Inclusion Lethbridge

12/17/2025

Just a reminder Everyone, our Holiday Open House is happening this afternoon at Inclusion Lethbridge. Come by and connect, there will be goodies, holiday music and community!
See you then!

✨ Holiday Open House — You’re Invited! ✨

Join us on December 17 for an afternoon of warmth, connection, and community cheer. 🎄💛
Whether you’re a self-advocate, family member, partner organization, or community supporter — we’d love to see you!

Drop in for hot drinks, holiday treats, friendly conversation, and updates on the advocacy and inclusion work happening in our region.

📍 Inclusion Lethbridge Office (527 6th Street South)
🕒 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Come say hello, grab a treat, and connect with others who believe in belonging.
Everyone is welcome! ☕✨

12/12/2025

✨ Holiday Open House — You’re Invited! ✨

Join us on December 17 for an afternoon of warmth, connection, and community cheer. 🎄💛
Whether you’re a self-advocate, family member, partner organization, or community supporter — we’d love to see you!

Drop in for hot drinks, holiday treats, friendly conversation, and updates on the advocacy and inclusion work happening in our region.

📍 Inclusion Lethbridge Office (527 6th Street South)
🕒 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Come say hello, grab a treat, and connect with others who believe in belonging.
Everyone is welcome! ☕✨

12/11/2025

Just a reminder:

SRSAN is scheduled this afternoon, but with icy roads, and chilly weather you are more than welcome to join us online for ease.

Message us, call (403) 327-2911 or email: chelsey@inclusionlethbride.org for the virtual meeting code.

12/10/2025

Just a reminder tomorrow after the SRSAN meeting we are hosting a lovely Coffee & Chat, We have coffee, tea, ice tea, and perhaps cookies.
Come connect, we would love to see you!

☕ Coffee & Chat — You’re Invited! ❄️💬
Feeling overwhelmed by the holidays? Worried about ADAP or Bill 12 and what it means for you or someone you love? You don’t have to carry it alone.

Join us at Inclusion Lethbridge on December 11 from 2:00–4:00pm for an informal drop-in Coffee & Chat.
✨ Come for a warm drink, stay for connection, support, and community.

Whether you’re looking for information, reassurance, or just a friendly space to breathe, we’re here. Everyone is welcome.
If you need to connect personally please reach out to the office so we can schedule a time with you!

📍 Inclusion Lethbridge Office
Come as you are — we can get through this together. 💚

12/10/2025

Inclusion Lethbridge is deeply saddened by the passing of Bill 12, legislation that will push many Albertans with disabilities into deeper poverty and greater uncertainty. On Human Rights Day, we are reminded that disability rights are human rights — and policies that limit dignity, security, and inclusion harm our entire community.

If you or your family are worried, overwhelmed, or unsure about what these changes mean, please reach out. You are not alone.

*MEDIA RELEASE: Inclusion Alberta deeply dismayed by the passage of Bill 12*

Inclusion Alberta is deeply dismayed by the passage of Bill 12, legislation that will do what no one in the disability community asked for: dramatically change the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program and introduce the Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP). At a time when living costs continue to rise steeply, Bill 12 threatens 79,000 Albertans currently on AISH and their families with a 10% cut to benefits and a 67% cut to fully exempt employment income. Striking out cost-of-living increases from legislation and restricting which decisions can be appealed makes Albertans with disabilities and their families even more vulnerable.

In passing this legislation, the Government of Alberta has ignored the frightened and anxious pleas of thousands of Albertans with disabilities and their families. They, along with former leaders and advisors in government’s own disability programs, organizations that represent and support people with disabilities, lawyers, economists, and the Alberta Medical Association, called for pausing the plan for ADAP and engaging in genuine consultation with the disability community on what changes could enhance disability assistance in our province.

“I’m terrified of the prospect of being labeled either ‘permanently unemployable’ or ‘somewhat employable’, and having my already meagre monthly income reduced,” says Ashton Kennedy, an Inclusion Alberta board member who receives AISH. "I don't know what this means for my future and if I will still be able to make ends meet."

Learn more about what Bill 12, and the changes being made to AISH/ADAP does for Albertans with disabilities: https://inclusionalberta.org/adap-facts-and-take-action/

“These are changes that no AISH recipient asked for: lower monthly benefits for an already marginalized population or being labelled permanently unemployable,” says Trish Bowman, Inclusion Alberta’s CEO. “Pushing Albertans with disabilities into deeper poverty betrays Alberta’s enduring tradition of moral decency and caring for members of our communities. It is indefensible that efforts to address fiscal challenges fall on the shoulders of those already confronting financial insecurity and multiple barriers on a daily basis. The fear and despair experienced by the individuals and family members who have been reaching out to us is palpable.”

