Accessible Opportunities for Remote Community

We are living in a remote community in a National Park. There are limited opportunities for persons with disabilities to engage in social activities, and employment opportunities with accessible initiatives. Creating accessible opportunities for visitors in cultural experiential Newfoundland Indigenous tours is our focus. We have accessible vehicles to transport visitors to the remote wilderness to forge berries, engage in a picnic lunch, music and storytelling. Accessibility is extremely important for us in business and our personal lives as we have children with disabilities. We understand the struggles and worries families have in these situations. Ever evolving, we venturing into new directions with our main focus on accessibility for persons with disabilities. 

In 2017, in Newfoundland there were 37 350 persons with disabilities within a population of under 500 000 and area of 405,212 km². There are approximately 700 remote communities in Newfoundland.

Aug 2018 - The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that one in 57 kids between the ages of 5 and 17 have autism in Newfoundland and Labrador. Approximately 1 in 66 children and youth are diagnosed in Canada. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects around 168 million people around the world. This is just one disability. Around 15 per cent of the world's population, or estimated 1 billion people, live with disabilities.

In November 2021 our son asked us: What will he do when he got to leave school? What will I do when you die? How will I pay the bills? He graduated high school in June of 2022 and we had to be prepared. This business was providing accessible tours for visitors to our area to engage in Newfoundland indigenous experiences. This business was not suited for our child and his specific needs. Creativity steered us to create new products for this business. We kept our indigenous theme of forging and created a product line of soaps and candles to complement. Forging berries and juniper, collecting seaweed and sea glass, and incorporating these items into the soaps and candles helped to generate an opportunity to hire our son. That was the purpose, but that is not the vision. 

In our small town persons with disabilities lack the opportunities therefore we are looking to expand the ideas, incorporate technology and education to support these individuals. Our focus is to provide a social gathering space, learning opportunities and purposeful employment for individuals currently without such resources. We do understand that not everyone can work fulltime, regular hours or tourism based positions, however we have the knowledge and understanding to support these individuals. We are flexible even if it is a work schedule of 1 hour a day, 3 hours a week or 4 hours a month. We want to promote inclusion, and accessibility with a socialization aspect to enhance the opportunities for our local residents. 

Motivational speaking at schools/businesses incorporating accessibility and an educational component that would reach provincial, and international.

We are working to renovate our barn style garage to provide the location for this project. This location will be used to offer persons with disabilities a space for socialization, employment opportunities, education, and training. Upon completion of our renovations, we will be looking for support with the following:

1.  Moving forward into the future we will require equipment that will support creativity and engagement for persons with disabilities. 

• 3D Resin Printer and supplies – This technology will allow us to produce unique seamless molds for soap and candle development. These molds will offer our local businesses the opportunity to request custom products.

·   X TOOL P2 Desktop printer and supplies – This technology will produce unique product development opportunities, educational and creative outlets for residents and persons with disabilities.

·   Mini Biscuit Maker and supplies – Creation of customized biscuits will offer the opportunity to design customized products for our tours/lunches/info sessions. This would be unique items to our area, that local persons with disabilities could be creative and productive.

·   Big Stamping, Label Printer – This technology will allow for precise labeling and development of products. Assist with fine motor skills.

2. App - Tec Support: Our remote Newfoundland Indigenous tours supports persons with visual, hearing, cognitive and physical impairments by enhancing their experience. This app would have the ability to convert conversation into various languages and remove those barriers, allow guests to enlarge scenery and navigate the wilderness with technology in hand. Most of our guests travel with a companion who has a disability like a stroke, MS, autism, Spina Bifida, unable to speak and mobility issues. This app will include a touch feature for generic questions that the guest can ask without depending on another – independence. A component for desensitization to feature a Search and Find for families with children needing that support. Find animals, plants, rock formations of the local area in picture form. (I am looking for tech support on what applications and equipment we require to help with this idea).

3. Indigenous Culture – Assistant with purchase of furs, and Seal Pelt samples, Moose and Caribou Hid Supplies for education programming. These products will be sources through sustainable indigenous business. We are reclaiming our indigenous culture through storytelling, crafting, tufting and engagement with our elders. We are designing a program to share in the schools, corporate training, our indigenous tours, and local businesses. This program will be accessible for all abilities, promote indigenous culture through training sessions and allow us to support individuals of all abilities with employment opportunities.

4. Soft Skills – Our company began with an idea, evolved into a necessity. We see the opportunities we’re providing with lessons learned as we develop this business. We're a new business that requires assistance with soft skills. We believe your team’s expertise would benefit in Financials, Legal Matters, Monitoring/Evaluation, Product/Service Distribution/Technology. You would be welcome partners for knowledge and skills assisting us in tightening the business model. 

Our remote community is located on the west coast of Newfoundland 1.5 hours drive to the nearest urban centre.

We are one of seven enclave communities in Gros Morne National Park. Currently we are trying to support residents in the towns of Rocky Harbour and Norris Point because we share one school, one hospital, employment opportunities and are only 7 kms apart.

 We are reclaiming our Mi’kmaq culture, learning the traditions and storytelling which has empowered us to build this aspect within our business portfolio. The crafting of moose bags, beading, and tufting are skills we have gained from our elders. We will share the knowledge through in person sessions which will provide skills for persons with disabilities, increase awareness in the communities and enhance our business model.

