No one truly dares alone.
Over the past year, we asked you to dare with us: to speak up, to stop looking away, to stand up for kids with disabilities.
Together, we dared to transform pediatric disability care in Canada and around the world. And with donor support, we’re doing just that. Here are just a few milestones we reached in the first year of our $100 million Together We Dare campaign.
Scaling and Spreading Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Technology
Since 2019, the research-integrated clinics at Holland Bloorview have been using BCI technology. Through a new partnership with Empowered Kids Ontario, we’re increasing access to this life-changing technology by expanding this clinic across Ontario. Now, across Ontario, over 200 kids access a clinic in their community, spreading and scaling the powerful combination of research and clinical care.
Building Inclusive and Accessible Communities Through Play
Holland Bloorview and March of Dimes Canada are working together to make sure kids with disabilities have opportunities to participate and play meaningfully. Empower Inclusion is a series of tools designed to help organizations implement Holland Bloorview’s evidence-based, recreational, and life skills programs in their own communities, so more kids can access them. Thanks to the generous support of The Slaight Family Foundation, this partnership is expanding access to life-enhancing inclusive programming for children and youth with disabilities across the province and beyond.
Launching Our Food Security Program
Through our social needs screening and sociodemographic data collection efforts, we are gaining a clearer understanding of the challenges families face—including accessing appropriate nutrition. Thanks to a generous $3 million donation from David and Lynn Coriat, and Gary and Donna Slaight, Holland Bloorview launched a food security program to respond in a more equitable, consistent and intentional way. The program includes meal vouchers for all inpatient families, culturally relevant food options and food education programming, grocery cards for eligible outpatient families, and more.
Growing Our Developmental Pediatrics Training Program
There are 1 million children and youth with disabilities in Canada—and yet there are only 159 developmental pediatricians in the country, with 23% retiring in the next 5 years. Holland Bloorview is filling urgent gaps in care through our developmental pediatrics subspecialty residency and fellowship program. Thanks to The Slaight Family Foundation, we are doubling the number of trainees each year.
Welcoming New Scientists to the Bloorview Research Institute
Our Bloorview Research Institute is growing faster than ever before, helping us bridge critical gaps between research and care. Over the past year, we welcomed a new BCI scientist, a precision health scientist and a clinical trials fellow to help shape the future of pediatric disability care.