For over 60 years inclusion Powell River has worked for to create a community filled with acceptance and friendship, and now there’s a new book celebrating that history.
Researched and written by local historian Tim Balzer and launching October 1, just in time for the start of Inclusion BC’s Community Inclusion Month, the book is entitled Journey Towards Community: 60 years of the inclusion Powell River Society.
“I was very impressed by the passion of inclusion staff and volunteers,” said Balzer, who also met and interviewed founding members such as Mona Hawkins, now in her 90s.
Formerly known as Powell River Association for Community Living, the non-profit society has been working to create a welcoming community for persons with developmental disabilities since 1954.
In the book, Balzer traces how the province-wide movement grew from a core group of concerned Powell River parents that wished their children to have an education.
“They started the organization, gathered volunteers and started advocating,” said Lilla Tipton, executive director of inclusion Powell River. “They wanted their children to have places to go.”
According to Tipton, Powell River is very different from what it was like in the 1950s, when those with developmental disabilities were hidden away in homes or institutions.
”Sometimes you don’t realize how much you’ve done until you see the changes,” she said.
Balzer’s book will be launched October 1 at Cranberry Child Development and Family Resource Centre (formerly known as Community Living Place) at 6831 Artaban Street, starting at 6:30 pm.
