FSJ Association for Community Living to be highlighted in Inclusion BC film

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Executive Director of the Fort St. John Association for Community Living, Joseph Lang, says it will be featured in a film by Inclusion BC.

One of the association’s programs is the Employment Program, where employers hire individuals from the association.

Lang says this program is recognized throughout the province, and Inclusion BC is making a film with the Fort St. John Association for Community Living featured.

Lang hopes Inclusion B.C. will come in October because “we told them in November the weather is not as predictable.”

Inclusion BC will feature some of the individuals currently working in the community, the employment program, the association, and the city of Fort St. John.

“We have a lot of individuals who celebrate ten years with an employer,” Lang said.

“That says a lot about this community and the ability to work together with us.”

He also adds that the individuals in employment are pretty motivated.

“It shines a light on what they have to offer as individuals,” Lang said. “It’s about getting a good employee who’s dedicated to your company.”

The Fort St. John Association for Community Living supports people with developmental disabilities, helps them connecting with the community, and improves their quality of life, explains Lang.

“We do that through residential programming, day services, community connections, employment,” he said.

“We’re actually expanding our mandate to help people with complex needs because we’re trying to meet some of the needs that are in the community, but we have a fairly broad spectrum of services right now.”

Another program they run that was started two years ago, the Growing Connections Program, has continued “through the generosity of some local farmers.”

Lang says the association has a couple of plots of land, with one currently hosting sheep.

“The individuals we support get to interact with the animals and learn to care for them,” Lang explained.

“It’s a positive self-esteem-building activity.”

On the other plot of land, the association grows crops they sell at the local farmers’ market. This year, it even added an aquaponics program.

“[It] is an indoor agricultural program that has both agricultural and aquatic components,” Lang said.

He explains that a system connects a large fish tank and growing beds, so the fish waste fertilizes the soil, and the plants purify the water.

Right now, it houses shubunkin, a very large variety of goldfish that the association’s members named, but the system has the potential to grow fish for food as well, and Lang hopes to expand this program in the future.

The association is funded through Community Living BC; therefore, many of their referrals come through there, but families can also reach out to the association directly, Lang says.

“We spend a lot of time writing grant proposals and getting donations from the community to help people who may not otherwise get help,” Lang said.

The association can be contacted by phone at 250-787-9262, by email at info@fsjacl.com or in-person at 10251 100th Avenue, Fort St. John.

The full interview with Joseph Lang can be viewed below: