The Citizen Space
“Citizenship is in short one of the profound categories that makes us who we are, one of the crucial ways humans go about creating a life for themselves. Without it we are cut adrift from each other - and from ourselves.”
At Skills Society Citizenship is at the heart of what we do.
At its core, citizenship is about having your rights respected, being surrounded by people who love and care about you, having meaningful things to do, and feeling like you belong. However, this sense of citizenship doesn’t always extend to people with disabilities. For far too long people with disabilities have not been seen as valued citizens deserving of respect, dignity and rights and recognized for their many contributions to our communities. Skills Society has a long history as a learning organization - seeking to improve services and systems to work better for people. Our commitment to challenging the status quo fuels a culture of creativity and innovation. Alongside people with disabilities, their families, and allies, we are continuously learning and exploring ways to support people’s citizenship - whether it be through arts activism, grassroots community developmental approaches, or social innovation.
Below are a few examples of how the Skills community strives to support the citizenship of people with disabilities.
Citizen Action Hall
Citizen Action Hall, a collaboration with the University of Alberta, brought together people with and without disabilities to explore ideas and actions that support engaged citizenship.
Project Citizenship
People with disabilities are frequently discriminated against and undervalued as full participating citizens. Often treated as second class citizens, people with disabilities are not given the same rights and opportunities as others.
Story sharing has the power to inspire, shift attitudes, build empathy and move people to action. Project Citizenship uses a unique approach to bring people with disabilities, University of Alberta students and staff from Skills Society together to explore the notion of citizenship and ways to remove barriers that limit citizenship and full participation for individuals with disabilities.
Through story-telling, individuals with disabilities are empowered to gain control by shifting the power balance from the caregiver to the individual, resulting in individuals making decisions that best meet their personal needs.
What started as an innovative two-year partnership project with the University of Alberta Community Service-Learning has become an internationally recognized, enduring social change initiative for Skills Society and our community.
CommuniTEA Infusion
CommuniTEA is a mobile tea house that travels to neighbourhoods around our city — creating a “pop-up” town square where people come together, get to know each other and strengthen connections. In today’s fast-paced society, fewer people are connected to their communities in meaningful ways. CommuniTEA becomes a gathering place for people, creating opportunities for meaningful exchange.
People with disabilities are the key leaders of this initiative taking the role of community builders in Edmonton neighbourhoods. What happens at the events is as unique as every neighbourhood, from tea with naturally flowing conversation to music while engaging in dialogue about an important topic that matters to their community. The nature of this initiative is such that it requires the contributions of community members to make it work. The essence of a CommuniTEA Infusion event is to give, connect and contribute.
MyCompass Missions Feature
The MyCompass Missions feature provides guided “choose your own adventures” for the people we serve to discover themselves - their gifts, wishes, and new things to try as an engaged community member. The Missions feature helps people to learn by doing; taking people step-by-step through different experiences to try new things, and reflect on whether they would like to explore something similar or incorporate that activity into their routine. Currently in its pilot phase, this feature is soon to be launched to everyone within Skills Society with information on how to explore and engage with it!
Lisa and Jennie, Community Builders, serving tea at a community event
Artist Scott next to collages he created as part of Making Our Mark, a collaborative community project
Opening reception of Project Citizenship Exhibit at SNAP Gallery 2012