Inclusion Alberta calls on the Government of Alberta to pause its plan to dramatically change AISH and introduce ADAP, and to engage in meaningful consultation on how to make AISH work better with those who will be most affected: Albertans with disabilities.

https://inclusionalberta.org/connections/media-release-inclusion-alberta-deeply-dismayed-by-the-passage-of-bill-12/

12/04/2025

☕ Coffee & Chat — You’re Invited! ❄️💬
Feeling overwhelmed by the holidays? Worried about ADAP or Bill 12 and what it means for you or someone you love? You don’t have to carry it alone.

Join us at Inclusion Lethbridge on December 11 from 2:00–4:00pm for an informal drop-in Coffee & Chat.
✨ Come for a warm drink, stay for connection, support, and community.

Whether you’re looking for information, reassurance, or just a friendly space to breathe, we’re here. Everyone is welcome.
If you need to connect personally please reach out to the office so we can schedule a time with you!

📍 Inclusion Lethbridge Office
Come as you are — we can get through this together. 💚

12/03/2025

🎄 Support Inclusion Lethbridge This Holiday Season — Christmas Bake Sale 2025! 🍪

The sweetest way to support disability inclusion in our community is back!

Inclusion Lethbridge is proud to partner once again with Sweet Treats for our annual Christmas Bake Sale — a beloved fundraiser that brings together community, creativity, and delicious holiday baking. Every cookie, bar, and brownie you order directly supports the advocacy, programming, and family supports provided to individuals with disabilities across Southern Alberta.

This year, your holiday treats do double duty:
✔️ You get incredible homemade baking to share with your family
✔️ You help Inclusion Lethbridge continue vital work in a year of major policy changes and increased need

Together, we can ensure our community remains strong, inclusive, and supported.

🍪 How to Order

Place your order by Thursday, December 11, 2025:
📱 Call or text: 403-394-4918
📧 Email: jetje06@gmail.com

🔗 Or follow our Zeffy link to order online

Pick-up takes place Tuesday, December 23, 2025
📍 Inclusion Lethbridge Office — 527-6 Street South
NEW this year: Delivery available for a small fee within Lethbridge city limits.

🍰 What’s on the Menu?

Sweet Treats is offering an amazing lineup again this year — from classic cookies to holiday favourites like almond boterkoek, cranberry crumble bars, snickerdoodle blondies, ginger cookies, and more. Coffee bags from Cuppers are also available, making perfect gifts or add-ons to your holiday table.

Whether you’re shopping for your family Christmas, gifting to neighbours, or stocking up your freezer for holiday guests — there’s something for everyone.

Your holiday baking purchase helps keep these programs strong, sustainable, and accessible to everyone who needs them.

🎁 Give the Gift of Inclusion

This holiday season, fill your home with delicious treats while supporting a community where everybody belongs. Your order — big or small — makes a meaningful impact.

12/03/2025

🌎 Happy International Persons with Disabilities Day!

Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
This year’s theme—“Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress”—has never been more urgent for Alberta.

Across our province, disabled Albertans and their families are facing deep uncertainty: the introduction of Bill 12 and the ADAP program, the removal of appeal rights for many, the loss of self-advocacy programs, instability in funding, and growing fear about what the future holds.

While the global community calls for inclusion, dignity, and equal participation, many Albertans with disabilities are being pushed into greater precarity, deeper poverty, and fewer rights. That reality cannot be ignored.

At Inclusion Lethbridge, we hold tight to what today truly means:
✨ A disability-inclusive society is one where people have stable supports, secure income, meaningful belonging, and a voice in decisions that impact their lives.
✨ Inclusion is not a theme—it is a commitment.
✨ Social progress is impossible when disabled people are left behind.

Today, we recommit to standing with disabled Albertans—listening, advocating, supporting, educating, and empowering.
We honour the courage of the self-advocates speaking up, the families trying to navigate a shifting landscape, and the community members demanding fairness and human rights.

Fostering an inclusive society begins right here:
✔ ensuring people with disabilities can live free from poverty
✔ protecting appeal rights and due process
✔ valuing people beyond “employability”
✔ investing in self-advocacy and community leadership
✔ building communities where everyone belongs

On IDPD, and every day, we say clearly:

Nothing about us, without us.
Inclusion is a right.

Together, we rise.
Together, we advocate.
Together, we advance social progress by ensuring nobody is left behind. 💛