Have you ever played the Last Straw board game? Apparently it is a good conversation starter about social conditions that impact our health and chances to lead a decent life. People say it is difficult staying alive in this game. Toronto Public Health published a report "Unequal City" that tracks trends of 34 health indicators in different income groups. A good read before we meet for a game of The Last Straw on August 10th at 3 pm at 74 Frederick Street!
Disabilities and Human Rights Group has been meeting this winter and developed a checklist to assess customer service experience in local businesses, agencies and institutions. The main purpose of the checklist is to help everyone understand their rights according to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and to communicate more effectively about the good and not so good experiences while getting to the services they need.
Are you an individual with a disability living in Waterloo Region, or a parent/caregiver/family member of someone with a disability? Help improve how information is provided to you. Please complete a brief survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AWR2015. The survey will be open until Tuesday, February 17, 2015. Please share the survey link with others in your network. 
December 3, 2014 marks the date of the annual United Nations International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) . This year's theme is Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology. Here are two ways to mark this important date: Breakfast hosted by the Independent Living Centre and afternoon meeting of the Disabilities and Human Rights Group. Continue reading for more details.
The Ontario Government recently annouced the creation of a new award, The David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility. This award will recognize leaders in four categories including employers, youth, employee engagement and role models who have gone above and beyond in improving accessibility for persons wtih disabilities and supporting awareness of accessibility and disability issues. Do you kow an indvidual or organization that you would like to nominate? Click here to download the nomination form and learn more about the award. The deadline to submit nominations is December 3rd of each year.
The next Disability and Human Rights meeting will be Wednesday May 7, 2014 from 3:00-5:00pm at the Community Information Resource Centre - 3rd floor 151 Frederick St.
Our agenda items will include:
Feedback on the AODA customer service standard
Discussion of transition funding for young adults with development challenges
VisitAble Housing Project
Update on Poverty Free KW activities
Please let us know if there are items you want to include on the agenda by emailing Trudy at spckw@waterlooregion.org . You are welcome to bring along anyone who might be interested in the group discussions.
After the completion of a public consultation process, new accessibility amendments have been added into Ontario's Building Code. If you'll recall, a working group of community members and the Social Planning Council of K-W collaborated to create a submission to the Building Code consultation and we're happy to see that this process is now complete. For more information on the new accessibility changes to the Building Code, please view the update on the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing website.
Please see the attached media release for details on how the Disabilities and Human Rights group will be celebrating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and wrap up their Stories of Dignity and Respect campaign .
The Disabilities and Human Rights Group invites you to mark the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, 2013. This year's theme is "Break barriers, open doors: for an inclusive society for all."
Participate in this exciting initiative! Share your
personal experiences to encourage the broader community to participate.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Disabilities and Human Rights Group has sent a letter to the Hon. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment, outlining their concerns with the AODA review process. The group has asked the provincial government to move forward with the independent review to assess whether the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act is working effectively to meet the needs of Ontarians with disabilities.
