A landmark gift to support disability care and inclusion
The Slaight Family Foundation’s $30 million investment to support 11 disability organizations across Canada is the largest philanthropic investment in disability in Canadian history.
Holland Bloorview is pleased to announce that we will receive $10.5 million from The Slaight Family Foundation to address critical gaps in care for kids with disabilities.
The gift is part of The Slaight Family Foundation’s $30 million investment to support 11 disability organizations across Canada in an unprecedented multi-pronged drive to expand access to care for the eight million Canadians living with disabilities, address ableism and create a more inclusive and equitable society.
Led by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation and the Rick Hansen Foundation, the 11 organizations will be empowered to develop, expand, connect and share their programs and initiatives, working together to dismantle barriers to inclusion and provide essential supports for Canadians with disabilities.
“Never before has a philanthropic investment of this magnitude been made to support people with disabilities. With our shared commitment to inclusion and equity and our complementary services and expertise, we believe Holland Bloorview and our partners are ideally suited to make an unparalleled impact for people with disabilities across Canada.” – Sandra Hawken, President and CEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation
The historic donation is the largest philanthropic investment in disability in Canadian history. It will create transformational impact across four priority areas:
- Removing barriers to accessibility, inclusion and equity
- Increasing access to pediatric disability healthcare, programs and services
- Educating the next generation of disability inclusion champions
- Scaling evidence-based assistive technologies and innovations
Here at Holland Bloorview, the $10.5 million donation will help us address the profound gaps in access to care, support, programming, equipment, employment and technology experienced by children and youth with disabilities and their families.
Our teams will be supported to develop innovative new devices, technologies and treatments and share them, along with many of our existing programs, with kids and families across the province and the country through partnerships with the other national and regional disability organizations. We’ll also be able to expand our training programs to increase the number of pediatric disability specialists and provide personalized care for more clients.
Taylor Lindsay-Noel is a former client of Holland Bloorview who now serves as a board director of the hospital’s foundation and chair of the council that will advise and direct the new partnership. “This is going to be a real difference maker for so many children and adults with disabilities in Canada,” she says. “It’s going to change infrastructure, change attitudes and change lives, and we’re so excited to help make it happen.”
Partnerships between Holland Bloorview and Rick Hansen Foundation and the nine additional grantees will allow each organization to build, expand and share its programs to dismantle barriers to inclusion and benefit more people with disabilities and their families across the province and the country. For details on all the organizations and their programs, click here.
One of these exciting opportunities involves Holland Bloorview’s ground-breaking Clinical Brain Computer Interface (BCI) program, which provides opportunities for children with disabilities affecting mobility and communication to move and interact with their environment for the first time. The Slaight Family Foundation funding will allow us to make this life-changing technology available to many more children and youth through a partnership with Empowered Kids Ontario, which connects a network of children’s health centres across the province.
“By providing BCI technology and training to clinicians in other communities, we can offer unprecedented opportunities to children with severe disabilities to interact with their world and have fun,” says Susannah Van Damme, Clinical Brain Computer Interface Program Lead at Holland Bloorview. “This opportunity speaks to the value we place on equity in care, and the importance of meeting children where they are.”
March of Dimes Canada will partner with Holland Bloorview to enhance and expand its programming lineup by incorporating some of our innovative arts, music and robotics programs, including Arts Xpress, Drum Circle, HB Rocks and FIRST Robotics, and sharing them with diverse communities across the country, while also broadening the eligibility criteria for users. This will give many more kids, youth and young adults opportunities for creative expression, fostering their development and improving their quality of life.
As well, much-needed employment opportunities for people with disabilities will be substantially increased through a collaboration between Holland Bloorview and the Ontario Disability Employment Network that will increase the number of employers ready to hire young people with disabilities trained in life and job search skills through the Project SEARCH program.
“This gift will allow us to broaden the impact of the Project SEARCH program by building a provincial network of engaged employers who hire trained graduates and understand the value of inclusive workplaces and communities,” says Carolyn McDougall, Manager, Employment Pathways at Holland Bloorview.
Holland Bloorview is beyond grateful for The Slaight Family Foundation’s remarkable vision and generosity. This transformational investment will create a first-of-its-kind partnership of organizations dedicated to disability care and inclusion and give Canadians living with a range of disabilities the support and innovative solutions they need at every stage of their lives, as well as increasing disability education and awareness for all of society.
“The impact of disability exclusion is significant, not just on people with disabilities and their families, but on our culture and economy as well,” says Gary Slaight, President and CEO of The Slaight Family Foundation. “Connecting and expanding programs and innovations from organizations dedicated to disability care and awareness will create an umbrella of support across Canada, while dismantling stigma and creating a more inclusive society for us all.”
Disability in Canada by the numbers
- 1 in 4 Canadians identify as having a disability
- 850,000 Canadian children and youth have a disability
- There are only 146 developmental pediatricians to treat them, with 25% nearing retirement
- 72% of people with disabilities encountered accessibility barriers in 2022
- 500,000 Canadians with disabilities are out of work; if the barriers to their employment were dismantled, they could contribute $17 million to Canada’s GDP
- Women with disabilities are 3 times more likely to experience violent victimization
- 23% of children with disabilities encountered healthcare professionals unfamiliar with their condition
- Children and youth with disabilities are bullied at 2-3 times the rate of their typically developing peers and are more likely to experience mental health issues
- 20% of families with children with disabilities have low incomes
- Canadians with disabilities earn 21.4% less than peers without disabilities
