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REMINDER:
Spectrum’s Office will be closed December 25th & December 26th!
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY
(EVENTS, NEWS, & AWARENESS)
Spectrum’s Seasonal Office Hours
Wednesday, December 25th – CLOSED
Thursday, December 26th – CLOSED
Wednesday, January 1st – CLOSED
Spinal Cord Injury BC – Online Games Night!
ZOOM connection info is below
Make staying inside fun! Hang out with SCI BC peer Nicole for a night of games! Choose an old favourite, or venture into the unknown and learn a new one. Join in, connect, play and have a great time! You’ll need to register for a free account from Board Game Arena https://www.boardgamearena.com/ beforehand to be ready to play.
How to Connect to Zoom:
- From your browser: https://zoom.us/j/83870102526
- From your mobile phone or tablet: download the Zoom app from your app store, then use the meeting ID to get in to the meeting. Meeting ID: 838 7010 2526
- Dial-in on a landline (telephone): call +1 778 907 2071 Canada (the local number for BC), and enter the Meeting ID when prompted: 838 7010 2526
- If not in BC, find your local number here: zoom.us/u/acMz0fXoVA
If you have any questions please contact our InfoLine at 1-800-689-2477 or info@sci-bc.ca.
WHEN: Friday, December 27th | 7:30PM – 9:30PM
WHERE: Online! (Zoom)
2025 Polar Bear Swim
Come and enjoy 2025 Vancouver Polar Bear Swim hosted by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation!
On January 1, jump into the new year with a splash and take an invigorating dip in English Bay. Enjoy live musical entertainment, food trucks and more beginning at noon. Whether you decide to take the plunge or just want to cheer on the polar bears, it’s surely the best way to start off the year!
Actual swim takes place at 2:30pm.
Register here to receive your digital certificate following the event: https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/polar-bear-swim.aspx
WHEN: Wednesday, January 1, 2025 | 12:00PM – 4:00PM
WHERE: English Bay Beach (Beach Avenue Vancouver, BC)
COST: FREE
VIFF – Accessibility
VIFF is committed to making our events and screenings accessible to as many people as we can, and we strive to remove barriers to access whenever possible. For more information, please email accessibility@viff.org
Click here to review VIFF’s Accessibility Page
Ticketing
For ticketing assistance, you can reach us at on the VIFF Infoline 604-683-3456 or feedback@viff.org
Wheelchair Positions: We encourage patrons requiring wheelchair positions to call ahead to reserve. The adjacent companion seat is also available to reserve.
Support Companions: Support persons who accompany patrons with disabilities are eligible to receive a complimentary ticket. Contact the Infoline to book ahead or book in-person at the Box Office.
Accessible Tickets: We offer a limited number of discounted tickets to each film for folks who face financial barriers and may not be able otherwise to attend a film. Discounted tickets are available on our website or at the Box Office while quantities last.
Accessible Screenings
Captioned Screenings: Our Wednesday matinee Captioned Screeningswelcome Deaf and hard of hearing audiences, along with anyone who benefits from captions.
Relaxed Screenings: Our monthly Relaxed Screenings are open to anyone who could benefit from a more casual, supportive and laid-back experience.
SHOWING: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Hearing Assistance):
Youth tickets available for $10!
When Wallace unveils his latest invention — Norbot, a robot who can do almost anything — Gromit can’t help feeling redundant. But when old adversary Feathers McGraw reprogrammes the automaton, causing mayhem across the city and landing Wallace in no end of trouble, of course it’s up to Gromit to save the day…
It’s been 35 years since we first met Nick Park’s beloved comedy odd couple: the ingenious but clueless tinkerer and his mute but eminently empathetic pooch. It’s 16 years since their last outing, A Matter of Loaf and Death. Vengeance Most Fowl marks a joyful return. It’s a gentle, very British mixture of dad jokes, hand crafted slapstick, mock dramatics and understated emotion. A walk on the mild side, but all the better for it. The Aardman team can say more with an arched brow than most blockbusters accomplish in an entire second act, and the world is a better place with these films in it.
WHEN: Thursday, December 26th | 11:30AM
WHERE: VIFF Centre: Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC)
Inclusion BC – Call for Proposals 2025
Everybody Belongs is British Columbia’s premier event dedicated to intellectual and developmental disabilities, inclusion, and diversity. We will welcome delegates to River Rock Resort in Richmond, BC on June 19, 20 and 21, 2025.
We encourage you to submit proposals that:
- Are led by people with lived experience.
- Represent diversity within the disability community and honour the experiences of Indigenous, LGBTQ2S, and racialized communities from across Canada.
- Include music, art, film/video, movement, interactivity and great storytelling.
- Use person-first or identity-first language.
- Support full inclusion of people with disabilities in community life.
- Allow all attendees to participate fully.
- Promote evidence-based practices.
The deadline to submit a proposal is January 15, 2025.
Click here for more information!
What is happening in Vancouver in December?
Click on the link below to see what’s happening:
https://www.destinationvancouver.com/events/calendar-of-events/vancouver-events/
Collingwood Neighbourhood House – Community Lunch Menu for December
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday for an affordable three-course meal at our Multipurpose Room (5288 Joyce Street) for only $7-$8 from 12:15-1:30pm.
Buy your tickets at Collingwood Neighbourhood House reception!
For questions, email Susanna Chu at schu@cnh.bc.ca or call 604-435-0375.
Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024: Closed for the holidays
Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024: Closed for the holidays
![[ID: Collingwood Neighbourhood House logo.]](https://www.spectrumsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/cnh.png)
Vancouver Community Fridge Project
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The Vancouver Community Fridge Project is a decentralized food distribution network and mutual aid initiative created to provide healthy, free food and essential supplies to our communities across lower mainland.
Our mission is to combat food insecurity by encouraging our communities to take part in laterally-directed mutual aid, starting with providing free, safe, non-policed, accessible and nutritious foods through community fridges and pantries.
All fridges and pantries that are apart of the VCFP network will be operating on a strict no policing, no-shame policy. This means, the VCFP does not condone patrolling how fridge users engage with the fridge, gatekeeping, or any exclusionary or harmful behaviours. The fridges should be accessible, welcoming places based on trust and communication of needs, established by and for the community.
FINANCIAL UPDATES
Disability Alliance BC – MY DTC
The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is a tax benefit from the Government of Canada. It is meant to help people with disabilities and their families reduce the amount of income tax they have to pay. Benefits like the Registered Disability Saving Plan and the new Canada Disability Benefit coming in July 2025 can be accessed when you have the Disability Tax Credit.
My DTC is a free online guide to the Disability Tax Credit created by Disability Alliance BC. It has information on benefits, eligibility and the overall process, as well as tools to help with applying. Please note, My DTC does not allow people to apply for the DTC directly. This is done through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Visit My DTC here to explore the guide.
BC Hydro – Customer Crisis Fund
If you’re a residential customer experiencing a temporary financial crisis, such as a loss of employment or benefit income, unanticipated medical expenses, or a death in the family and you’ve fallen behind on your BC Hydro bill, you may be eligible for a grant payment to avoid disconnection of your service.
Eligibility for a grant
To receive a grant from the Customer Crisis Fund, you need to meet a few criteria:
- Be a residential account holder.
- Be applying for a grant for your primary residence account.
- Your account must have payments overdue by at least 21 days or be facing disconnection. You can apply as early as when you have a balance owing on your account, but your application will be on hold until your payment is 21 days overdue or your account is facing disconnection.
- You must have experienced a life event, within the last 12 months, that caused a temporary financial crisis.
- Have an outstanding balance of $1,000 or less, and have demonstrated some attempt to make payments towards your bill.
You may receive one grant per account holder annually (one per year). If a grant application is denied and your circumstances change, you can apply again in the same year.
Click here for more information and how to apply!
![[ID: logo of BC Hydro Power Smart]](https://ecofitt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/bchydro.jpg)
Inclusion BC Provincial Budget Alert 2024-2025
Spectrum is a member of Inclusion BC and supports their provincial advocacy on behalf of individuals and families with developmental disabilities.
Click here for their report on the provincial budget announced for 2024-2025.
![[ID: logo of Inclusion BC]](https://files.constantcontact.com/5484ef30101/c09a3cee-3809-41f2-964f-ab73cfcb439f.png)
![[ID: a logo on a white background with text that reads: 'Plan Institute for caring citizenship']](https://planinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Plan_Institute_logo_2016_tagline-grey.jpg){kind=logo}
Plan Institute Webinars
The Plan Institute has FREE upcoming regular webinars on the topics of the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) and Wills, Trusts and Estates Planning.
RDSP
The Registered Disability Savings Plan is a Canada-wide registered matched savings plan for those with disabilities to better financially plan for their futures. The Level 1 webinar is meant for those who want to learn about what the RDSP is, who qualifies, and how to apply. The Level 2 webinar is for those who already have a RDSP, or have already taken Level 1.
Next Level 1 Webinar: Future dates to be announced.
Next Level 2 Webinar: Future dates to be announced.
Click here to register and for more information
Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning (BC Only)
This webinar is meant for those who want to become better informed on the process of wills, trusts and estate planning to better secure the future of your relative or loved one with a disability. There is a limit of 60 participants so early registration is encouraged!
Next Webinar: Future dates to be announced.
Click here to register and for more information
Community Support for Spectrum
Spectrum is a registered charitable organization that fundraises to provide the extra things that aren’t covered by government funding. We appreciate the support our community provides in these ways:
Donations: We receive donations through our monthly giving program from both community members and our employees.
Different ways you can donate to Spectrum Society
- You can make a donation online through CanadaHelps.org on our secure donation page here.
- You can complete this Donation Form and send a cheque to our office.
- You can join our monthly giving club and provide us with permission to make a monthly deduction from your bank account. Complete this Donation Form and email it to donations@spectrumsociety.org or mail it to our office.
- As an employee, you can give us permission to make a deduction from your payroll each pay period. Complete this Donation Form and email it to donations@spectrumsociety.org.
- Remember Spectrum Society for Community Living when you are preparing your Will. We have an Endowment Fund that provides us with regular income to assist in providing supports to people with disabilities in the Community. Please call if you have any questions about this.
Click here for more information!
REFERRAL PROGRAM
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Is there anyone you know that is looking for meaningful work?
If you have a friend, family member or meet someone in the community that is interested in joining the team and you refer them to Spectrum, you could be eligible for a referral bonus!
If the person referred is hired and maintains at least 6 months of consistent employment with Spectrum, we will award a $250 Referral Bonus.
*for more information on the program, please email hr@spectrumsociety.org
We thank you for bringing us quality applicants/employees!