2024 IDPD Community Resource Fair hosted by VAD

Join VAD as we learn about the exhibitors at the 2024 IDPD Community Resource Fair hosted by VAD on November 30th, 2024.  Celebrated on December 3rd around the world, Idpd mobilizes support for critical issues relating to the inclusions of persons with disabilities, Promotes awareness  raising about disability issues, And draws attention to the benefits of inclusive and accessible society for all. Voice of Albertans with disabilities focuses on full participation, equity and accessibility for everyone. 

The list of exhibitors include:

• Friends of Medicare
• Edmonton Military Family Resource Centre
• Self Advocacy Federation
• Norquest College
• PLAN Edmonton
• Primerica Financial Services & E2 Academy
• John Humphrey Centre
• Gateway & MentorAbility
• Autism Independent Living Association
• The Steadward Centre
• AdaptAbilities Alberta
• Prospect Human Services
• Elections Canada
• ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre Inc.
• EmployAbilities
• WJS Canada
• Red Plaid Developments
• Diffabilities Inc
• Centre for Autism Services Alberta
• Abilities Occupational Therapy Inc.
• Preferred Bookkeepers, Association of United
• Professional Services of Alberta
• Kickstand/YMCA
• Spinal Cord Injury Alberta
• Brightvoie Care Services Inc
• Caregivers Alberta
• The Mustard Seed
• City of Edmonton Attraction Facilities
• Brain Care Centre
• Selections Career Support Services
• Easter Seals
• Indigenous Congress of Alberta Association
• Excel Society
• Voice of Albertans with Disabilities

Transcript

Welcome to the voice of Alberta's with Disabilities 2024 Idpd Community Resource Fair, Saturday, November 30th. What is the purpose of International Day of Disabilities - celebrated on December 3rd around the world, Idpd mobilizes support for critical issues relating to the inclusions of persons with disabilities, Promotes awareness  raising about disability issues, And draws attention to the benefits of inclusive and accessible society for all. Voice of Albertans with disabilities focuses on full participation, equity and accessibility for everyone, and this year for IDPD, we hosted this resource fair. Can you tell me who you are and who you work with?

Karl driver and I am the owner and Co founder for abilities occupational Therapy and what does abilities occupational therapy do.

So we do the regular occupational therapy assessments like functional capacity evaluation, cognitive ability assesments. We A lot of work with Wcb and Veterans Affairs, but one of the main things that we do right now is driving evaluations, especially the medical driving evaluations. So people who had a concussion or a stroke, they are required by law to have an assessment before they get back on the road, and that's where we come in because under the current public system, people are waiting for nine months to one Year to get themselves assessed to drive. So we are trying to see if we can help out with reducing those wait times for other people as well.

Perfect. Thank you.

Of course, no problem.

Can you tell me your names and what organization you work with?

So I'm Leanne  Carr with autism independent living. And we're trying to build intentional housing for autistic adults, 

And can you tell me a Bit more about that.

So we are hoping to have a development this coming year and where an autism led autism focused organization. So we have the individuals that will be living  There will also be part of the governing body of the development. So kind of  supports the other organizations. And then we also, so we have a training program associated with that as well. And we've now started our social enterprise are totally autism caramels and yeah, so that's kind of what we're doing.

Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

My name is Manveer and I work with the brain care center.

And what do you do for the brain care center?

 We help people with acquired brain injuries and concussions in resource navigation support programs, counseling support. we do have an have an occupational therapist on team, so it helps with OT. Basically equipping them to have a good quality of life after in the journey with the brain injury. Yeah. And we do also have a program for the caregivers as well.

For sure. Thank you.

So who you are and what your organization does?

We are Bright Voic care services and we provide home care to the elderly, in the Community and those with disability and any other person that needs it, and we do direct billing to brokers so they don't have to pay privately or They don't have to pay extra For it.

Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

I'm Daryl gRegory. I'm the executive director of Caregivers Alberta.

And what does caregivers Alberta do?

Caregivers Alberta provides support for the unpaid family and friend caregiver. They are often under stress, Experiencing mental health challenges, taking care of their loved ones at home. So we provide programs such as one-on-one coaching peer support, number of education programs and navigation services.

Tell me your name and who you work with.

My name is Carrie Angle and I work for the Center for Autism Services Alberta.

And what does your organization do?

We provide services for autistic individuals and neuro diverse individuals across the lifespan. So we have puff funding for classrooms for really young kids and specialized services. We have behavioral development services we have Adult services such as employment works, classroom dependents such as a daytime program, a supported independent living program which works with individuals and their homes and communities To foster independence.

