October is Community Living Month

Read the 2012 Press Release here.

Every October people across B.C. celebrate the gifts that people with developmental disabilities bring to our vibrant and diverse communities. Exciting events across B.C. draw out citizens who care about common issues. Neighbours and friends help with city clean-ups, food bank drives, pay-it-forward days, community festivals, employer recognition breakfasts.

Lights! Camera! Inclusion!

This year BCACL is celebrating Community Living Month with an exciting new video contest. Videos will showcase the gifts and abilities that people with developmental disabilities and their friends, families and supporters bring to the community. Read more about the video contest here.

Community Living Month Calendar

We want to help you get the word out about your October events. Do you have a community living month event that you would like to post to the community living month calendar? Click here to submit your event online.

History of Community Living Month

Building on an idea first conceived by members of the Victoria Association for Community Living, BCACL launched a community development initiative called "Celebrating the Spirit of Community Living" in 1996. This project encouraged members of community living associations and their community partners to plan events during the month of October which would celebrate the gifts and talents that people with developmental disabilities bring to their communities. The project generated great enthusiasm and the idea began to expand. Inspired by the tremendous success of others, organizations across the province and country began to adopt October as a time to celebrate community living.

It is now an annual tradition for municipalities throughout the province. The BC government and the Canadian Association for Community Living have joined with us to proclaim Community Living days and weeks during the month of October.

The BCACL Board of Directors first endorsed October as Community Living Month in June 1998. Designating the whole month for celebrating Community Living enables groups to choose days or weeks during October that best suit their community, or to host events throughout the month if they wish.