Staff and clients at Options Community Services Empower program are dreaming of a Surrey that is fully accessible to everyone.
They designed their entry to the Gingerbread Village contest to match this dream. The contest is hosted by the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association (BIA). This year’s theme was “Tomorrow’s Surrey, Today’s Gingerbread.”
“The gingerbread house creation was designed as an accessible and inclusive city, which is what I wish Surrey will be like in the next years, with more accessible areas for people with disabilities,” stated Empower client, Brandi Burant, 25, in an email to the Now-Leader.
Donations for the Surrey Christmas Bureau were collected with votes for the People’s Choice Award, won by Lee School in a close vote over Rosemarie Bergen’s second-place creation.
Winners of the BIA’s gingerbread contest were selected by a panel of judges in eight categories.
Empower’s creation won first in the non-profit/ community group category.
“I was very happy after seeing the final product, and I felt very proud of us, me and my peers, and the whole team for putting it together,” Burant added.
Jas Sahota, 21, echoes Burant’s dream for a fully accessible city.
Sahota, who uses a wheelchair, and is part of the Empower program, told the Now-Leader that while some places are accessible to him, there is still room for improvement.
READ MORE: Number of disabled Canadians doubles in 10 years, now 27% of population
Sahota suggested adding more space in stores and ramps so they are wheelchair accessible. Recently, he emailed the City of Surrey about a hole in the sidewalk that would cause his chair to dip every time he went over it.
“They came and they fixed it, now it’s perfect,” he said.
The Empower program helps adults with developmental disabilities, focusing on skill development such as communication and social skills, learning to cook, taking transit and learning to living independently.
“Like you got to make new friends and sometimes we’ll go for a walk to like Bear Creek market or catch the transit bus and take it to that SkyTrain,” Sahota said.
Burant said the Empower program has helped her grow as a person.
“It enables me to learn new things, such as being more independent with buying and scanning groceries, and also with being able to regulate my emotions.”
The number of Canadians with at least one disability has doubled in 10 years. Statistics Canada data shows that 27 per cent of people 15 and older – about eight million Canadians – reported having at least one disability in 2022, about twice the percentage who reported a disability 10 years ago.
– With files from The Canadian Press & Tom Zillich