Originally Published October 2, 2023
 
The October 2023 Diversity Calendar is attached. Please print it to share with the people you serve, post it in a communal area, keep it handy to refer to on your own, and use it to spark conversation with others about worldwide issues, celebrations, traditions and memories.
 

In October, we celebrate:

  • National Disability Employment Awareness Month is an important opportunity to discuss, explore, and collaborate to solve the critical issue of inclusive hiring. We celebrate the tremendous contributions persons who experience disability make to our workplaces and communities.
  • Global Diversity Awareness Month: celebrating all the ways our different ethnicities, heritages, experiences, abilities, and other attributes contribute to more dynamic, innovative, and efficient workplaces. We live in a multicultural society and embracing the values of various cultures only strengthens our understanding and appreciation of the world.
  • Islamic Heritage Month: aims to celebrate, inform, educate, and share with fellow Canadians the rich Muslim heritage and contributions to society in sciences, humanities, medicine, astronomy, and other disciplines that have greatly benefited human progress.
  • Latin America Heritage Month: Hailing from all 20 Latin American countries, Canadians of Latin American origin make up a large and growing community in Canada. They enrich our national fabric with their diverse and vibrant cultures, cuisine, music, dance and more.
  • International Day of Older Persons on October 1: a day to recognize the contributions of older persons/seniors and examine the issues that affect their lives. Encouraging the enjoyment of their rights, addressing violations, and strengthening solidarity through equity and reciprocity between generations.
  • National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on October 4: This is a day to stand in solidarity with Indigenous families and communities to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls whose lives have been cut short, so that they are safe and free from violence, no matter where they live, work or travel.
  • World Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day on October 6: there over 17 million people impacted by this disorder. In many societies around the world, people with CP are kept uneducated and hidden away from the rest of the community. We can keep working on improving diagnosis and treatment, better quality of life and education, to ensure the same rights, access, and opportunities as everyone else in society.
  • Thanksgiving on October 9: A day of giving thanks to the harvest and blessings of the previous year.
  • Sukkot (Jewish holiday) – October 9 to 16: a Torah-commanded holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which those Israelites who could were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.
  • World Mental Health Day on October 10: A day with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world. An opportunity for people and communities to unite behind the theme “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right” to improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that promote and protect everyone’s mental health.
  • National Coming Out Day on October 11: this day serves as an opportunity to celebrate LGBTQ2S+ identities, decrease stigma, increase awareness, and advocate for change. For some LGBTQ2S+ folks this day is an opportunity to celebrate their identities publicly.
  • International Day of Eradication of Poverty on October 17: an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts and struggles of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard. The current reality shows that 1.3 billion people still live in multidimensional poverty with almost half of them children and youth. Inequalities of opportunities and income are sharply on the rise and, each year, the gap between the rich and poor gets even wider.
  • Halloween on October 31: it is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, though it shares important ties with various other celebrations from several faiths and cultures, including Día de los Muertos (or the Day of the Dead), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. Halloween made its way over to North America with British and Irish colonists, eventually becoming the holiday we know today, with traditions of door-to-door trick-or-treating and decorations.

The best thing about Karis Disability Services, formerly Christian Horizons, is the people – both those who use services and those who provide services. Each person brings their own unique perspective, history, culture, faith, and identity; and there is so much beauty in that diversity!
Catalina Hernandez, on behalf of Karis Disability Services Diversity and Inclusion Working Group