Power To Be

🌊 We've had some wonderful days on the water lately!

☀️ In mid-June, a mixed group of participants with a range of accessibility considerations joined us for a sunny day of adaptive ocean kayaking at Island View Beach!

🛶 With the support of program staff and volunteers, and adaptive equipment like the TrailRider, participants were able to access their kayaks through assisted transfers from their wheelchairs.

🦅 One participant who is blind experienced the ocean by touching different types of seaweed, dipping her hands in the cold seawater, and listening for different bird calls.

💙 In our closing circle, we heard from one participant that their favourite part of the day was "just getting away from everything and being on the water.”

💚 This program was one of our one-day Nature Access programs, which focus on outdoor experiences with mixed groups of participants. Activities include hiking, paddle boarding, snowshoeing, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, and more! To learn more about our programs, visit powertobe.ca/our-programs

🎓🎉 We are so proud to share that the fourth cohort of Power To Be's Landscaping and Restoration Program recently celebrated their graduation!

Over the course of 12 weeks, participants gained valuable skills and knowledge to support their future paths - whether pursing careers in landscaping and restoration, or continuing to nurture their passion for nature in other meaningful ways.

Some highlights:

🌱 Getting the new greenhouse up and running! From installing the irrigation to practicing seeding and propagation, this project was a huge undertaking!
🌧️ Completing a garden redesign and installation project for some of the rain gardens around the Power To Be office buildings--another major project with a big impact for our organization.

💚 Thank you to all our amazing partners and supporters for allowing us to continue to run this program, including:

The Gardens at HCP; The Butchart Gardens; Satinflower Nurseries: Native Plants, Seeds & Consulting ; Hatchet & Seed - Edible Landscapes ; Habitat Acquisition Trust Patio Gardens ; Garden Alchemist ; Victoria Compost Education Centre ; FED Urban Ag ; Sea Bluff Farm ; Northern Gardener; Abkhazi Garden; Heart Lake Farm; J.B Williams The Native Plant Guy; and WorkBC

❤️Today marks Red Shirt Day, in celebration of National AccessAbility Week. It’s a day about coming together in support and solidarity, celebrating the achievements and leadership of people living with disabilities, and pledging our commitment to do what we can to create a more accessible and inclusive society.

So on this day, we’d like to share a story:

We use this picture a lot. You may have seen it before - in the paper, at a bus stop, in a magazine, on our website, or maybe even on a billboard.

This is not a stock photo. That’s our dock on Prospect Lake. And that’s Carolyn, walking, and Jas, in the wheelchair. Jasmine Parr has been involved with Power To Be for more than 11 years - initially as a participant, then as a Board Assistant, and now as our Community Engagement Specialist. A fierce advocate for accessibility, inclusion, and community building, Jas has helped shape spaces far beyond our Prospect Lake site. Like the Ogden Point Breakwater, for instance - because of advocates like Jas, spaces like this are accessible to so many more people today than they used to be.

At Power To Be, this is what we work toward every day: creating spaces where everyone can experience the connection, joy, and beauty of nature.

This Red Shirt Day, we celebrate leaders like Jas, and we recommit ourselves to building a world where access isn’t just an afterthought, and where everyone - regardless of ability or circumstance - truly belongs.

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