09/30/2026
Yesterday, we gathered for a Truth and Reconciliation Learning Café. A space to listen, learn, ask questions, and reflect on what reconciliation means within our work and our community.
One of the reflections we are carrying forward is that reconciliation and inclusion are connected.
As a developmental services organization, we often talk about belonging, choice, self-determination, accessibility, and ensuring that every person has a meaningful place in their community. Truth and Reconciliation asks us to apply that same lens to how we understand Indigenous communities, histories, cultures, rights, and experiences and to consider how systems can create barriers to participation, belonging, and voice.
It also reminds us that being inclusive means more than creating a welcoming space. It means being willing to learn about the histories that have shaped our communities, recognize where systems have caused harm, listen to Indigenous voices and leadership, and consider how our own practices can contribute to more equitable and respectful relationships.
For us, this means continuing to ask:
🧡 Whose voices are we listening to?
🧡 Who has access to our services and communities?
🧡 Whose experiences and histories are represented in our learning?
🧡 How can we create spaces where people feel respected, heard, and able to participate?
🧡 What can we do differently, not just today, but throughout the year?
Reconciliation is not a single event, a single learning session, or something we can check off a list. It is an ongoing process of learning, relationship-building, reflection, and action.
We are grateful for the opportunity to pause, listen, and reflect together and we recognize that the work continues beyond this Learning Café.
We listen. We learn. We reflect. We continue the work.
🧡
