The Paracor Initiative is a pilot project that provides information on community leaders and influencers, organizations, local events, and news in the disability community. 

Mission
Our goal is to help people with disabilities become more active in  life by providing an information source for them on disability-related recreational activities, competitive sports and events, fundraisers and festivals.

We introduce leaders from the disability community who inspire positive changes and open the dialogue toward the possibilities.

In addition we showcase community organizations by the type of disability services they offer if for example you are looking for services to address learning disabilities then you will be able to search our database using the words learning disability along with your location.

Vision
Our vision for the Paracor Community in the coming years is to expand the reach of our centralized information source internationally. We envision adding new information avenues and including mobile tools to increase the flow of information to those who need it.  With Paracor we hope to lead the way forward to a Canada that understands, includes and is fully sensitive to the needs of those with alternative abilities.

Defining Disability
Defining the term “disability” is continuous and ever evolving. Due to systemic ideology and framework, we often fail to capture the experience and identity of people who live with disabilities. To align with our values, Paracor will critically rely on the commonly used definition from the World Health Organization as shown below.

     “Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations.”

     (https://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/, WHO, 2019).

From a perspective of self-determination and self-identification, Paracor acknowledges that “disability”, as defined above or a variation thereof, is a term used by some individuals who live with long term, chronic and/or episodic physical, neurological, developmental, sensory and/or mental health conditions. We also acknowledge that the term “disability” may not reflect the self-identification of all individuals living with conditions that impact their functioning.  From a social model perspective, we support the removal of social, political and environmental barriers as a step towards open access and the re-framing of disability as diverse, unique and strengths-based.

Additionally, we acknowledge that a deficit in equal access to employment exists for other equity seeking groups who have found themselves at a bio-psycho-social disadvantage.  In the spirit of honoring equity, diversity and inclusion, we are committed to understanding where disability may intersect with other experiences of disadvantage to provide a diverse collection of resources.

Paracor Values

We believe that community is rooted in relationship. To create a community of access, we aim to create a courageous space for people living with disabilities to find connection.  Paracor’s values are at the foundation of the tools, services and opportunities that we provide and we hope that you will find sense of community when you visit our site.

VISION – Community of access

RELATIONSHIP – Community is rooted in relationship

SELF-DETERMINATION – Empowerment is found in self-identity

ACCEPTANCE – Courageous space cultivates acceptance

COMMUNITY – Connection is found in community

RESILIENCE – Survivorship is at the heart of resilience