News

In honour of International Day of Persons with Disabilities #IDPD2018, Bellwoods would like to take a moment to recognize and celebrate our clients, families and caregivers for all communities dedicated support and work towards a path of inclusivity and accessibility in our community.

This year’s theme of International Day of Persons with Disabilities is to empower persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality. The goal is to help create real opportunities for people with disabilities that will enhance their own capacities and provides supports in setting their priorities. When people are empowered, they are better prepared to take advantage of opportunities and they become agents of change.

Evidence and experience shows that when barriers to inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits. While Canadians with disabilities increasingly live in communities, physical exclusion in institutional settings is still a significant part of the Canadian disability landscape. We need to work together to diminish these barriers that will hopefully close some of the gaps.

Bellwoods recognizes that the existence of barriers constitutes a central component of disability. Accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities are fundamental rights and are not only objectives, but also pre-requisites for the enjoyment of all other rights. Bellwoods encourages and supports our clients to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of their lives and development.

Where to next? We need to ensure that no one is left behind as we build our future societies where barriers do not exist. Bellwoods’ mission is to transform lives through excellence and innovation in Independent Living and we will continue to find innovative ways to create inclusive communities and environments.

For more information please visit:

• IDPWD
• United Nations

Bellwoods is excited to announce that it has been selected as the winner of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) Award for Excellence at a special ceremony that took place at the 2018 ONPHA Conference and Trade Show held at the Sheraton Centre Toronto on October 26, 2018. The award recognizes a non-profit housing provider that responds to tenant or community needs with imagination, dedication and insight.

You can visit ONPHA’s website for more information regarding the Award for Excellence (https://onpha.on.ca/Content/Membership/Awards/Award_for_Excellence.aspx) or see pdf for ONPHA’s news release.

We also want to share with you a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK7jpIrolLk) that was created to celebrate and showcase our organization as the 2018 Award for Excellence winner.

We are very excited to have won this award as this recognition enables Bellwoods to further showcase it’s ground-breaking work in developing Independent Living solutions that respond to changing needs and demands and to profile them to new audiences.

From left to right:
Marlene Coffey – Executive Director, ONPHA; Susan Andrew – Vice President, Client Services, Bellwoods; Harriet Jamieson – Director, Transitional Programs, Bellwoods; Heather Brien – Bellwoods Board Chair; Lori Holloway – CEO, Bellwoods; Viola Bardhoshi – from MCI on behalf of the award sponsor Prentice Yates & Clark; Adam Vaughan, MP (Spadina Fort-York) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development; Ami Patel – President, ONPHA; and Steve Clark – Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Thank you to all our staff, clients, service partners and especially our housing providers. This would not have been possible without your support and dedication.

For inquiries please contact:
Anna Yip, Communications Support Coordinator
ayip@bcclsp.org

We are pleased to announce that Bellwoods’ Head Office has been relocated to a new location as of October 29, 2018 to accommodate organizational growth. The new address is:
3 Concorde Gate, Suite 200, Toronto, ON.  M3C 3N7.

We will continue with our existing contacts:
T: (416) 696-9663
F: (416) 696-9481
E: admin@bellwoodscentres.org
W: www.bellwoodscentres.org

For directions, please visit this link.

If you have any questions about the new location or any of our program and services, please contact us and we will be happy to help.

On February 13, 2018, I Heart Neighbourhood will bring together friends, neighbours and supporters at the Daniels Spectrum to celebrate and support the importance of building strong, vibrant, compassionate neighbourhoods in our great city.

This unique collaborative fundraising event brings together The Neighbourhood Group, Springtide Resources, Regent Park Focus, Jessies – The June Callwood Centre for Young Women, and Bellwoods Centres for Community Living to raise much-needed funds to support important programs and services. Collectively, our agencies serve 50,000 Torontonians each year.

Attendees will enjoy an elegant evening mixing delicious fare and beverages with both a silent and live auction, live entertainment, and the opportunity to learn about the work of five local charities.

To order your tickets in support of Bellwoods Centres please visit our CanadaHelps page.

You can also check out the event via Facebook: Page: https://www.facebook.com/iheartneighbourhood/ or Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/128499541176438/

Show some Heart and join us for the I Heart Neighbourhood Charity Auction, Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at the Daniels Spectrum. Guests will enjoy an elegant evening mixing delicious fare and beverages with both a silent and live auction, live entertainment and the opportunity to learn about the work of The Neighbourhood Group, Springtide Resources, Regent Park Focus, Jessies – The June Callwood Centre for Young Woman, and Bellwoods Centres for Community Living.