June News 2025

CRPD UBC
Jun 11
6 min read

The Building Capacity Project Newsletter

It’s been six years since the Building Capacity Project began, and as we work through our final month of funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, we want to take this time to thank all the incredible community partners, organizations, and individuals across the country who collaborated with us, walked alongside us, and made this work so deeply meaningful. We wouldn’t have accomplished any of this without you. (And we’re working to find options for promoting our Action Guide, and helping the work continue!)

Read on for more on what we’ve built together, what we’ve learned, and where we go from here.

HOT OFF THE PRESS - BCP ACTION GUIDE

NOW READY FOR THE WORLD!

The BCP’s Community Action Team (CAT) is thrilled to share the release of a resource that’s been almost two years in the making. Our freshly launched guide, Building Community Capacity for Dementia Inclusion: An Action Guide, is designed to help communities and organizations become more inclusive and reduce the stigma of dementia.

This practical tool outlines a clear, seven-step process for either adapting current programs or creating new, accessible initiatives from the ground up. It begins with relationship-building and community engagement, takes readers through community conversations, and visioning and planning stages, and finishes strong with comprehensive modules outlining implementation, evaluation, and sustainability.

In the last few months leading up to the guide’s release, the BCP team beta-tested the work with numerous community groups and partners for whom the content would be relevant, ensuring we had everything as dialed in and ready to go as possible. At the end of May, it was time to launch.

A memorable online celebration May 21st gave team members an opportunity to reflect on the powerful collaborative journey behind the project, and to share their hopes for the impact this work will have in the future. We can’t wait for you to check it out and let us know what you think.

Explore the full guide and summary report at here.

VANCOUVER

Our community partners have all been hard at work growing their initiatives, reaching out to new community assets, and connecting with and supporting each other along the way. Here are some recent highlights.

Kitsilano Neighbourhood House

Kits House’s Memory Buddy program has established more buddy pairs than ever and has increased the frequency of their viKitsilasits. They’ve also attracted a more intergenerational cross section of volunteers, changing and enhancing the flavour of activities the buddies enjoy. Now they’re hard at work, after securing United Way grant funding and ensuring the program can sustain itself and grow well into the future.

Dementia Co-Creacion Academy

The Dementia Co-Creation Academy has successfully run their Hi-Five and Co-Creation Café for quite some time now and has added in dynamic intergenerational activities along the way like the volleyball tournament co-organized by youth members of their community. Their commitment to creating joyful, creative environments and staying open, responsive, and flexible to emerging opportunities has been really effective!

Follow them on Instagram to stay up to date with all the exciting things they have planned!

South Granville Seniors Centre

SGSC has successfully built out their Spanish language Happy Memories Café created by Executive Director Danna Garcia. They run a variety of joyful, brain strengthening activities in English as well, and both programs are inclusive of all language speakers. Recently, they hired a dementia expert to help make their facility fully dementia inclusive. They’ve also connected with the Vietnamese Cognitive Wellness Centre who will be offering dementia-specific services on site soon.

ASK Friendship Society

ASK Friendship Society has grown and expanded their bus service this year thanks to all the team’s hard work connecting with community, streamlining processes, and grant writing they’ve received another year of funding to expand the program. They’re exploring ways that clients with lived experience of dementia on the bus can be supported by companion volunteers who can help ensure the trip goes smoothly. And they’ve developed shared software for their bus rental schedule, making it easier for community organizations to find dates that work.

ASK’s team is now hoping to create a “trip book” resource that will include information on all the different features of trips they offer, (cost, distance, accessibility, etc.) helping groups makes decisions on where they’d like to travel. They’re also diversifying their transportation fleet and have hired an additional driver to meet the growing interest in their program.

Burnaby Neighbourhood House

The team at Burnaby Neighbourhood House hired Tightrope Theatre to come offer a series of engaging sessions at their BC Housing Sites this winter. They also purchased more large-scale jigsaw puzzles and other fine-motor-skill-based activities for participants to enjoy, like ping pong and mini golf sets. They’re piloting a day program at one of their sites that already offers programming, and they plan to schedule more Tightrope Theatre sessions going forward as well.

