Disability Alliance BC (DABC) is thrilled to announce a new province-wide program to help British Columbians with disabilities access the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). This new service has been made possible through the generous support of the Vancouver Foundation and will be provided in partnership with Plan Institute and the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS).

Click here for more details. 

Next week CLBC will launch a new bi-monthly digital newsletter to provide the public and particularly families with useful and more frequent information on initiatives, supports and resources. Named CLBC Connect, it will complement the print magazine created by our Editorial Board called Celebrate Diverse Abilities that features self-advocate stories. It also comes as we are consolidating and strengthening our social media channels. If you would like to receive this newsletter, please send a note to [email protected] to subscribe.

In June, we mentioned an update about the changes to the bus pass program for people receiving the Persons with Disabilities benefit (PWD). These changes begin on September 1^st 2016. We thought you would find it useful to see the new PWD rate system as it incorporates the $52 Transportation Support Allowance.

People who receive the Comforts Allowance, Room and Board, or PWD top-up will receive the $25 increase and have the choice between a bus pass or the Transportation Support Allowance in cash.

And just as a reminder from our last update, PWD recipients can switch back and forth between the bus pass and the Transportation Allowance. To do this they need to contact the Ministry by the 5th of the previous month to let them know (e.g. contact the Ministry by October 5th to start or stop the bus pass for November).  Click on the photo for details. 

There are three ways to contact the Ministry about the Bus Pass:

By Phone: Monday to Friday, 9 am – 4 pm, 1-866-866-0800

By Email:  The BC Bus Pass Program at [email protected]. Allow up to five business days to receive an email response.

Online via My Self Serve: My Self Serve at www.myselfserve.gov.bc.ca, once registered.

If you have any questions about this information, please contact Advocacy Access Program Director Sam Turcott at 604-872-1278 or 1-800-663-1278.

A year ago today, Disability Alliance BC launched its Tax Assistance and Information for People with Disabilities (Tax AID DABC) program. The program’s focus is to help people receiving PWD/PPMB benefits who have not filed their taxes for multiple years to catch up on their taxes. The program has been a great success and this year we will be increasing outreach across BC. For more information, please click here to see the attached Community Update.

Safe Harbour: Respect for All is a long-standing program coordinated by AMSSA that provides diversity training and resources to businesses, institutions and organizations. Interactive Safe Harbour workshops have been delivered to managers and staff of over 1,000 businesses, institutions and organizations across BC since 2004. These workshops have supported participants to learn inclusive practices aimed at creating more welcoming workplaces for staff and clients.

For more information about Safe Harbour, please contact AMSSA at [email protected].

Kardel is proud to be the first organization to receive the new Safe Harbour digital decal.

About the movie:  It’s about Dory looking for her family

• She ran into crabs, fish and an octopus while trying to find her mom and dad
• She reconnected with her friend Destiny who is a whale
• Marlin and Nemo, the clown fish, helped Dory find her parents
• After a truck flew into the ocean she found her parents

Favourite parts: 

• When Dory found her parents
• The funny sea lions defending their rock

Pros

• The movie had good music
• It was very funny
• The whales

Cons

• None!

Favourite character:  Dory

Would you go see this movie again?  Definitely!!!

Additional comments:  Ellen DeGeneres (Dory) was funny!!!

Favourite sayings:  “Just keep swimming”, “There’s always another way”

By Greg O’Connell

Beginning September 1, 2016, people receiving disability assistance who have the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) designation will receive a $25 rate increase and a Transportation Support Allowance.

It’s become clear to the DABC that many people with disabilities do not understand their legal rights and responsibilities around disclosure of their disability in the context of employment.  They have created a new guide to inform and assist people with disabilities.   Click here for more details.

Barrier-Free BC has launched a campaign calling on the province to bring in a “British Columbians with Disabilities Act”.

Rob Sleath is spokesperson for Barrier-Free BC’s ‘Just Say Yes’ campaign. He says BC isn’t living up to its commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“Right now, the obligation on the part of businesses and service providers to make their goods, services and facilties accessible to people with disabilities is nothing more than voluntary,” says Sleath.

He says that’s just not good enough for the more than 600,000 people in BC who have some form of disability.

“We need something stronger in the form of legislation that will remove some of the unfair barriers that people with disabilities face today.”

He says those barriers range from not being able to read medical information on prescription vials, to not being able to fit wheelchairs through the doors of supposedly-accessible bathrooms.

Click here to read the CFAX 1070 article

Thank you to everyone who applied for the Accounting Clerk position.  This posting closed at 10:00 April 22.