THANKS to a grant from the B.C. Rehab Foundation, a North Shore-based organization serving people with special needs will receive a $3,500 funding boost to make their facilities more accessible.
According to a written statement, the project grant will enable representatives of the Cascadia Society, a life-sharing community serving people with special needs, to upgrade their washroom facilities. The accessibility renovations will take place in Cascadia's skills centre located in Sophia House on 19th Street West in North Vancouver.
The society's central purpose is community building, through working and living with those individuals in need of special care. The Sophia House facility was purchased by Cascadia to extend their programming and offer services to a wider group of people with disabilities.
Cascadia is in the midst of fundraising for an extensive renovation to the lower floor of the new facility, which will give them some more much-needed workshop spaces as well as a gathering room, said Cascadia's business administrator, Leslie Fish, in the statement. The grant will help them modify one of the washrooms on the lower floor of the building.
B.C. Rehab, which was created in 1994 with a mission to support people with disabilities through a range of programs and services, believes in the importance of inclusive communities, said Pamela MacDonald, manager of projects and communications, in the statement. Improving community-based access is an important part of how B.C. Rehab supports British Columbians living with physical disabilities, she added. Their project grant program provides funding for initiatives across the province.
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Representatives of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation awarded a Places That Matter to Vancouver commemorative plaque to North Vancouver resident Gene Ramsbottom at the outset of the Out For Lunch Friday noon concert series event Dec. 16 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
According to a written statement, in spring 2011, the foundation, in conjunction with the City of Vancouver's 125th Anniversary celebrations, asked the general public for wide-ranging nominations of a place, person, thing or event which, to them, made Vancouver a unique and special place to live. Out for Lunch, founded by Ramsbottom, was one of 200 nominations and ultimately topped the list. The series was created as a Centennial Project for Vancouver's birthday in 1986 and has since showcased thousands of local and international musicians at its home base of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Ramsbottom is a former principal player in the Vancouver Opera and CBC Radio Orchestras and an instructor at the music departments of Douglas College, Capilano University and UBC's School of Music.
Grouse Mountain was also voted in the top 10.
For a full list of Places That Matter sites, visit www.vancouverheritagefoundation. org.
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