Advocacy in Action at Karis Disability Services

Summer & Fall Government Engagement
This summer, Karis joined Community Living Ontario (CLO) and Ontario Agencies Supporting Individuals with Special Needs (OASIS) in a strategic meeting with the Honourable Michael Parsa, Ontario’s Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Together, we highlighted the impact that increased Passport funding would have on people with developmental disabilities and their families—particularly in improving access to services like Community Participation Supports. We advocated for fully funded Passport allocations for all eligible individuals, and predictable annual 3% base funding increases to address more than 30 years of chronic underfunding.

We also invited government representatives to our Annual Community Meetings in September and were pleased to welcome participation from all levels.

Karis’ leadership plays a vital role in our sector advocacy. Eugene Versteeg, Senior Vice President, sits on the OASIS Board, guiding provincial strategy. Jennifer Gleva, Vice President of Human Resources, chairs the Provincial Network HR Committee and serves on OASIS’ Labour Relations Committee, keeping workforce issues—like recruitment, retention, and fair wages—front and centre.

Our Executive Directors in Ontario are meeting with MPPs, building relationships, and sharing about challenges faced by the sector. In Saskatchewan, we continue to work closely with the government and thank them for annual base funding increases that support wage growth and service quality.

#WaitingToBelong Campaign
Karis is also a strategic partner in the Waiting to Belong campaign (waiting2belong.ca). This campaign urges government action to address the 53,000+ people on Ontario’s Developmental Services waitlist—because everybody deserves timely support to live, work, and belong. I represent Karis in this work, and Carolyn Lewicki, our Director of Marketing and Communications, serves on the Communications Committee. Part of this campaign includes an upcoming public service announcement (PSA), developed by CLO and OASIS, highlighting difficulties and vulnerabilities that some people experience as they wait for services. A preview of this video PSA was shown at the CLO Conference in September, and it will roll out across traditional and social media later this month. A special shout-out to Dzidra Halar, Karis staff and Our Voices Matter council member, who was recently re-elected to the Council of Community Living Ontario and was an actor in the PSA.

Advocacy Toolkit
Karis also helped with an MPP Summer & Fall Advocacy Toolkit, distributed by CLO and OASIS, which offers practical guidance for engaging MPPs at community events. Importantly, self-advocates from Our Voices Matter contributed to the toolkit, sharing perspectives about engaging people with disabilities in advocacy efforts.

We deeply appreciate our teams for supporting people in their own advocacy and engagement. Advocacy is a team effort—and together, we’re building a more inclusive, responsive, and well-funded Developmental Services sector.

Let’s keep the momentum going.

Janet Noel-Annable, Chief Executive Officer