Message from the CLBC Editorial Board
CLBC Editorial Board Members (left to right):
Shaun O’Leary (Victoria), Bryce Schaufelberger (Mission), Matthew Yeomans (Chilliwack), Jenna Proudlove (Victoria), Natasha Bidinoff-Gardiner (Nelson), Larissa Gunkel (Burnaby). Not pictured: Brandon Wilkinson (New Westminster).
Hello! We are the CLBC Editorial Board made up of Self-Advocate and Community Living leaders from across the province. Our role is to work with Community Living BC (CLBC) to improve communication with the people they serve and to find ways to share the stories and contributions of people with diverse abilities in B.C. Working together on this magazine has been one way to let CLBC, and the broader community, know what we think is important.
The theme for this edition of Celebrate Diverse ABILITIES is Self-Advocacy Leadership. We are excited to share stories from individual leaders working to advance rights to employment and housing, as well as stories from self-advocacy groups creating opportunities for social connection and friendship locally and provincially.
Self-advocacy is a rights movement led by and for people who are labelled with an intellectual disability. It’s about having a voice and speaking up for equal rights and full citizenship for all people. We want to honour and recognize the leadership of this movement and encourage others to get involved.
For us on the Editorial Board, self-advocacy is about making sure people with disabilities are at the forefront of social change. It’s about making sure we have the same chance to express ourselves as anyone else.
Self-advocacy is working when others become curious about our voice and start to think outside the box about ways we can lead conversations in our communities. Self-advocacy builds our self-esteem and gives us confidence to speak up if something is wrong.
Editorial Board member Larissa Gunkel says, “Our skills and talents get overlooked. People don’t know our potential to be leaders in our community. Self-advocacy reminds us that we are here, and we have value and something to say.”
Bryce Schaufelberger of Self Advocate Net reminds us that the self-advocacy motto is “Nothing about us without us.” Bryce says, “We should not be the last ones to know about decisions that affect our lives. We should be making those decisions and leading the change we want to see.”
We’d like to thank all the members of the self-advocacy community and others with diverse abilities who contributed their stories to the magazine. We look forward to your feedback and suggestions for the next edition.
Sincerely,
The CLBC Editorial Board
