• The Network

  • The BC Spinal Cord Injury Community Services Network helps make BC the best place for people with physical disabilities to live, work, and be active.

  • What is the BC SCI Community Services Network?

     

    Formed in 2010, the BC Spinal Cord Injury Community Services  Network (BC SCI Network) is comprised of five disability organizations working together to help make BC the best place for people with physical disabilities to live, work, and participate in the community. These organizations include Spinal Cord Injury BC, BC Wheelchair Sports Association, BC Wheelchair Basketball Society, The Disability Foundation, and the Neil Squire Society.

     

    While each of our organizations is known for doing a lot with a little, we all recognized that we could do a whole lot more by working together. Through the complementary services that we each provide, the BC SCI Network is helping people with physical disabilities to overcome key challenges in their life by supporting physical and mental health and wellness, reducing social isolation, helping to find accessible housing, providing information on supports for daily living and other priority resources, increasing the confidence and skills to return to work, providing opportunities to engage in active, healthy lifestyles through sport and recreation, and providing support to be active and engaged members of communities throughout BC.

     

    In 2017, the provincial government, through the Ministry of Social Development, provided the Network $5 million over five years to deliver more services to more people in more parts of the province. View our Strategic Framework to learn more about the BC SCI Network makes a difference.

  • Who We Serve

     

    Although we share a common objective of serving people with spinal cord injury, each of our organizations serves a much broader range of people with different forms of disability, as well as family members, caregivers, students, athletes of all abilities, and others who provide support and care to people with disabilities.

    The support we have received from the government has allowed us to create collaborative service delivery positions, to share office space, and to keep our staff members, which include 47 people with disabilities, employed and providing service throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

    This, in turn, enabled us to keep over 18,000 members connected, informed, and supported during the pandemic. In addition, it also allowed us to provide invaluable information resources and online support through 350,000 unique visits to our website-based services.

    • Our Impact

    • By working together, and with the support of the government, we have greatly increased participation in our life-changing services. Working with Indigenous partners, we have begun to co-develop programming for Indigenous persons with disabilities.

       

      In 2021 alone, we served 18,343 people, welcomed 3,149 new members to our community, connected with 44,710 followers of social media, and received over 800,000 website page views from visitors looking for information, programming, and support on living well with a spinal cord injury.

       

      Going forward, our collaborative services will focus on four priority areas of impact:

       

      • The physical and mental health and wellness of people with disabilities and their families
      • Access and inclusion
      • Participation by people with disabilities in BC’s labour market
      • Advancing Indigenous reconciliation and co-development of culturally safe and relevant services with Indigenous communities


      Within these areas of impact, our work will focus on five overarching priorities:

       

      • Supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities in BC’s pandemic restart
      • Providing services that support meaningful participation and quality of life of people with disabilities and their families
      • Supporting the implementation of the Accessible BC Act
      • Increasing the efficiency and efficacy of operations through shared resources, knowledge, and infrastructure
      • Securing ongoing funding and resources

    • Member Organizations

    • The BC SCI Network includes BCWSA and four other partners including:

       

      BC Wheelchair Basketball Society – The BC Wheelchair Basketball Society (BCWBS) provides wheelchair basketball programs across British Columbia.  BCWBS is focused on delivering programs and services that strengthen the sport from the grassroots level to high performance athletes. Founded in 1983, BCWBS is the provincial sport organization responsible for the delivery of the sport in BC.

       

      Disability Foundation – The Disability Foundation is a charity that helps people with physical disabilities to feel empowered and inspired to redefine what’s possible. Through the work of their six affiliated societies they help foster connection and build community.

       

      Neil Squire: Neil Squire uses  technology, knowledge and passion to empower Canadians with disabilities. With four distinct focus areas: Innovation, Digital Literacy, Employment, and Assistive Technology. They help people with disabilities find employment, access assistive technology, improve their digital literacy and more.

       

      Spinal Cord Injury BC – Spinal Cord Injury BC (SCI BC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with spinal cord injuries and related disabilities, adjust, adapt, and thrive. Currently, they serve over 2,800 British Columbians and their families and friends, by providing answers, information and unique community experiences that change lives.

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