Supports to participate in your community

What this page says

  • If you are eligible for CLBC supports, you can talk to a CLBC facilitator about supports to participate in your community.
  •  There are four types of funded supports to help you participate in your community:
    • Employment – support to help you find and keep a paid job
    • L.I.F.E. – supports your lifelong Learning, Inclusion, Friendship, and Employment in a personalized way
    • Learning – time-limited support to learn new things and develop your skills, confidence and independence to live the life you want
    • Community Inclusion – help to participate in community in a meaningful way

Being involved in your community can be an important part of feeling included and enhancing your quality of life. 

If you are eligible for CLBC supports, or are changing existing supports, a CLBC facilitator will talk about different supports to participate in your community. Not all supports will be available in every community. 

There are four types of funded supports to help you participate in your community in ways that are meaningful to you: 

  • Employment 
  • L.I.F.E. – Learning, Inclusion, Friendship and Employment 
  • Learning 
  • Community inclusion  

Support to participate in your community could be the only CLBC support you receive, or it could be one part of your plan. The kind and amount of support you receive is based on the need for help in specific areas. Visit the Understand CLBC Funding Decisions page to learn how CLBC makes decisions about funding supports. 

We all feel more included in our communities and have a better quality of life, when we have meaningful work, friends, and ways to get involved in and contribute our strengths and interests in our community. Visit the Connecting to Community page to learn about opportunities outside of funded supports to help you access opportunities with community. 

Read Teaghan’s story to learn more about community inclusion support: 

What types of supports are available to participate in your community?

Once you are eligible for CLBC supports, you can speak with a facilitator to explore services that seem to be the best fit for your needs and goals. You can also learn about funded services on this website below. When you meet with a CLBC facilitator, you will have the chance to talk about funded service options in your community in more detail to better understand which one(s) might best meet your needs and goals. 

CLBC funds four different kinds of supports to help you participate in your community and live your life to the fullest: 

Employment

For most people, having meaningful work is an important part of living a life with connection. A CLBC facilitator can work with you to explore different services that are available to help you find and keep a job. 

Visit the Employment Support page to learn more.

L.I.F.E.

The L.I.F.E. service combines support for people interested in employment who also want to connect to their community, pursue life-long learning, and build meaningful relationships. This is a new service and may not be available in every community. 

Visit the L.I.F.E. Service page to learn more.

Learning

Learning new things and developing skills, independence, and confidence to live the life you want. Learning supports can help you learn and develop skills to engage in your community and live the life you want. This could include attending university or college, exploring new interests or skills, or connecting to places or groups where you can learn with others. 

Learning support is time limited based on the type of learning opportunities you are interested in exploring. 

Learning could take place in a one-on-one or group, or community setting. 

Community inclusion

Some people need support to get out and participate in their local community in a meaningful way. Community inclusion support can help take part in community activities inside or outside of your home. This could include learning a new skill, joining a social event, or participating in sports or recreation activities. 

Community inclusion support could be part-time or full-time. 

The benefits of participating in your community

Getting more involved in your community is a great way to feel good about your life: 

  • Make new friends and discover new activities and hobbies 
  • Become a student at a college or university and pursue your dreams 
  • Train for new work opportunities 
  • Learn how to do new things and learn just for the fun of it 
  • Feel connected and safer by getting to know you neighbours and other community members 
  • Become a leader in your community and help make a difference that helps everyone 

Talk to a CLBC facilitator about supports to participate in your community

To talk with a CLBC facilitator about support to participate in your community you may be eligible for, please contact your local CLBC office. 

Find your local office contact information here.