A need was identified – our community lacks recreational opportunties for youth and young adults with a disability and/or neurodivergence. An idea was born – let’s have individuals of all abilities come together in our community based on a shared interest – in this case we focused on playing games. We organized a GAMES NIGHT (really an afternoon) for players ages 14-24 to join us (about 7 volunteers) to come play with us (board games, video and arcade games) at a local gaming store in the mall. We had community members volunteer their time to set up and support youth with playing the games, we canvassed local businesses for donations and were able to offer pizza, pop, and a varitety of snacks. We invited youth and young adults of all abilities to join us. On the day off we had 20+ attendees, including youth and young adults with a disability and/or neurodivergence, family members, siblings and community members at large, playing games together. It was such a positive experience, that we wanted to do it again. We had a second GAMES NIGHT in August, thanks to the Neighbourhood Small Grants program, who made it possible for us to pay for the store rental twice 🙂 . This time, we had again 20 + attendees, many volunteers as well as snacks to offer. And this time we collected feedback. We received positive feedback from parents, participants and community members – this was an event that the community would like to see happen regularly. In collaboration with the business owner, we have decided to try out a regular ALL ABILITIES GAMES NIGHT every third Monday of the month starting January 2026 – with no cost involved. We will continue to support youth of all abilities be successful by having volunteers available – we have had community members express how much fun it was to do this and play games together. Thank you for your support – we could not have done it without the grant!!!!!!
