Star Newsletter – Summer 2019

Our Summer edition of The Star newsletter is out. Expect to find stories and resources on topics including: Community Impact Report on Clothing Donations and Textile Recycling – 2019 DDA Applauds BC Budget 2019-2020 DDA Provides Workshop for Vancouver Park Board Staff CORE Day Program Takes a “FlyOver Canada” Donation and Support by MyBadges.com Movie …

Leisure Fair Recap

By: Shixin After several months of preparation, this year’s Leisure Fair was successfully held at the Sunset Community Center on April 3. More than 140 people came through the doors to meet and talk with representatives from 32 recreation and leisure organizations. Families learned that there are so many amazing adapted activities to do throughout …

World Down Syndrome Day

On April 11, 2019, the Richmond School District organized an event in conjunction with World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. The celebration gave students with Down syndrome an opportunity to interact and participate in a variety of educational and social activities. Alyssa had previously attended this celebration as a student, but she has graduated three years …

Montecito Towers Provide Residents with a Way to Recycle and Donate

Montecito Towers in North Burnaby has been a donation bin host and supporter of the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA) for over eight years. As one of approximately 40 residential bin hosts, they know all about the benefits that having a residential donation bin provides – both for their own residents and for the community that …

Ceremonial Tea Chat

By: David One of my goals during my time at the Main Street Drop-In is to expose the participants and staff to various cultural and traditional practices that were taught to me throughout my life. Since Vancouver is a very multicultural and diverse population we must educate each other about our differences to further foster …

Giving Back to Community

As a non-profit organization, we can attest to the importance of committed and reliable volunteers. Volunteers are an integral part of many non-profit organizations and many could not operate without them. In 2018, participants of our five community day programs contributed just shy of 4,000 volunteer hours to over 19 community agencies including Maple Wood …

Vancouver Sun Run 2019

By: Julie On April 14, 2019, I participated in the Vancouver Sun Run with Alan Brown. There was lots of excitement throughout the day, lots of participants, and many different bands playing. During the race, there were a number of weather changes, starting off with hail and ending with sunshine in the afternoon. It was …

CORE Day Program Takes a “FlyOver Canada”

At the end of March, CORE Day Program took a special trip to FlyOver Canada. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed exploring downtown and having lunch before going to enjoy our flight. JR, Stanley, Mark, JR, Drew and Lori along with staff Larissa and Jon had a spectacular flight over America. They …

The Communication Key

Communication is the key to connection, both to others and to the community. Typical individuals are able to choose from a range of communication forms, often and sometimes subconsciously using multiple means of communication simultaneously, such as speech and body language. If one mode of communication is hindered, that individual has multiple other methods of …

DDA Provides Workshop for Vancouver Park Board Staff

Our DDA staff Hailey Arthur, McKenzie Hannewyk and Jessika Pilon delivered a workshop for the Vancouver Park Board Fitness Services team on how to work with persons with hidden disabilities in a positive and respectful manner, as part of increasing inclusion for all people. Staff representing 15 community centres attended. Kudos to the Parks Board …

Donation & Support by MyBadges.com

The Victoria Day Program would like to thank MyBadges.com. MyBadges.com, a local supplier of name tags, badges and ID supplies, has been working with the Developmental Disabilities Association and Jobs West for over five years. They have offered work experiences to job seekers and hired three individuals from Jobs West. In 2018, they were awarded …

Movie Day at Fraser Program

On Wednesday, March 27, clients and staff from Fraser Day Program attended a screening of Wonder Park hosted by Landmark Cinemas in New Westminster, and organized by Francesca Hemington from CORE Day Program. This was the first of what we and Landmark Cinemas hope could turn into a series of monthly movie screenings intended for …