SAAAC Autism Centre

🚀 We're thrilled to announce the launch of our 9th Annual Walk-A-Thon at SAAAC! 🌟 This year, we're focusing our efforts on supporting the Chance Fund. This crucial initiative provides financial aid to families, helping them afford necessary autism services like therapies and group programming at SAAAC. Every donation makes a real difference! 🏃♀️🏃 Create your own health and wellness challenge and gather support from family and friends. Whether you choose to walk, practice yoga, or cycle, your participation raises vital funds and awareness. 🧘♂️🚴♀️ 📲 Want to support this great cause? Register your challenge today and join us in making essential services accessible to families in need. REGSITER HERE: https://lnkd.in/eRtpCV2H

Reflecting on an inspiring evening from a few days ago at our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on April 24th! A heartfelt thanks to all the incredible volunteers whose dedication makes our work at SAAAC so impactful, helping to make autism services more accessible to our community. 🤝 Special thanks to Dr. Biruntha Sritharan, M.Ed, MD, FRCPC and Director of Social Impact at SAAAC, Lakshmi Solomons, for their stirring speeches. Dr. Sritharan’s journey from SAAAC volunteer to Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist is a testament to the transformative power of volunteering, while Lakshmi’s insights as a parent underscored the critical role volunteers play in supporting our families. Also a big thank you to the to the Balasingham Foundation for presenting scholarships to some of our outstanding volunteers that evening, highlighting their exceptional contributions. Huge appreciation to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for enabling us to rebuild and strengthen our volunteer program through the Resilient Communities Fund. Your support is essential to our success. And of course, a big round of applause to Leslie Ibon, Manager of Volunteer Programs at SAAAC, and Sandrine Theva, Human Resources Coordinator at SAAAC, for organizing such a memorable evening. Here’s to many more! 🎉 Thank you, volunteers, for your passion and dedication. You truly make a difference! ❤️ #VolunteerAppreciation #SAAAC #CommunityImpact #NationalVolunteerWeek

Happy National Volunteer Week! We'd like to celebrate and recognize our dedicated volunteers from SAAAC Autism Centre who have given hours of their time supporting our clients, families and staff. Thank you so much! Each member of our staff feels honored to work alongside you to serve our community. This year we are truly appreciative of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Through their Resilient Communities Fund, we have been able to rebuild our volunteer program post COVID. #NationalVolunteerWeek #OTF

Congrats to our Founder and Executive Director, Geetha Moorthy, on her Women of Influence+ Award today! We're proud of you Geetha!

Wonderful to see our creators at work! This season, Goodness Gift, the social enterprise arm of the SAAAC Autism Centre, is creating some incredible products that you will love, especially our handmade, hand-poured candles. Each candle is unique and beautiful, made by our very own Goodness Gift employees. Shop our new candle collection here: https://lnkd.in/gXejQZPH #goodnessgift #thesaaac #inclusiveemployment #autism

Today, April 2, we observe World Autism Awareness Day, kicking off a month dedicated to understanding and supporting the autism community. This month we would like to highlight a pressing issue: the unemployment crisis among autistic Canadians which stands at an alarming 77%. Goodness Gift offers job training and employment to autistic and other neurodiverse individuals as a social enterprise that crafts high-quality gifts. Help us bring meaningful employment to adults with autism and other neurodiversity. Share goodness and spread awareness as we address the barriers to employment and create more inclusive workplaces. Thank you to the Goodness Gift advisory board - Geetha Moorthy, Kavitha Aryharan, Sue Nathan, Kingston Yogendran, Lakme Judge, Cara Jackson, Aran R. Raviandran, Naomi Gichungu, Sung Kang, Talia Schwebel, Lorrie King, Mike Lake, Neeraj Varma, Christine Scott, Candice Maxis, CRHA, @Joy Oii, Martha Umar, Robyn Matsumoto, The Northpine Foundation, Talia Schwebel #autism #autismacceptance #autismemployment #choosegoodness #goodnessgift

🎉 Major Milestone Alert for our social enterprise, the Goodness Gift 🎉 In 2023, they proudly provided over 5,800 hours of employment to their incredible team of neurodivergent and autistic employees. That's a leap of 5,000 hours from 2021! 🚀 A heartfelt THANK YOU to every individual and business who has joined us on this journey. Your support is creating waves of change, actively reducing unemployment in the neurodivergent community. We also have major news coming about the the Goodness Gift in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

We are launching our Canada CARES grant today! Make a lasting impact on autism caregiver support. The Canada CARES grant offers your organization specialized training to adopt our proven, award-winning CARES program, prioritizing mental health and wellbeing. Apply to receive $20,000 to bring CARES to your organization! Apply: https://lnkd.in/gikbt8hE

Our very own Munira Khilji and Usha Shanmugathasan, recently participated in a webinar hosted by The Ontario Caregiver Organization on the importance of cultural competence in healthcare settings. They discussed how understanding cultural differences is crucial in caregiving roles, emphasizing that relationships with healthcare providers are strengthened through cultural competency. This knowledge allows for respectful, mindful, and sensitive interactions, making a positive impact on the care provided. A wonderful talk. Take a listen and share! #CulturalCompetence #CaregivingConnection #InclusiveCare #HealthcareDiversity https://lnkd.in/gC-ur-iR

Celebrating our amazing outreach team 🌟 They're all about bringing people together and making real connections with the community. Thank you Leslie Ibon, Sandrine Theva, and Munira Khilji for all your incredible work.