Support Children’s Microboards

Donate to Support the Formation of Children’s Microboards

This holiday season we are asking for your help to create and maintain Microboards for children with disabilities. Microboards, small groups of family, friends, and advocates, are proven ways to create sustainable, person-centered support systems. They allow children with disabilities to live meaningful, inclusive lives and grow into adulthood with a strong, personalized support network.

With Your Donation, We Can:

Help

Help families build supportive Microboards that provide individualized care and self-directed supports.

Empower

Empower children with disabilities to have a network focused on their lifelong goals and well-being.

Provide

Provide resources and support to navigate the journey of raising children with disabilities.

Benefits to Forming a Child's Microboard:

A Supportive Circle for the Whole Family.

It creates a supportive circle for the whole family, allowing everyone to get involved while parents are still young and able to guide things – a time where lots of families need support.

Trusted Group of People.

It assures that the child has a trusted group of people outside of their parents, creating support as parents age.

A Way to Reach Out to Community. 

Parents may struggle to ask for help, and a Microboard provides them with a way to reach out to their community.

An Easy Way for Others to Offer Support.

It offers a way for others who want to help, but don’t want to overstep, to engage and support the child and family.

Better for Future Planning.

The earlier people get involved with a Microboard the more time there is to plan, have clear intentions, and build a network that can help explore a range of options for the child’s future.

Child Can Build their Future.

The child is provided with the support and information they need to choose their future.

Contributions to this campaign will go directly to forming Microboards for children with disabilities, providing personalized networks that support each child’s unique needs, goals, and dreams. Microboards offer children the guidance, advocacy, and friendship they need to grow and thrive within a community empowering them to adapt to life’s changes.

Thank you for your support, 

Vela Canada

Impact of a Child's Microboard...

In 2018, after three years of providing 24-hour care for our son, our family reached a breaking point. Our son, who has complex needs, was suspended from school at age 10 due to safety concerns, which left us with minimal respite hours. I was physically and emotionally exhausted, struggling with depression, and felt unable to keep advocating for our son’s needs. My husband, Anthony, saw how much I was struggling and recognized the urgency for additional support. He reached out to Inclusion BC and Vela Canada, and together, we began a new path of advocacy.

After several meetings and persistent effort, we secured funding in 2019 from the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) Maple Ridge and the Ministry of Education, SD 42, to establish a Child Microboard. This brought a profound transformation to our lives.

For the past five years, the Microboard has restored our sense of dignity, helped us recover from caregiver fatigue, and renewed our hope for the future. With a consistent, caring staff team, our son has built a positive self-image and overcome his own struggles with depression. He’s well-supported by staff while staying closely connected to us, his parents, who now have the energy to spend meaningful time with him. He’s also involved in hiring decisions, ensuring new team members are a good fit for him.

Given our son’s complex needs, providing a quality life with dignity would not have been possible without the Microboard. We are incredibly grateful to Vela Canada, MCFD, and the Ministry of Education for trusting us with this support and making a hopeful future possible.

~ Nellie (Mom)

A child with disabilities being pushed in a stroller2018

A young man with disabilities being pushed in a bike trailer2024

My son, who has Autism, ADHD, OCD, and challenging behavior, needs a lot of attention and engagement in activities because he is full of energy. Unfortunately, respite homes and schools were not safe environments for him due to his disabilities; he has many sensory issues and engages in dangerous behavior. He requires a very customized environment and a structured schedule, as well as consistent support from qualified staff.

When we got approved for a Microboard while he was under Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), it was life-changing for both of us. We were able to create a safe environment, customize a home school program, and hire the right support workers to help him in his daily life. As a result, he started to enjoy life and thrive. My son went from a life of struggle to a life of fulfillment.

Having a mentor from Vela support us and guide us through the Microboard process from beginning to end was invaluable. They were always there to enable me to make my own decisions on how to create our Microboard. Establishing a Microboard at an early age brought our family together to make decisions and address my son’s extensive needs.

~ Anonymous

A young man with invisible disabilities

We established a Microboard for our son, Moses, to address his complex needs and ensure he receives long-term, secured, and structured care. Creating a Microboard has been a lifesaver for our family. It offers a customized and more precise approach to managing our son’s daily well-being. This individualized service is tailored to meet specialized needs and can adapt as Moses progresses.

Having a Microboard provides us hope as a family, uniting us as a couple raising Moses with a strong sense of identity and security. Most importantly, it provides us with peace of mind, allowing him to be his authentic self, grow, be productive, contribute to society in his unique way, and have the opportunity to live his life to the fullest.

– Clarissa (Mom)

Two parents hugging their son

Parents with their son sitting in front of Santa

We received our Microboard funding last year. Putting it together and writing the proposal would not have been possible without Vela. We participated in online events run by Caitlin Goodsell and other team members on the Vela site. Our facilitator Lori Cochrane guided us through the entire process with empathy and generosity with her time. Having the Microboard for our 16 year old means we have the ability to choose who provides care and arrange therapies. We still turn to Lori when we have challenges and she’s always willing to offer helpful advice. Despite all the hard work, having this Microboard means we can keep our child at home with their family instead of being in care.

~ Anonymous

My name is Penny and I have a grandson who was 16 at the time, and was in need of 24/7 care in his own home in Kamloops. We found it difficult and frustrating to navigate the government services with all the acronyms used, and needed someone to help with the process. In establishing his care, this was so new to me that I needed someone to hold my hand and help us through the process. Vela was there for us.

With the assistance of Vela to establish a Microboard, my grandson is now set up with the care he needs and our anxiety has been relieved. I heard about Vela through word of mouth and talking to anyone I could who has children with special needs. My favorite thing about having a Microboard was that it helped establish a framework for us to build his future.

~ Penny (Grandmother)