC clients with complex functional and medical issues, and 3) consistent alignment with Ministry of Health policies.

Community Ventures Society supports this Mandate and will work with CLBC to deliver on the priorities outlined above.

As Inclusion BC noted in its statement following the BC 2018/19 budget announcement this week, BC\’s latest budget included important new initiatives to make British Columbia more affordable, but there was a clear lack of support towards better lives and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities, many of whom live in dire poverty.

BC’s new NDP government announced key changes that were widely welcomed after taking office in 2017, including a $100/month increase in Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefit rates, which had been frozen for a decade. A new $52 transportation supplement for PWD recipients, announced last fall, was also referenced in today’s budget. However, it was disappointing that a key pillar of the 2018 provincial budget, housing affordability, ignored the dire straits facing 100,000 British Columbians with disabilities who face monumental challenges trying to find safe housing with the maximum $375 housing allowance included in PWD monthly benefits.

Inclusion BC went on to note that people with disabilities belong in our province and have an equal right to income security. What is needed is a plan to raise PWD rates to a level that provides for a decent and respectful quality of life for people with disabilities, and to provide future security by indexing rates to inflation. Inclusion BC also expressed grave concern about the budget for Community Living BC (CLBC), where very modest annual increases continue to lag projected caseload growth of 5-6% annually.

BC Budget 2018 included several modest initiatives that offer welcome relief for people with disabilities and their families. Inclusion BC applauded the commitment to end waitlists for the Supported Child Development and Aboriginal Supported Child Development Programs, which fund supports that allow children with special needs to access childcare.

Community Ventures Society (CVS) agrees with the comments expressed by Inclusion BC. In late 2017, CVS voiced its concerns over the insufficient CLBC funding to the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. The reality is that people are on waitlists or have been given insufficient service hours for their loved ones. Unfortunately, the BC Budget 2018 did not address this ongoing issue.

CVS will continue to voice its concern to the Government of BC and hopes that in future BC budgets, the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities will be more adequately addressed.

Our Shared Living team recently said goodbye to one its members, Joshua Cullen, who is pursuing a career with the RCMP and is in basic training in Regina.

We\’d like to formally welcome Amrita Dhoot who has joined the Shared Living team as our new Assistant Manager. Amrita comes to us from Delta House where she supervised two individual programs. Prior to joining CVS, Amrita earned a degree in Sports medicine with a minor in Psychology from Vancouver Island University. She also has years of experience working with children and adults who have autism, developmental delays and other behavioural challenges. Amrita loves being active in the community, hiking, reading and travelling in her spare time. She has backpacked over 20 countries and of those countries, her most memorable moment was when she hiked to Everest Basecamp.

Amrita is excited to join the Shared Living team. She will be training alongside Colin Wood and Helen Stovell for the next few months before taking on a caseload of her own. Please join us in welcoming Amrita as the newest member of the Shared Living team.

We wanted to let you know about an exciting program that the City of Coquitlam has launched called, Get Connected, Get Active – Financial Assistance for Recreation. This program seeks to provide Coquitlam residents who are working through financial barriers to participate in recreation programs at Coquitlam\’s pools, ice rinks and community centres.

If you qualify, individuals can choose between Option A or B for each qualifying applicant –

Option A –

• 50 free drop-in admissions per year OR
• 2 free registered programs per year OR
• 4 half price registered programs per year

OR

Option B –

• ONE PASS year-long membership for $10 per person (includes unlimited drop-in admissions) PLUS
• 2 free registered programs per year OR
• 4 half price registered programs per year

This is a wonderful program for Coquitlam residents to take advantage of. Not only does it support individuals across the community to get involved in recreational activities, it helps those in need. This is a great way to encourage an inclusive community, regardless of financial situation.

Baby food manufacturer Gerber recently announced its newest Gerber baby – one-year old Lucas Warren from Dalton, Georgia.

Lucas won the hearts of the judges and was chosen out of more than 140,000 submissions. Lucas is the first child with Down Syndrome to be given the title since the contest began 90 years ago.

Lucas will be Gerber\’s \’spokesbaby\’ and will receive $50,000 which his family plans to use for education. The boy\’s image will be featured in the company\’s social media posts.

Well earned Lucas – you are a real cutie!