Last year, LET’S had our first collaboration with Mainland Community Services Society. 2 of our team members spoke at a National AccessAbility Week event. We were delighted to have Mainland reach out again this year. They said “We thought of your amazing collaboration with MCSS last year, and decided that it would be great to have you back again this year. This time, in the capacity of being a KeyNote Speaker.”
The event this year was different, in that it was focused on a singular topic – “Intervening on Disability Discrimination: Best Practices for Community Leaders”
Heather’s keynote started with information about their experience with disability, stigma, bias, and misperceptions. They spoke of their journey to becoming a Crip Doula. They shared disability definitions, Disability Justice principles, and quotes by people pushed to the margins. Heather also spoke about LET’S’ low sensory spaces and how representation is important. They also talked about the importance of organizations like LET’S in modeling how those with lived expertise must be part of creating the systems and structures that surround us. And, like Ijeoma Oluo said: “We should not have a society where the value of marginalized people is determined by how well they can scale often impossible obstacles that others will never know.”
(Overwhelmed person)
About Mainland Community Services:
We’re an incorporated community-based multi-services agency that delivers a continuum of programs and services in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
We employ intersectional understanding and liberatory frameworks in empowering racialized individuals and communities in need by providing a voice, resources, and opportunities. We’ve been supporting racialized communities in a variety of ways and measuring our success not by monetary size, but by more qualitative measurements such as the scale and effectiveness of our efforts. Here at Mainland Community Services, we are driven by a single goal; to do our part in making the world of racialized individuals and communities a better place. Our decision-making process is informed by comprehensive empirical studies and high-quality data evaluation. We also strive to build productive relationships and make a positive impact with all of our pursuits.