For over 26 years, the Calgary SCOPE Society has been committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Calgary SCOPE provides a wide range of high-quality, innovative services to support people with disabilities, with the goal of helping them become valued, contributing members of the community. Calgary SCOPE carries out its work through programs that connect staff with people with disabilities and their families and friends. The organization offers several programs, outlined below.

Outreach Team

A free family outreach program brings an outreach team to the home of adults and children with development disabilities who are struggling with behavioural, emotional, or social challenges. The outreach team supports 120 families and individuals at any given time.

Community Support for Adults

The Community Support program for adults offers long-term support to individuals who face tremendous difficulties as a result of a mental health or social problem. Their goal is to create safe and satisfying lives for these people in the community. This team supports 50 individuals with a developmental disability. Some are seen 5 hours a week, and some are supported 24/7.

Journeys – Seniors

A Journeys program for seniors provides workshops, community development activities and travel opportunities for seniors. The innovative day and residential programs help older adults live life on their own terms.

Community Development – All Ages and Abilities

Community development programs are also available for people of all ages and all abilities. The Community Development team specializes in educating and raising awareness about the issues facing people with disabilities. A variety of activities are included in the Community Development program: The Disability Action Hall, a collective of people with disabilities and their allies who make life better for disabled people in the community; men’s and women’s support groups; and the Picture This film festival which showcases international films about disability culture.

ClearView is very happy to make a $1,000 contribution to Calgary SCOPE’s innovative programs for people with disabilities.

It has been a year since we launched our “Charity-of-the-Month” campaign, and we are thrilled with the results.

We launched this campaign to give back to the greater Calgary community. Each month we donated $1,000 to a local non-profit organization. The organizations were nominated by people in the community through mail and our website. Winners were selected by random draw – you can read their profiles on our Charity-of-the-Month page.

Some of the beneficiaries of this program include the Calgary Learning Centre, Camp Carmangay, Bow Cliff Seniors, the Meow Foundation of Calgary, and Child and Youth Friendly Calgary. The campaign also supported efforts to eradicate childhood sexual abuse through Little Warriors. Other recipients include the Sistership Dragon Boating association which raises awareness about breast cancer, and associations supporting research into cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. Christmas hampers and “Shoeboxes of Love” were also donated through the program.

I was overwhelmed by the impact the campaign had on me personally. It was such a rewarding experience. I met the people behind these organizations and I can tell you that their dedication is really inspiring. At this time of year, and with the economy as it is, I encourage other businesses to also give back and do what they can to make a difference.

To learn more about the ClearView Plumbing Charity-of-the-Month program, visit http://www.clearviewplumbing.ca/charity-of-the-month/.

Our last entry focused on the ClearView Charity of the Month program for December, which is the Christmas Hamper Program. The Christmas Hamper program is a great local charity that is dedicated to helping Calgary families in need; we are so excited to be supporting it. Our ClearView Charity of the month program for November is a little more global in its efforts. It is an organization called Samaritan’s Purse, and the program is Shoe Boxes Full of Love.

The purpose of the Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Boxes Full of Love program is to provide toys and comforts to children across the globe who are not as fortunate as the many children here in Calgary. Every year people from Canada and other parts of the world come together in their efforts to send children simple gifts and a lot of love. These little gifts of items such as crayons, dolls, or games do not require a lot of money but the hope and happiness that they provide is immeasurable.

All of the staff and friends at ClearView were proud to take part in such an inspiring charity; it really helped us to bring on the right kind of holiday spirit as we entered the season. If you would like to learn more about Samaritan’s purse, Canada, please visit www.samaritanspurse.ca.

Do you have a charitable organization that is near and dear to your heart, please visit the ClearView Plumbing & Heating website to tell us about it. Every month for the next 12 months, we will select a different charity to highlight on our website and blog. We will also donate $1000.00 to that charity.

The holidays are coming and everyone at ClearView is definitely in the holiday spirit. For those of you who do not know, ClearView has begun a Charity of the Month Program and we are very excited about the Calgary charity that was chosen for the month of December.

The charitable program that will receive our attention this December is the Christmas Hamper program, organized by the North East Calgary Adopt a Family Society. The idea behind this great holiday program is to provide a little holiday cheer and comfort to families throughout Calgary who are struggling to a little harder than other families.

The staff and friends at ClearView are committed to helping three low income Calgary families by filling one hamper for each family with enough food staples for one week, all of the fixings and trimmings for a great holiday meal, and gifts for the children in the family.

The entire ClearView staff is excited to shop for and fill these hampers our selves but it is our customers and clients that we really need to thank because without you, this giving would not be possible. We are taking a portion earnings from each service call we make to help pay for the contents of the hampers. If you are interested in doing more to help, however, you do not need to bust a pipe! Simply visit the Christmas Hamper Program website, call (403) 590-6656 or send an email to necaafs@shaw.ca.

Do you know of a great charity that we can focus on next month? Please fill out a quick form on the ClearView Plumbing and Heating Website. For the next 12 months we will randomly select a charity every month to focus our attention and efforts towards. We will donate $1000 to the charity and try to raise awareness about the cause.

Let’s keep the holiday spirit going strong all year long!