ABLE2 Moments January 2024 | |
|
We would like to take a moment to reflect on the past year and express our gratitude for your continued support. Your support empowers people with disabilities in your community to build lives of meaning and joy.
We wish you and your families a happy and healthy 2024, filled with peace, prosperity, and happiness!
Happy New Year from your ABLE2 Family!
| |
|
ABLE2 is proud to announce that it has been serving the community for 50 years!
Since its inception as Citizen Advocacy Ottawa in 1974, and rebranded as ABLE2 in 2020, the not-for-profit charitable organization has been instrumental in ensuring that every person, regardless of ability, are seen as able, important and valued and have opportunities to live a fulfilling life.
| |
|
Thank you for believing
inclusivity matters!
| |
|
2023 Giving Tuesday campaign was a success!
Together, we raised $2,580! It is because of your generosity that people with disabilities are empowered to gain independence, by having resources and assistance tailored to their unique needs and aspirations! Your commitment to inclusivity is truly inspiring, and we cannot thank you enough for your gift!
| |
| | |
|
|
Thank you for making a Changes for Life end of year donation for people with disabilities!
Your gift will provide more people with disabilities opportunities, supports and resources to pursue knowledge, build skills, and personal growth. You are instrumental to creating a more inclusive and supportive community for people with disabilities and their families.
Thank you!
| | |
|
A Fireside Chat with the Walkers
by Rick Burns
| |
|
ABLE2 Board Member Rick Burns chats with Mary and David Walker, long time volunteers, or "Allies" with ABLE2's Match Program. He writes about how they began their journey with ABLE2, and their experiences as volunteers matched with several people with disabilities, or "Friends".
"...They were immediately drawn to the idea of a personal, one-on-one experience to help someone in need - helping people just by showing up and being themselves, which is all that it usually takes to let an otherwise isolated member of the community know they are valued and not alone."
Read more here
| | |
|
Get your Evening in the Maritimes
PRE-SALE tickets now!
| |
|
Evening in the Maritimes 2024 hosted by ABLE2: Support for People with Disabilities will be a WHALE of a good time on May 1st at the Westin Ottawa Hotel.
With delicious fresh Nova Scotia lobster and other tasty menu options for beef lovers and plant-based diets, lively east coast music, and unique auction items up for grabs, ABLE2 is SHORE this event will float your boat.
Spoiler Alert!
The catch of the day is today because pre-sale pricing on ticket & table packages is now open for a limited time for past event attendees like yourself.
The BEST prices on tickets and tables are available just for you.
Individual Tickets – $230 per person (no tax) including 4-course meal, a welcome beverage, and a tax receipt for the buyer for approximately 45% of the ticket price if purchased between Jan 11 and 31, 2024.
Corporate Tables - $2895 (no tax) including 8 tickets to the event, your table identified with your company name and a listing on ABLE2’s website, and 2 bottles of wine if purchased between Jan 11 and 31, 2024.
New in 2024!
You can customize your experience at the event with add-ons that are part of the ticket reservation system.
Brands seeking an enhanced profile at the event may consider opting into sponsorship or can make a donation of cash, a unique prize or experience for the auctions.
It’s time to get (lobster) crackin’ to REEL in the catch of the day.
We look forward to SEAing your name on our guest list before the pre-sale prices sail away on January 31st.
| |
Evening in the Maritimes – where good food meets a good time for a GREAT cause! | |
ABLE2 GROW Upcoming Sessions | |
All About Microboards: Support & Estate Planning for Loved ones Living with a Disability
Join ABLE2 and guest speaker, Saquiba Rahman from PooranLaw, a Toronto-based law firm, for a GROW Series webinar on Microboards, a unique way for caregivers to support and plan for loved ones living with a disability.
Learn more and register here
| |
Special Needs & Disability Estate Planning Webinar
Join ABLE2 and disability & estate planning specialist and lawyer, Kenneth Pope from Kenneth Pope Law to learn about the following:
- Wills and Henson Trusts
- ODSP and how it can affect estate planning.
- How all families with adult children with special needs can benefit from the improved caregiver tax credit
- Disability Tax Credit recapturing ($16,000-$22,000)
- RDSPs and how they can grow to $700,000
- Lifetime Benefit Trusts for RRIFs
- Guardianships vs. Power of Attorney explained
Learn more and register here
| |
Thank you for making the Holiday Dinner & Dance a night to remember! | |
You have truly made the holiday season brighter for people with disabilities and their families. We would like to acknowledge the supporters and volunteers who have made the event a success! | | |
Volunteer Advisory Committee | |
Volunteer Advisory Committee Members (L-R): Nancy Oakley, Daniel Boyer, Adrian Raghunandan, Roshae Miller, Jessica Franklin, Azra Alibhai, Modupe Adeboye. Not in photo: Sara Rafiei, Doan-Trang Thompson, Gregory Veevers, and Leonard Tan | |
|
Volunteers are the important core to the services we deliver to our community. COVID-19 has impacted how we engage with the people who care so much about people living with disabilities among us. The good news is that we have a committee to review our volunteering processes post pandemic ensuring equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility to better serve our community.