Nice. Thank you.

Yeah. Hi there.

Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

Yeah, I'm Justin Williams. I work with the City of Edmonton attractions.

And what city of Edmonton attractions do?

Something so we have different attractions across the city, from the zoo, the Nature Center, guitar Conservatory, the City Arts Center and others that allow Edmontonians and visitors from all over the world to come and experience the city and see what we offer.

Can you tell me your name and what organization you're with?

Yeah. My name is Lee. Work withDiffabilities I'm a teacher in the day program.

And what does diffabilities do?

Yeah. So we're a company for supporting people with special needs in our community like there are all our friends and we work. We have respite services for younger people and therapy aid services. But the where I work is the adult day program. So we support. People with all kinds of diagnosis where you'll never turn anybody away. We're willing to work with anybody. We do work placements, we do like working on vocational and life skills. We Do like independent living. We help them create products for a market and like they sell the products they make the products, they do it all themselves. Just there to like support and guide guide. Yeah, it's. Yeah, I think that's my spiel.

Perfect. Thank you. Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

I'm Wendy and I'm with E2 Academy.

And what does E2 Academy do?

We are a small school that was started by parents and we serve children with disabilities who are gifted or excel in some some way. And we really try to gear our curriculum towards their interests so that they have the buy in into to doing the work and we are a very small school, so we have usually a ratio of four students to one staff member.

Thank you. Can you tell me your name and who you work for?

My name is Michelle and I work for Easter Seals, Alberta.

And what does Easter sales Alberta do?

So we support individuals with disabilities and medical conditions with accessibility equipment. We provide support with all of the government programs like FSD, PDD, AISH, guardianship and trusteeship. We have our camp horizon out in Bragg Creek. We support with the accessibility 2 Card. What else? We have our family Resource Center is up and running, so with people with their brand new fscd and PDD contracts with the government referral, we can support them with advocacy and providing information and yeah.

Perfect. Can you tell me your name and who you work for?

Yes, hi. My name is Jessica Verillo. I'm a regional outreach coordinator with Elections Canada.

And what does Elections Canada do?

So we run the federal elections and my team is called Inspired Democracy, where we seek to reduce barriers for folks with disabilities, among other groups, to the electoral process.

Perfect. Thank you. Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

Sure, I'm my name is Juanita Buck, and I work with employabilities here in Edmonton.

And what does employabilities do?

Alright, we're in employment service for people with disabilities. Long term medical or mental health conditions.

Perfect. Thank you.

Can you tell me your names? Who you work for?

My name is Bridget and I work for Excel society.

My name is Kareem and I work for Excel society.

And what does the Excel society?

We are a nonprofit organization that house,  support and enrich lives of individuals with disabilities. So in Edmonton alone, we have over 44 group homes with two big facilities. And over 300 clients in each. And we also support them with 24/7 support worker care or we have a day program and activities and events for them to enrich their lives. 

Perfect. Thanks guys. Can you tell me your name and who you work for?

My name is yuju Choi. I'm with friends of Medicare here today.

And what does friends of Medicare do?

Care is a not-for-profit group that collaborates between like different groups. You know senior organizations and. Different labour groups as well, patients and doctors. Basically we help with like advocating for different issues in their health care system. Established in 1979, we've helped with various issues that have propped up as in perpetual issues that have propped up through our lifetime in in Alberta, yes.

Awesome. Thank you. So can you tell me who you are and who you work with?

Yeah, for sure I can.

Go first.

So my name is tyba and I am the intake coordinator for the employment program at Gateway.

I'm Fiona. I work for Gateway association and my support funding for. Of gateway. And I also support the Family Resource Center team and Family Resource Center helps families who care for loved ones with the disability and also people with disability access community resources.

And yourself?

Hi, I'm Jamie Thiessen. My pronouns are they them, and I work for Gateway. I am the project lead for Mentorability Alberta, which is an organization or sorry, an initiative that puts together folks who have disabilities and are interested in learning a little bit more about a career path with people who are working in that industry for short term mentorship  so they can learn about.

Can you tell me your name? Who you work for?

I'm Jessica Cansella and I work for the John Humphrey Center for Peace and Human rights.

And what do you guys do?

So many things. So some of the things I'm promoting here today, we do a lot of advocacy and we have stride volunteer advocates who support people to file a human rights complaints. Also do a lot  Of art based programs. So we have a beautiful Film Festival coming up in December from December 10th to. We're also sharing a beautiful scene that was done by artists living with disabilities that came to a retreat in 2023. So we're showing that off today. And yeah, we do a lot of different things. We've got a documentary here On a police accountability and So many different things, but basically we advocates through collaborative relationships and education on Human rights.

