Organization Mission Statement
The Campbell River and District Association for Community Living provides and advocates for local services to support people of all ages with special needs, their families and caregivers.
The organization serves the following population
People with developmental and cognitive disabilities.
The funds donated will be used to
Our primary focus right now is on mobility – specifically wheelchair accessible vans.
Campbell River & District Association for Community Living runs various programs for people with developmental disabilities within our community. Many of these wonderful people must also deal with physical disabilities.
We have 2 programs in particular that are in real need of wheelchair accessible vans:
- Passages Day Program provides supports and teaching in the areas of daily living, social, communication, pre-vocational, recreation, and leisure and provides opportunities to access their community.
- Leisure and Recreation Program offers activities to adults with developmental disabilities who have moved from full time to part time employment or to retirement.
The people who access these programs participate in many activities outside of our premises. They include the “On Stage” program which happens at the Rivercity Community Theatre and Fit for Life program with the CR Seniors Centre. Our clients enjoy regular outings to Elk Falls, Tyee Spit, Quinsam Campgrounds, Robert Ostler Park and visits to the new farm program at Holly Hills farm. Many of the clients from the Passages program take courses at North Island College. We currently use 4 mini-vans to transport our clients but these vans are not modified to accommodate wheelchairs. This means that those clients who require wheelchairs are unable to participate in the outings. And there is truly nothing sadder than the face of someone left behind.
This van accommodates up to 4 wheelchairs and with the hydraulic lift clients can be loaded safely in and out. We made the decision to purchase a larger van as we have an aging population within our client base and looking forward this is really the only solution that makes sense. Converting our smaller minivans to accommodate wheelchairs is expensive and would only allow for 1 wheelchair per van. These Promaster Wheelchair Accessible vans are built from the ground up with wheelchairs in mind. But they don’t come cheap. The current price is $78,000. We have approached our usual funding bodies for assistance but there is no funding for this type of project. So we created a Go Fund Me page which raised about $500 and we are currently getting ready for our big fundraiser of the year – the 2nd Annual Denim and Diamond Country Hoedown. We raised $12,000 las year and are hoping to raise another $20,000 this year. As you can see every little bit helps and $5,000 would be a HUGE help!
The organizations current sources of funding are
Community Living British Columbia, United Way, GoFundMe, various events including dances and dinners.
Visit their website for more information: cradacl.bc.ca
This nomination has been reviewed by the 100 Women Who Care committee and meets all criteria.