Photo Credit: International Day of Persons with Disabilities Facebook page.

By Shane Clausing

Inclusive Community Award

Applications open for 2020 Inclusive Community Award

Nov 8, 2020 | 7:00 AM

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities Grande Prairie planning committee is accepting applications for it’s Inclusive Community Award until November 10.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations.

It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in the spheres of society and development. The day is also meant to increase awareness of the situation of person with disabilities in every aspect of life.

Every year in Grande Prairie, Mieke de Groot, a member of the committee for Grande Prairie, says her team raises awareness about they day, however, they decided to take it one step further and create the Inclusive Community Award.

“We started giving out these awards in 2017 and it is presented to a community member, organization or group and focuses on individuals who has demonstrated an innovative way to reach people who have disabilities.”

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Some examples about how someone in the community can help is by making their facility accessible for people who have disabilities.

For example, de Groot tells EverythingGP that one of their past winners, who owned a restaurant, made sure that the restrooms in his facility were updated so anyone with a disability can use it without any issues that they might face in other facilities.

This year specifically, de Groot says that the committee is focusing on people who help those who suffer from invisible disabilities, such as mental illness and chronic pain.

Last year, six people in the community were nominated for the award.

De Groot tells EverythingGP that they will have a ceremony on Zoom to give out the award. She also said that she wants to find a way to honour all of those that are nominated.

“We would still like to acknowledge additional nominees, because if the community feels that somebody is particularly special and does a good job, if they’re meeting out criteria, we need to acknowledge them.”

She says that she hopes that they can get up to 200 people on the Zoom call for the event.

The Zoom call will take place on December 3 at 12:00 p.m.

Nominations for the award can be made by clicking here. The committee will then ask you to email the application to mieke.de.groot@sci-ab.ca