Nanaimo to host Inclusion BC conference

This year’s keynote sessions highlight topics of Indigenous inclusion, government relationships, and community and inclusion in everyday life. Photo courtesy of Inclusion BC

Registration has opened for Inclusion BC’s Everybody Belongs! Conference that will be held in Nanaimo this spring. 

The conference connects participants to the latest information and resources on inclusion and diversity.

The conference will be held from May 30th to June first at the Vancouver Island Conference Center, in downtown Nanaimo. This year it will be held in partnership with the Nanaimo Association for Community Living, and the Clay Tree Society.

Karla Verschoor is the executive director of Inclusion BC. 

“It is really that place where the people with lived experience of disabilities, their family members, the provide disability supports our government partners and our community partners come and create this amazing three days of togetherness and belonging,” Verschoor said. “Which is really why we call it Everyone Belongs because there is a space and a place for every person over those three days. Really what we're trying to model over those three days is what we really hope the community looks like everyday for people.”

Verschoor said that while the conference is for those with intellectual developmental disabilities and their families, it also offers educational talks and resources for those that work in the sector.

“One of the things that I find most special about the conference is how transformational it is. So there'll be people that are living their regular lives in their communities that have these visions or these curiosities and kind of feel like they're operating somewhat in isolation,” she said. “Then they come to an event like Everyone Belongs and realize that there's a whole community of people out that that are experiencing the same thing, thinking the same thing and wanting the same things for their lives.”

Verschoor said holding the conference in different locations every year allows members in those areas to build on inclusion in their own community.

“That cross pollination of ideas and research and strategies, it can really become that place where you can recharge and energize to promote inclusion locally over the coming year,”  Verschoor said.

Inclusion BC offers a scholarship to remove the financial barriers for those who have not been able to attend the conference yet.

“Statistically in Canada, 70 per cent of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live in poverty,” Verschoor said. “So the idea of travelling to another community staying in a hotel and attending a conference is very out of reach for many people.”

Advocacy is one of the main themes throughout the conference, Verschoor said, as the conference is for people to come together and create collective impacts for change.

Community development engagement is a big theme for this year. Many of the talks and panels feature topics of learning and research, engagement and building community, connecting with people and looking at issues through a disability lens.

The keynote sessions highlight topics of Indigenous inclusion, government relationships, and community and inclusion in everyday life.

One of the main takeaways Verschoor has heard from attendees is the strong sense of community and connections that comes from the conference.

“That deep connection to people that believe the same things, want the same things for their loved ones, and the goals and strategies they take away to make that real for themselves,”  Verschoor said. “I think what it really does, is kind of combat that sense of isolation and loneliness people can feel in the day to day to know that there's a whole community of people out.” 

For people wanting to attend the conference, she said to come as you are and to let them know what you need to make it a successful event and they will be able to assist you.

Registration and where to learn more about the scholarship program can be found on the conference’s website.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.