ABLE2 is committed to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility. In 2023, ABLE2 was awarded a grant from the Canadian Red Cross, supported by the Federal Government to build a volunteer program informed by an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) framework.
To implement the program, a volunteer advisory committee was created to assess ABLE2’s current Volunteer EDIA, recruitment and retention practices and make recommendations drawing from experience and best practice.
The diversity of the volunteer advisory committee reflects our commitment to inclusion. And we appreciate the team for accepting to work on the committee. Committee members were pooled from volunteers, service users, staff, board members and partner organizations.
Reach out to us at volunter@able2.org if you wish to contribute to helping us foster an inclusive volunteer experience.
| |
|
Outstanding Volunteer
of 2023!
| |
It is a great pleasure to announce that the year 2023 recipient of outstanding volunteer award is Gazi Anisur Rahman!
Anisur joined ABLE’s volunteer program in 2022, he has demonstrated dedication to support ABLE2 events, showed up on time and is in process of being matched with a service user on our matching program.
Thank you Anisur, for being generous with your time and skill to our community through ABLE2 programs!
| |  |
Volunteer Opportunities: Matching Program | |
ABLE2 currently has 170 vulnerable and marginalized people waiting to be matched.
We hope you can help us reduce the waitlist by clicking on the link below to volunteer in the matching program. ABLE2 matches volunteers in the community (Allies) with a person living with a disability (Friend) who is typically marginalized and isolated. These intentional friendships have profound effects on the Friend including reduced isolation, increased self-esteem and self-confidence and better physical and mental health. Allies
provide practical support by helping with such things as paperwork, groceries, doctor's appointments, participating in community activities and assisting with accessing support services.
Click here to learn more about volunteering with the Matching Program
| | |
Equipment Banks for Outdoor Enthusiasts with Disabilities | |
Do you love the outdoors but face challenges accessing nature due to a disability?
Check out the Equipment Banks for outdoor enthusiasts with disabilities in the Outaouais region.
These banks offer adaptive equipment such as hand bikes, kayaks, and skis that can help you enjoy outdoor activities in a safe and comfortable way.
Check out this article by Radio-Canada to learn more about this initiative and how it benefits people of all abilities.
Photo: Radio-Canada/Courtesy of the Relais Plein Air
Read more
| | |
Report Winter Accessibility Concerns in the City | |
Do you require assistance with snow and ice removal on your sidewalk? Are there any accessibility concerns with public transportation that you would like to report?
The City of Ottawa has several channels available to help you report winter maintenance-related requests and accessibility concerns.
ONLINE: For non-urgent requests, such as those that can wait for the next business day, you may report it on the City of Ottawa's website here.
PHONE: To report a concern that requires immediate attention, please call 3-1-1 or TTY 613-580-2401
Canada Video Relay Services (VRS) for sign language interpretation needs:
Contact the City of Ottawa through VRS, please dial 613-580-2400. For more information or to use this service,
please visit the VRS website here.
| | |
Other Community Resources | |
ABLE2 provides direct-impact programming and services to facilitate growth, development and independence, reduce loneliness and isolation, build skills, remove barriers and improve mental and physical health for people living with disabilities in the Ottawa area. | |
|
Matching Program – volunteers are matched one-on-one with people living with disabilities of all ages, across the disability spectrum.
Build Community – aims to support the building of relationships with individuals living with a disability, by building a network of unpaid people who support the individual in their daily life.
Person Directed Planning and Facilitation (PDPF) – for individuals and families – focuses on helping those living with disabilities to discover their dreams and aspirations, and then to develop a plan to reach their goals, based on their strengths, interests and abilities.
| | |
|
Fetal Alcohol Resource Program (FARP) – draws together the resources, skills and knowledge that exists in Ottawa and provides support and community navigation for individuals with FASD and their families.
Family Support – ABLE2 offers a series of educational workshops on a variety of topics and a Funding Brokerage.
Reach Legal Services – mobilizes a network in the Ottawa region of more than 200 volunteer lawyers, mediators and paralegals and connects with community resources to assist people with disabilities in dealing with legal issues.
| |
Thank you to our supporters! | |
|
Princess Warrior Charitable Fund – Ottawa Community Foundation
Harry E. Foster Charitable Foundation.
| |
Do you have any concerns or questions about ABLE2's programs or services?
We have an external feedback and concerns resolution policy and procedure in place.
| | | | |
