We have some incredibly exciting news to share!
Together with 10 other amazing organizations we will be enrolled in the Center for Social Innovation's Agents of Change program at CSI's Spadina location here in Toronto! This is a huge opportunity that will allow us to set up shop in the centre and surround ourselves with incredible people and their organizations - we really couldn't be more thrilled! Here is a link to CSI's website to learn more about what they're all about, you will quickly learn that this is such a great fit for us - www.socialinnovation.ca.
Yesterday was a huge day for the StopGap initiative as we were invited to speak about the state of accessibility here in Ontario with TVO's Steve Paikin on The Agenda. We were in good company as other guests included David Onley (former Lt. Gov. of Ontario) and David Lepofsky (Chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance). Here is a link to these two accessibility champions speaking about accessibility in Ontario - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JRhfg4U9Us
We will post our segment when it is up on the TVO website so stay tuned! In the meantime here's a picture!
This interview serves as a great beginning to the next chapter in our quest for a barrier free society. Over the next few months in the lead up to the warmer weather we will be operating out of our new home at CSI four days a week in preparation for our Ontario Ramp Project Tour, and our involvement with Toronto's Pan Am and Para Pan Am games! Huge thanks goes out to Blackwell Structural Engineers for allowing me (Luke here) to take an extended leave of absence from my duties as a project engineer at the firm so we can further our work with the foundation and take advantage of The Agents for Change program at CSI. HUGE!
With all of these plans and the latest decisions that have been made with respect to allocation of human resources we now face some serious funding needs, gone are the days of the biweekly paycheck and our proposed tour presents some sizable expenses. The plan is to convert a trailer into a mobile workshop and bring the community ramp project to a dozen Ontario communities this summer. We'd also like to purchase a new wheelchair accessible van and wrap it in StopGap Foundation logos to help promote the project. Another exciting component of this proposed tour is to bring along a filmmaking crew to capture, document, and ultimately celebrate all of the action that will transpire while on the road!
Brock Warner, lead fundraiser from War Child Canada, has graciously offered to volunteer his expertise and help us in the fundraising department! He has already accomplished so much including establishing a Canada Helps fund-raising account for us and a direct fund-raising link/ button on our homepage. This fantastic service allows anyone to quickly and easily donate online and automatically receive a charitable tax receipt.
Brock has established the channels now we need the funds to flow through them!
So... get ready... here's our fundraising plug! If you like the work that we do, would like to one day see a society free of barriers that prevent many people from accessing the spaces that they desire, and are interested in helping us bring a Community Ramp Project to every community across Canada - please donate! We've made it super easy for you - the button is right there in the top right corner of this page!
Stay tuned for more updates that will highlight some of the recent Community Ramp Projects that have started up across the country!
