What this page says
- People have more meaningful lives and are happier when they have real membership and belonging in community.
- A CLBC facilitator can support you to share your strengths and explore ways to connect with your community in ways that make sense for you.
- Your CLBC facilitator can help you explore ways to get involved.
Individuals feel more included in their communities, and have a better quality of life, when they are connected and can contribute to their community. CLBC facilitators can help you explore ways to get involved in your community. Sometimes the only relationships people have are with staff who are paid to be in their lives. While the support provided by paid staff is important and often necessary, it is not a substitute for friendships and being a contributing member of community.
What are ways I can get involved in my community?
Just as every community has great opportunities to get involved and to contribute and help make it better, there are opportunities for each of us to get involved in something that interests us in our community and to share our strengths with community. This may be through becoming part of a sports or recreational team, joining classes at a local recreation centre, volunteering with others who share common interests, or many other ways.
What are examples of community opportunities I could get involved in to develop friendships?
Many communities have social clubs or community activities, and have leaders who are eager to support participation for people of all abilities. These might include sports teams, garden clubs, choirs, faith communities and volunteer opportunities.
Watch a video story from Salmon Arm about joining a dragon boat team
How can I connect to community?
A CLBC facilitator can assist you and/or your family to find ways to connect with your community. This might include doing some community mapping to learn about places, resources, activities and other opportunities in your community to contribute, pursue your interests and meet other people.
CLBC Community Councils
Joining a CLBC Community Council is a great way to learn about what’s happening in your community, make friends and share your lived experience to help make things better.
Councils consist of 7 to 15 volunteers who create a work plan in the spring and meet monthly to host events and carry out activities that lead to social change and inclusive communities.
Examples of Council events and activities include: promoting inclusive housing, mapping and sharing local community gifts and assets, hosting dances, self advocacy conferences, family forums and other opportunities for social connection and information sharing.
Learn more about CLBC Community Councils here or contact the CLBC Community Engagement Team at CLBC.Connect@gov.bc.ca
myCommunity BC
myCommunity BC is a collaborative project between the Family Support Institute, Community Living BC, and the BC Community Asset Mapping Network as well as citizens around B.C., like you, who care about reducing loneliness and isolation in our communities.
myCommunity BC is an online tool for people to share and celebrate the gifts and assets in their community with the goal of building more connected and inclusive communities for all.
Together we map places and resources that are inclusive, value diversity and are welcoming of everyone.
myCommunity BC is an online map designed for you to:
- discover inclusive places and opportunities in your community
- add to and recommend inclusive places and opportunities in your community
- create and add to your own personal map
The more people add to and recommend places, the more there will be to explore on the map.
FindSupportBC
CLBC collaborated with the Family Support Institute to create a province-wide database of local community resources and activities that are current and that people have indicated are helpful. It provides an easy-to-use, useful list of what is available in your home town. Visit findSupport BC here for more details.