Celebrating the First Year of EnableLink

EnableLink is one year old! To keep the site fresh and dynamic, EnableLink is soon to get a facelift. This redesign will help you get information in the fastest, most useful way. The University of Toronto’s Assistive Technology Resource Centre is working with us to make sure that our site is accessible and inclusive. Keep visiting to watch the changes and growth!

COMMUNITY INFORMATION ACCESS PROJECT
EnableLink is pleased to announce two important additions to its services. The first, the Community Information Access Project (CIAP), will provide timely and useful disability-related information on the accessible features and services of 40 communities throughout Ontario (with a view to expanding this service in short order!).

Included will be information in such areas as accessible community facilities, women’s resources, services for children, employment opportunities, housing resources, corporate initiatives, transportation, recreation, upcoming events and general community announcements.

CIAP is funded by the Ontario Government’s Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation. Volunteers from each participating community will be trained and supported in posting the information from their communities. This initiative will assist in the areas of fostering access, building community and acknowledging positive developments within its businesses, organizations and institutions. CIAP will also encourage travel,
commerce and technology within each participating community.

If you are interested in becoming a community volunteer, please contact the Canadian Abilities Foundation at (416) 923-9980, or send an e-mail to ask@enablelink.org.

Check in with EnableLink to see how this important project unfolds -- it could be coming soon to a community near you!


ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION DIRECTORY
Check out our Resource section for our second addition: a new list of accessible transportation resources such as cabs, buses and parallel transit offered in cities across Canada -- and around the world!

Please e-mail us (ask@enablelink.org) if you know of any good accessible transportation services in your area, areas that you have visited and/or areas that are missing from our list.

We expect that this list will grow so that soon, if you are planning a trip to any city, this EnableLink listing will help you get in touch with a transportation provider ahead of time!


ENABLELINK CHATS
EnableLink has hosted a series of chats in recent months. They included an ABILITIES Chat (in which participants asked questions and suggested topic ideas to magazine staff), a "Moving On" Chat (visitors discussed the television program and its upcoming shows), a Travel Chat (travellers with disabilities shared experiences and ideas), and a Parenting Chat (parents with disabilities talked about common issues and solutions). We’ve enjoyed "meeting" many of you on these chats, and we know you’ve found them of interest as well -- for instance, the Parenting Chat, which was scheduled to end at 10:00 p.m., actually continued on past 11:00!

In fact, the Parenting Chat was so successful that the Parenting with a Disability Network (PDN), a program run by the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT), has generously offered to host Parenting Chats for the next four months on the first Tuesday of every month, 9:00 to 10:00 p.m., EST. That’s June 6, July 4, August 1 and September 5. Mark it in your calendar, and see you in cyberspace!

HOW TO CONTACT ENABLELINK
EnableLink, c/o Canadian Abilities Foundation
489 College Street, Suite 501, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5
Tel.: (416) 923-9980
Fax: (416) 923-9829
E-mail: ask@enablelink.org