Mission Statement

Our mission is to foster community, honour diversity,recognize strengths, encourage participation and provide opportunities for the people we serve to enjoy a rich and rewarding life.

Beaufort Association Programs are based on the following core values;

Choice –We view choice as the expression of growing autonomy in both small, everyday decisions and large life-defining matters. Personal choice defines and expresses individual ability. Valuable activities increase the variety and significance of the choices a person makes.

Competence –Developing competence through the experience of growing abilities and skills in the performance of functional and meaningful activities, with whatever assistance is required. Valued activities will increase a person’s power to define and pursue objectives which are personally and socially important to them.

Respect –Respect is the experience of having a valued place among a network of people and valued roles in community life. Valuable activities will challenge limited, negative stereotypes about a person and provide access to valued roles.

Community Presence –We make opportunities to share the varied and ordinary places that define community life. Valuable activities increase the number and variety of ordinary places that a person knows and can use.

Experiential learning provides the individual with a concrete example that can be used to review, reflect and derive conclusions about the activity. This also creates an ‘experience base’ for future choices. Program planning involves the opportunity to experience a wide variety of activities, that can be used to connect to others in our community. Having first hand knowledge to share, enhances our profile and increases our perceived value.

Having ‘experiences’ often requires money that is not always readily available. This is the impetus for supporting individuals to have paid work. This, in turn, helps to impress the value of money and what it will buy, and so budgeting becomes an important skill, spending choices need to be made, priorities established.

We are fortunate, in our community, to have a range of Adult Special Education and Modified Regular Programs offered through North Island College. College instructors consult with program staff to develop courses of interest and utility for many program participants. Staff are able to support individuals to complete assignments and have extra ‘tutoring’. Several participants have been certified in Emergency First Aid and Food Safe Programs as well as computer skills, literacy, health and nutrition and budgeting. Day Programs have offered vocational training, i.e. screen printing, business machine and cash register operation workshops as well as interest programs in drama, music, scrap-booking and social media.

Each person is encouraged to develop their own daily program from a wide variety of choices available to them. Staff are mindful to offer the least amount of support necessary for the individual to make decisions and access activities. In addition, we support friends ‘getting together’ and help with planning arrangements and practical supports such as transportation. Although we do have a public transit system in our community, it does not serve all areas and has no evening, week-end or holiday service.

We assist individuals in keeping in touch with friends and family, by telephone, email and snail mail.

As a group and as individuals we learn and discuss rights and responsibilities. We learn and understand our democratic and legal rights, and rights about mobility and equality, granted under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We also learn about self-advocacy and rights and safeguards, about understanding our vulnerabilities, how to protect ourselves and others, and how to get help.