In honour of AccessAbility Week (May 28 – June 3, 2023), qathet Regional District (qRD) is recognizing and thanking individuals and organizations working to remove barriers for people with disabilities in the local community.
To better support those with disabilities, qRD, City of Powell River and Powell River Public Library are collaborating together to develop a three-year Accessibility Plan to identify, remove and prevent barriers for people in or interacting with thier organizations.
“We strive to provide equitable access to information and learning opportunities to keep everyone reading, including adaptive collections, technology and services to support patrons with disabilities,” stated chief Librarian Rebecca Burbank, in a media release. “I am excited that we will be partnering with the qathet Regional District and the City of Powell River to develop better tools to assess and remove barriers to improve our spaces and services for people with disabilities.”
AccessAbility Week is a time to reflect on work that still needs to be done so people with physical, sensory, mental, intellectual or cognitive impairments can fully participate in everyday life without barriers, according to the release.
“I look forward to celebrating AccessAbility week with our community," stated Powell River mayor Ron Woznow. “This is an opportunity for us to recognize the contributions of people with disabilities and renew our commitment to making our city more accessible and inclusive.”
qRD board chair Clay Brander said recognizing AccessAbility Week is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to identify existing access barriers and support those with different levels of ability in our community.
“Working together with the City of Powell River and the Powell River Public Library, our goal is to make access to public services and amenities possible for everyone," stated Brander.
"We invite residents with lived experience, caregivers and disability advocates to share their ideas and expertise on how we can make our services, programs and infrastructure more accessible and inclusive," the release stated. "Your feedback will help guide the creation of the Accessibility Plan by providing valuable insight into the environments, attitudes, practices, policies, information, communications, and technologies that act as barriers to our organizations."
For more information, go to qathet.ca/accessibility.
