Inclusive Opportunities Association is a non-profit society created in with People First Annapolis Chapter in the heart of the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. We were created to promote various inclusive opportunities for individuals labelled with a disability and our organization was officially incorporated on April 12 2019. We developed an Employment skill development program, which takes a unique approach to promoting inclusive employment and ensuring each participant has a chance at chasing their dreams .Our mission is to give opportunities to open up career and life goals that inline with individual interests and skill sets to create a career action plan that will empower each individual in a dignified manner. Many individuals labelled with a disability spend their adult lives working within a sheltered workshop setting surrounded by others also labelled with exceptionalities making under $1 an hour. Despite this being a direct violation of Article 27 of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, it is a raw truth that for most their entire adult life is spent in a “training center” with very little individualized supports or training that align with personal interest included. It is our belief that it shouldn't realistically take a life time for an individual to learn a skill that can be viewed as useful or essential to society. In fact research has shown that individuals labelled with mild, medium or even profound disabilities are capable of learning skills that can be a positive contribution to our society and economy.
Throughout this last year we have observed the need of a safe and supportive location for persons of all marginalized groups to gather, to access resources and receive individualized supports to locate and access various workshops, courses, and funding along with other resources that will improve the quality of lives. We currently specialize in supporting persons labelled with exceptionalities but have opened our minds to a "we are stronger together" stand point to offer individuals from all minorities any supports and services we can. We have the goal of opening a resource center in our community that will offer a space that is judgment free and full of empowering supports to enhance the value of all lives in our communities. We would like to offer things like referral services, buddy programs, life and employment skill development workshops, employment support services, social clubs and more that varies with the need of the individuals we serve. We would truly love to provide individuals a foundation for success in life while directly improving our economy.
We owned and operated a small craft and clothing consignment store for the past year that has provided 11 individuals labelled with a disability and opportunity to learn a variety of employment related skills and empowered the creation of career goals and dreams. This has been a rewarding experience for many of our members, but due to lack of funding and Covid-19 we have had no choice but to close our doors. Over this last year we have successfully aided the transition of 7 individuals into paid roles in the community and supported another 4 individuals to advocate for more paid days with their current employer. Along with launching a successful "Unmask the Stigma around mental health, addictions and disabilities" along with providing workshops and educational opportunities to the local community colleges around the importance of inclusive Employment and Human Rights of Individuals labelled with a disability. We also hosted 3 different students during their work place practicum last year to follow our founder and Executive Director to learn from all she does. We have created various programs and workshops to offer to our local community and are committed to continuing to do so.
We recently applied for a large accessibility grant to make necessary upgrades to our current location to host the 'Inclusive Opportunities Association Resource Centre." We had a goal to have these upgrades completed by December 2020. We have collaborated with some amazing organizations and businesses to help support us to build customizable work stations that will be completely accessible to all individuals that may enter our doors. Many of these plans were coming together nicely but we recently became aware that our location could not be updated to our needs within our budget. We are currently starting from the ground up again and looking for the perfect location to either partner with a like minded organization to use some of their space or the possibility of obtaining our own space that can be our very own long term to grow in.
Our organization is governed by a strong and diverse group of individuals. Together, with a common mission and enthusiasm to change the view and impact of inclusive Opportunities and employment for real wages for individuals labelled with a disability. We embrace a clear understanding of the financial barriers relating to lack of employment for real wages for these individuals . As a team, we have designed a program that is innovative, measurable, individualized, supportive and completely participant centered. Our board of directors and team is energetic, driven, open-minded and inventive. We come from multiple backgrounds in the Human Services Field, Psychology and Business fields. We have team members who have spent over 30 years in the field and are now retired, members who are new to the field with experience in supportive decision making, client advocating with updated and progressive education and experiences. We have team members who are parents of individuals labelled with a disability as well as team members who have personal lived experience under the stigma of being labelled with a disability and first hand experiences in the struggles created by these societal limitations.
Our program is designed to pilot the innovative ideas of our knowledgeable team members, with open minds, vastly diverse strengths and a skilled team approach we are confident in our ability to be successful with this project.
Our Premier Stephen McNeil has always been a strong advocate for inclusion and has agreed to participate in our fundraising initiative to help us raise funds and awareness around the importance of Inclusion. We are so thankful for his support.
Donate to our crowdfunding campaign by selecting a reward from the list on the right. We are so grateful for your support.