Gibsons Seniors Society and Sunshine Coast Resource Centre

This powerhouse partnership who joined the Building Capacity Project just two years ago, has hosted a number of brain health workshops that have been wildly successful in their community. One featured Dementia Advocate Myrna Norman talking about her lived experience, another was built around the BCP cards, (featuring quotes from people with lived experience that act as conversation prompts), and lastly, they held a session on brain health put on by guests from the Alzheimer Society of BC.

Future plans include a “Brainbusters brunch” support group for those who could benefit, and more educational and support resources available in print for community members to access. They’re also hosting a monthly “coffee and conversations” focused on older adult mental health.

Purple Angels

Myrna Norman, the creator and facilitatory of this support group, is advocating for rehabilitation access for people with dementia, and has received some funding to support the continued operations of the group. In addition to running her joy-focused group, she believes and knows first-hand just how healing and helpful this kind of service can be.

“[We need to] really serve the people that need it… but the people that really need it don’t often have the opportunity.” She continues to use her voice for positive social change.

Watch all the incredible work these partners have done in our short documentary below.

THUNDER BAY

Dementia Café Brings Colour and Joy

Dementia Café hosted a fun and creative pot-painting event mid-April in honour of Art Week. Participants took home pots they painted where they could plant the beginnings of their own gardens, and they raved about the fun they had in the process.

In May, the Café hosted the Pelimanni Orchestra, a special guest group who filled the space with live music and smiles. Couples and friends joined in dancing spontaneously, making it a joyful spring afternoon to remember.

Caregiver Speaker Series Launches

The North West Dementia Working Group (NWDWG) hosted the first event of its Caregiver Speaker Series at the 55 Plus Centre in April. Group members shared personal stories, caregiving strategies, and local dementia resources they found useful along their own journeys. Their honesty and insight moved the audience both to tears and laughter. Plans are underway to host additional sessions both in Thunder Bay and in some of the nearby rural communities.

Exploring Insects at Dementia Gardens Speaker Series

Lakehead’s BCP team was thrilled to welcome local entomologist John Walas for our 4th Dementia Gardens Speaker Series event at Chartwell Hilldale Retirement Residence in April. John’s engaging talk and live butterfly samples sparked curiosity and wonder among attendees. A heartfelt thank you to Chartwell for once again hosting this enriching event.

In May, the series hosted Dr. Harvey Lemelin (Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism, Lakehead University), exploring the cultural meaning of lawns and alternatives to traditional landscaping in “Replacing Colawnization Through Community.”

Through Our Eyes

In May, the North West Dementia Working Group brought back their “Through Our Eyes” presentation and panel discussion to the Lakehead University campus. Members of this powerhouse advocacy group, including Nisha, Trevor, Janice, Susan, and Bill, bravely shared their experiences.

“I was scared at first, but whenever I come to Dementia Café, I feel relaxed and comfortable—no one judges me,” Trevor told the crowd.

The richness of the presenters’ insights, and the warmth with which they were received by the crowd left everyone feeling seen, validated, and encouraged.

CERAH 2025 Conference Presentation Accepted

Lakehead’s BCP team is excited to announce that our abstract, “Belonging and Purpose: The Experiences of People with Dementia and Care Partners in Participating in Research,” has been accepted for a one-hour workshop at the CERAH Conference: Aging Across the Life Cycle, taking place Oct. 2–3, 2025 at the Superior Inn Hotel, Thunder Bay.

SENDING YOU INTO SUMMER

While our funding is in flux for the next while, we want to reassure our loyal contacts, community champions, advocates, and friends, that we are not going anywhere. The work will continue. Our dedication to building dementia inclusive cultures and spaces is as strong as ever. And we will keep you posted on what’s next.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. We are infinitely grateful for each and every one of you.

Have a GREAT summer!!!!

~The BCP Team