Programs & Services > Options > Inclusion
Inclusion
Food, Shelter, Purpose, Love & Belonging, we all share these basic human needs.
Some of us need door openers, advocates, skill developers, problem solvers and networkers to make sure we can fulfill these needs. This is what we do at Options!
Everyone belongs to the community
At OPTIONS we begin with the belief that everyone belongs to the community not by qualification but by right.
Inclusion is a word we hear in many places and contexts
these days but its origins are in the disability rights movement:
• It means seeing people's gifts, not their deficits.
• It means creating places and spaces where all gifts are recognized and
able to flourish, not only for the benefit of the individual but for the group,
• Inclusion is about acceptance and hospitality, adaptation and accommodation,
dreams and futures for everyone.
As Marsha Forest writes in her poem, Inclusion Melody, inclusion
is simply about belonging in the deepest sense:
• It is not a program, a thing,
• It is not a model or even something you do,
• It is a spirit, a song, a sense of longing, an embrace........
Inclusion is far beyond the words we say. It lies deep in our hearts. It is part of being fully human. Read Mercy Iyamu's poem Don't look away.
Inclusion, like knowledge, belongs to everyone and is the private domain of no one. It is a birthright.
Finding inclusive ways is a life long journey. Not easy, but neither is life. It needs people to say "we don't know how to do it yet, but together with families, children and professionals we will figure it out". It needs people to be open to asking questions and saying "I need your help". Inclusion needs open, caring and loving people singing a song of a new tomorrow.
Welcome to the journey!
If you would like to receive service from Options, please call us at 416-971-6326
