Image: Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and Chilliwack Kent MLA Kelli Paddon visit staff and students participating in the IMPACT 2.0 program at the Chilliwack Society for Community Living Friday. / Contributed by K. Slingerland

By Fraser Valley Today Staff

Developmental Disabilities

Chilliwack teens benefitting from provincially funded work transition program

Apr 20, 2024 | 11:45 AM

CHILLIWACK — A provincial government program to support youth with Developmental Disabilities is continuing in Chilliwack. Sheila Malcolmson, the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction visited the Chilliwack Society for Community Living offices Friday to get a first-hand look at the results of IMPACT 2.0.

The program assists youth with developmental disabilities transition from school to the workforce. It focuses on providing support and services to youth between 16 and 19, helping them to secure meaningful employment.

Chilliwack Kent MLA Kelli Paddon is impressed with the program. “When people work together to deliver programs such as IMPACT, youth gain confidence, independence and self-awareness, and everyone benefits from a more supportive and inclusive community.”

Karen Slingerland manages the program in Chilliwack. She is seeing the benefits of the program on a daily basis. “It has been my joy and pleasure to be a part of this amazing program, watching youth develop their self-confidence, build independence and boldly step out into community, making connections to find employment.”

When the program winds up next year at least 36 locals will be among the 360 individuals who will have benefitted. The province earmarked $2 million to IMPACT 2.0 last year following the successful conclusion of the original IMPACT program which ran from 2020 to 2022.

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Chilliwack is one of ten communities across the province hosting the IMPACT program. The Chilliwack Society for Community Living is receiving approximately $140,000 over the course of the three-year program that began in 2023.

The Chilliwack Society for Community Living is a non-profit organization that has been supporting those with developmental disabilities in the Chilliwack region since 1954.