Awesome. Thank you. Can you tell me your names and what your organization does? 

So.

My name is Lauren.

I'm with kickstand and we're an organization that focuses on youth mental health and well-being.

Perfect. And yourself?

My name is Aaron. I work with the YMCA in partnership with kickstand and opening our first location here in Edmonton.

Perfect. Thanks guys. Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

So I'm Branda Davidson. I work with the military Family Resource Center.

And what does the military family Resource Center do? It's.

It supports. There's about 30 of us that we support military families in getting accustomed to their new lifestyle or their moves, their transitions helping them navigate the structure around Military lifestyles, deployments absences. We have social workers. We have a youth social worker  Wait list is Goes anywhere from two days to two weeks, depending on and crisis is right away.

Perfect. Thank you. Can you tell me? Name and who you my name is.

Kathy and I work for the mustard seed.

And what does the mustard  seed do?

the mustard seat works with people. I'm an Wellness advocate, so I help people with whatever their needs are. We can do IDWe can do referral to housing, we can do ASIH applications, we can do Alberta works, whatever their needs are. If we can help to help. We also refer out a lot to different organizations. We have a occupational therapist. We have a counselor and it's all free. So we're kind of All around place.

Perfect. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Can you tell me your names and who you work with?

I am Shelly. I'm an accessibility advisor at Northwest College.

And what do you do at Northwest College as an accessibility advisor?

We help students become independent and effective learners, so we work with students with disabilities, physical mental health.the whole gap, yeah.

Hey, you.

Hi Jamie. Can you tell me a little bit about plan?

Sure. Let me see where can I. Plan Edmonton is a family led organization that supports families who have an adult with a disability  To foster a network that augments paid support  And families family support.

Can you tell me your name and who you?

My name is Svetlana Derrabana and I work with preferred client services. A professional bookkeeper and also we have a nonprofit organization AUPSA. It's a association of United Professional services of Alberta and we have bookkeeping classes there We can teach People.

Or we even work  from people, wcb census people and we qualify them Retrain. Oh, nice. Yeah. Perfect.

Thank you. You're.

Yeah.

Welcome.

Can you tell me your name and what who you work with?

My name is Tina Coloma, Primerica financial.

Services and what this Primerica financial services do?

A little bit of everything financial, we are the financial experts in everything and especially the registered Disability Savings Plan.

Perfect. Thank you. Can you tell? Who you are and what your organization is.

My name is Mabel adaBolly, and I'm with prospect human. We're a nonprofit employment organization and we have a lot of programs focused around helping Albertans get jobs.

Tell me who you are and. Your business is.

I'm Adam at red Plaid developments. We build accessible housing with a focus on backyard housing. We believe that all backyard housing or garden suites should be made accessible, so we're here to promote that idea and just help in any way we can.

You tell me your name and who you work with.

Hi my name is Bean Gill and I'm with Ryu Paralysis Recovery center.

And what does the Ryu Paralysis Recovery centre do?

We use activity based therapies to reconnect the brain to the body, retrain the nervous system and most importantly, redefine what's possible for people with disabilities.

Thank you. Thank you. Can you tell me your Name and who you work for.

My name is Sonia Brown and I'm with selections, career support services.

And what this Selection's career support services?

Do we are a employment agency We assist people with barriers and disabilities to find employment perfect.

Thank you. Can you tell me who you are and what organization you're with?

My name is Mike Wing.

Mary.

And we're with the self advocate centre.

OK. And what does self advocacy center do?

Yes.

It's a disability land ordinance and we help people learn how to advocate for themselves and also work with organization and government agency to breakdown breakdowns barries for people with disabilities. 

Can you tell me your name and who you work with?

Hi, I'm Mark Ellis and I work for spinal cord injury Alberta.

And what does spinal cord injury Alberta do?

We help people with spinal cord injuries navigate the. All the way from acute care to rehab to finding their way in an independent way in the community.

Thank you. Can you tell me who you are and who you work for and?

Yeah, I'm Lisa Sinfiled. I'm the program director for Wjs Canada. With their diverse abilities and acquired brain injury programs in Edmonton. Wjs we provide 24 hour in home supports and Community access supports and supported independent living supports for adults with developmental disabilities and mental health concerns, as well as community access for individuals with acquired brain injury.

Perfect. Thank you. Voice of Albertans with disabilities. Gratefully thanks all the exhibitors and patrons for attending this year's IDPD Community Resource Fair. We look forward to seeing everyone next year.