The Beaufort Association for Inclusion in Action is celebrating 65 years of breaking barriers and creating community inclusion this month.
The association is hosting its milestone anniversary celebration at 40 Knots Winery on June 24, going from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. The event will be an opportunity to celebrate all the organizations and individuals who have worked to make community inclusion possible.
Until the mid 1950s and early 1960s, children and adults labelled as the 鈥渕entally handicapped鈥� were often put in institutions and forgotten. Then 65 years ago, a small group of Comox Valley parents, teachers, and friends gathered with a clear goal to incorporate a society to end the practice of institutionalization and provide local, supportive services for individuals and their families.
June 28, 1960, the society incorporated as the Comox Valley Association for Mentally Handicapped Children to promote education and a better understanding by the general public of handicapped children. The society鈥檚 name change to Beaufort Association for Inclusion in Action reflects how society has embraced people with diverse abilities and how barriers to acceptance and inclusion in community life have been broken.
The 1960s were a pivotal decade for disability organizing and advocacy in British Columbia. Parent-led organizations like Beaufort and the Association for Retarded Children of B.C. were founded. Spurred by the exclusion of children with intellectual disabilities from public schools, they began to form networks, pool resources, and create advocacy strategies. Their efforts led to increased awareness and gradual changes in school policies and the practice of segregating people with disabilities. They promoted the idea that people with disabilities should live, learn, and participate in their communities, influencing future policy and service delivery. The broader civil rights movement of the era inspired disability advocates in B.C. to push for equal rights and opportunities, connecting the struggle for disability rights to wider social justice movements.
Beaufort Association for Inclusion is the Comox Valley鈥檚 longest running service provider of day programs for adults with developmental disabilities. Other service providers such as the Comox Valley Child Development Association, Satori Lifestyle Resources and Friends of L鈥橝rche Comox Valley also formed in the decades thereafter embracing the need for change, acceptance and inclusion.
Comox Valley, let鈥檚 come together to honour the past, celebrate the present, and toast to a future where everyone belongs. There will be three exceptional bands 鈥� Mama鈥橲ikai, Island Time and headliner, Alick Mac. Phat Parrot food, 40 Knots wine, cider, mocktails for purchase, and a 50/50 draw.
Tickets are $25 and are available through the Beaufort Association's , or at their location at 465 6 Street, Courtenay.
