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Contact ConnecTra

For more information about ConnecTra workshops, presentations, outreach, information centre and other events, please contact:

Program Coordinator Stephen Street

Phone: 604-688-6464 ext. 115

Fax: 604-688-6463

Email: info@connectra.org

207-3077 Granville Street

Vancouver, BC  V6H 3J9

(If you have any queries about the website, be it corrections or updates or requests for a link, then contact Communications Coordinator Matthew Wild at 604-688-6464 ext. 110 or matthew@disabilityfoundation.org.)

What is ConnecTra?

The ConnecTra Society provides outreach services primarily for mobility and physically impaired individuals in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. It serves as a connecting agency, linking people with physical disabilities to activities and programs that will, over time, allow them to grow, gain confidence and become increasingly more active and involved in community life.

ConnecTra aims to get all people with significant disabilities living in the Lower Mainland as socially active and involved as possible, setting the stage for many to consider training, education and work.

This includes: workshops and presentations covering recreational, employment and lifestyle issues; offering one-on-one recreation planning sessions; and becoming a clearinghouse for information about available options.

ConnecTra is qualified to provide these services because:

• Since 2000, ConnecTra has successfully filled an outreach role that connected people with significant physical disabilities to activities and programs.
• ConnecTra is uniquely connected to affiliated societies that offer recreational activities and programs (hiking, sailing, music and gardening) and custom adaptive devices to overcome physical barriers (Tetra Society), all specifically designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
• ConnecTra has strong community connections, having entered into partnerships and collaborations with other agencies in the field
• And it has a track record in encouraging active participation in the workforce

“We will be encouraging people to be constantly seeking ways to increase their level of activity,” explains executive director Duane Geddes. “We are not saying that everyone has to be a sailor or a hiker, just that everyone has the capacity to be more active than they are. We can all do more with our lives.”

Connectra is a non-profit society, incorporated in 1999, working with people with significant disabilities. It is one of the six affiliated societies that make up the Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation.

ConnecTra is a connecting agency, linking people with disabilities to activities and programs that will, over time, allow them to gain confidence and become more active and involved in community life (it also includes self-employment group Abilities Business Co-op). ConnecTra is one of the six affiliated societies that make up the Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation.

Others are:

British Columbia Mobility Opportunities Society provides opportunities for people with physical disabilities to explore the outdoors, centered around the TrailRider. This is a specially designed, single-wheel, remote access wheelchair that enables the user, propelled by two able-bodied helpers, to take part in wilderness and recreational activities.

Disabled Independent Gardeners Association provides people with significant physical disabilities the opportunity to become involved in gardening. DIGA recognizes gardening as a recreational activity that can enable people with disabilities to develop skills, build self-confidence, learn and grow.

Disabled Sailing Association of British Columbia promotes freedom and independence by providing people with disabilities the opportunity to actively participate in an exciting and challenging outdoor sport. Uses a specially designed adaptive sailboat, the Martin-16, which allows joystick or (mouth-operated) sip 'n' puff control. DSA has affiliates in Victoria, Chemainus, Kelowna, and other cities across Canada.

Tetra Society of North America provides volunteer engineers to design and construct customized assistive devices for people with significant physical disabilities. Volunteers work one-on-one with people with specific needs that cannot be met by commercial assistive devices.

Vancouver Adapted Music Society works with musicians of all levels of ability. Provides karaoke and entry-level music making, along with fully equipped performance studios at the GF Strong Rehab Centre and George Pearson Centre, both in Vancouver. The society also promotes more accomplished musicians through its website, by arranging performance opportunities, staging concerts and through recordings.