Reimagining Community Inclusion – ESATTA Final Video Mission Self Advocacy Group Made

We thank all members who helped make this project successful, including our supporters, grant funders, and community partners. Your support made this work possible.

The Mission Self-Advocates Group was the first group to participate in this project, known as the ESSATA Project. Through this experience, we have built knowledge and leadership capacity, and we now want to mentor other groups that are interested in doing similar work.

Our goal is to see communities become more inclusive and accessible, not only in practice but also within their policies. We believe this project should be recognized as a model for CLBC and government decision-makers. Self-advocates have invested significant time and energy to learn about the community we live in—Mission—and to clearly identify what works and what needs improvement.

We strongly emphasize that this project must be funded and expanded to support other community groups. The work completed by the self-advocates of Mission demonstrates the value of lived experience, research, and community engagement. When we say “support us” and “listen to us,” this project shows exactly what meaningful inclusion looks like.

This work is necessary, valuable, and impactful. Self-advocates with disabilities worked hard to gather facts, share their voices, and contribute to positive change. We respectfully ask that this work be taken seriously and supported through sustained funding.

Thank you.