CBC Article

CAN was mentioned in a Tyee article entitled “In Vancouver, Prioritize Human Rights This Election”. The article mentioned the work CAN does: “Currently, there is no meaningful inclusion or space for disabled community leadership at the local level, despite the efforts of local organizers and groups such as the Disability Filibuster and Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods.”

CBC Interview:
We Are Here, Advocating for Disabled in the LGBTQ+ Community

*Trigger warning: Mention of suicide in the interview*

Heather McCain, Executive Director of Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods, was interviewed as part of CBC’s The Early Edition’s week long Pride series. Kiran Singh brought audiences the third installment in the series that continues the conversation of inclusion in the LGBTQ+ community.

Heather discussed the importance of creating spaces made by and for people with intersecting identities, including 2SLGBTQIA+ people with disabilities.

CBC Article:
Rising costs force British Columbians on living, disability assistance to make tough choices

Excerpt: Advocates call on provincial government to raise income, disability assistance rates to the level of CERB.

“Heather McCain, founder of the non-profit Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods, says disability assistance rates in B.C. are far below what is required. “Every increase, whether it’s cost of living, or food, or gas, impacts disabled people who are already having a hard time surviving,” they said.”

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CBC Interview on Bill C-22 (Disability Benefits)

Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods’ Executive Director, Heather McCain was interviewed on CBC’s BC Today. They spoke about Bill C-22 (the disability benefits bill – last year it was Bill C-35 before it died when the election was called) and their perspective on the bill.

Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, spoke first via a pre-recorded message then Heather responded to.

Encouraging Abilities Podcast:
Accessibility Needs to be Universal: A Chat with CANBC Founder Heather McCain

Encouraging Abilities podcast is devoted to the developmental disability community and is brought to you by the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA). Encouraging Abilities Podcast aims to connect with many people in the developmental disability community from newsmakers to experts to self-advocates and anyone in between. It prioritizes “Nothing about us without us” and aims to tell your stories.

CAN’s Executive Director, Heather McCain, was invited to speak during Pride month to raise awareness of 2SLGBTQIA+ folk who have disabilities. It was a great opportunity to speak about these intersections of identities.

Carol In Your Corner: Getting There

Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods created a video about our organization and work to break stigma about disability for Pacific AIDS Network‘s Let’s Talk Stigma Reduction event.

The event, held on June 11th, was a gathering of diverse individuals, organizations, and communities to talk about health-related stigma with an intersectional lens with people from different communities, experiences, and areas of work. The event was an opportunity for participants to share and learn about how we can provide services that are stigma free and how we can build programs and services that fight stigma.

For more information about the event, go to: https://pacificaidsnetwork.org/lets-talk-stigma-reduction/

To mark #PrideMonth, Realize hosted ‘Queer and Trans Conversations about Disability Leadership‘. This session, part of the Real Talk with Realize series, was hosted by Melissa Egan, National Lead, Episodic Disabilities at Realize and moderated by Heather McCain (they/them), Executive Director of Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods in Vancouver BC.

Heather and Melissa were joined by special guests Carmel Tanaka, Founder and Executive Director of JQT Vancouver and Saltina Shaker, Drag Performer and Disability Activist.

Recording of panel discussion: https://youtu.be/IeMhfRw9AlI

(PDF)

UBC Sustainability Ambassadors Storytelling Collaboration – In Conversation with Heather x Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods Pages.pdf

Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods participated in a consultation with the Patient & Community Partnership for Education at UBC. The consultation gathered perspectives from patients and community members on the priority health concerns in British Columbia and how we should be training future physicians to meet theses needs. The report has now been released with an accompanying video that highlights some of the major issues from the report. You can view the video, as well as download a copy of the report at: https://meetingofexperts.org/programs-activities/priority-health-concerns-in-bc/

The consultation will inform a review by the medical school at UBC of its social accountability mandate (i.e. the commitment of the medical school to address the health concerns of the populations it has a responsibility to serve). A draft of the report was received by the curriculum review working group at the end of January. It was ‘very positively received’.

In May 2020, ConnecTogether started as an online program that brings workshops, interactive live streams and presentations to our community. They have had reoccurring sessions on meditation, nutrition, adaptive fitness, mental health and more. All presentations take place over Zoom and run about an hour. They are also streamed to Facebook Live, where they can be watched at a later date.

Creating Accessible Neighbourhoods did a presentation about our origin and services. It is available on ConnecTra’s YouTube page.

The Best Parks for People with Disabilities Aren’t in Vancouver

https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/05/20/Best-Parks-People-Disabilities-Not-Vancouver/

Canadian Community Initiatives Addressing Transport Poverty: Report and Catalogue

https://mobilizingjustice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Ismail-Final-Report-Aug-2021_EN-1.pdf