 We are working towards providing accessible employment, training opportunities, and a socialization environment for residents. Currently residents with disabilities have limited opportunities for employment and no recreational programming designed for their specific abilities in our community. We want to offer these opportunities for all ages.

 We offer accessible Newfoundland Indigenous culture, hands on experiences, traditional ways of life and storytelling. The new opportunities discussed in the solution will allow us to support our visitors, increase our accessibility and engage with the residents.

The target population group for the training and development piece is Youth ages 15 – 30 with disabilities preparing to leave high school and living in our communities. This group of individuals are preparing for a future that currently lacks supports in our area. The equipment will allow us to provide opportunities for training, creativity, socialization, and purposeful empowerment opportunities.

 The cultural piece will help us to reach a younger demographic in schools. Acquiring the necessary supplies and equipment will allow us to engage their curiosity, provided skills and techniques lost to our area and support the rediscovery of their culture.

 The App/Tech support will allow us to reach a wider audience in the 55+ demographic. We have people from around the world visiting our National Park and we need to be able to support their communication and language barriers, families travelling with disabilities and providing the accessibility for all. In Newfoundland, in a National Park, there are not a lot of accessible options for guest and residents.

We believe that regardless of who you are, where you are from or what your ability maybe, you deserve to experience all that our area has to offer. We are a unique people Indigenous Newfoundlanders, welcoming, genuine and want to offer authentic experiences.

The team at Under the Stump understands the supports required for persons with disabilities as it is a part of our personal lives. We live with the challenges everyday in a remote community and we are continuously working to reduce limitations. We have built this business on the foundation of supporting persons with disabilities and connecting visitors to our indigenous Newfoundland experiences. Under the Stump is in Rocky Harbour and our family lives in the community too.

 Our community is working hard supporting the implementation of new businesses, and ideas for expansion in the future. We are engaging the residents by sharing our planning, getting their thoughts regarding our ideas, and adjusting. We have taken into consideration some of the suggestions from families with persons having disabilities. Many of our local groups are excited to see the program development, and they want to partner with comments that the ideas are great and needed in our area. Residents are also stressing the importance of this program opportunity in the school system, elderly support as we are an aging population on the island and opportunities for visitors. 

Tourism is the main economic driver for the province and our community; therefore, we are fostering ways of sharing our indigenous culture to support tourism and an enhancement of knowledge in the community. We will lift our citizens with disabilities to a higher purpose because everyone deserves an opportunity regardless their location.

We are applying to Solve because we believe that you have multiple opportunities available to excel our business. This business was created because of a passion, the love for our community, nature, Newfoundland and Indigenous culture and preservation of all. Throughout our journey we have evolved in many ways to help support the community, learn more about our culture, share storytelling of our ancestors, learning techniques from our elders and the necessary supports that are needed to engage persons with disabilities that live in our communities.

Business was a new concept for us, learning as we went, surviving a pandemic, raising children (Autism/Anxiety Disorder/ADHA) with the lack of support living in a small town. We recognize the disadvantages and advantage as we tried  to overcome them. We are fortunate to build this business, pivot through the uncertain times and now have a vision to foster opportunities for persons of all abilities however we are lacking knowledge in business. We are learning as we go in a small town without supports in accounting, monitory and evaluation practices, legal matters and technology influences. These are barriers we would like to overcome with your support. With the team you have at Solve we know you would be able to assist us in ways of making this business flow better, more efficient and economical. If we could get more support in these areas, we could concentrate on more important facets of this business, providing accessible, purposeful opportunities for communities members living with disabilities, lift them up to live with dignity and purpose. 

Trina Reid resides in the community that is connected to this project. After graduating high school Trina and I (Perry) left our hometowns in search of work. After many years of living in a city, health issues brought us home with our young family. Upon our return to our hometowns, we began to realize how the small towns were changing, more jobs, cultural awareness and acceptability. Over the years, Trina has held a seat on council in the local municipality for 5 years, coordinator of summer recreation programming for 8 years, volunteered with the recreation committee, community partner on the arena board and school council, she has worked in local tourism businesses for 17 years and a parent to our Autistic son. Throughout her career, Trina has had the opportunity to work with person with disabilities, support learning opportunities and share in lived experiences with individuals having disabilities in small communities. These communities have Mi'kmaq - indigenous ancestries, which in recent years, being brought back to the forefront. The indigenous culture was suppressed for so long that we have to enlighten our spirits, actively engage in seeking our knowledge keepers and elders to reintroduce the culture for this generation and educate the next generations. Trina believes in supporting the community as a whole, shared knowledge, elder teachings will help the community thrive through accessibility opportunities and education.

The solutions we are proposing is a new way of enlightening community members in rural towns. We are exploring new ways of thinking outside the box to support residents that struggle to find accessible employment opportunities and a in person social gathering platform. Some of the youth 15 – 30 have never held a job, have limited access to programming, and are unable to gain skills or training needed for encouragement in finding purposeful employment. We believe a champion is needed to help find a solution and implement strategies to over come the barriers in rural communities. We are up for the challenge and will move forward in uplifting individuals with disabilities. We see this as a future expansion project as an outreach to other indigenous communities and the region.

 The passion surrounding the learning component focuses on teaching a younger generation about our indigenous culture in interactive storytelling manner. The children will explore how our ancestors lived, techniques and crafts through storytelling and hands on experiences. Many of our children have indigenous ancestors yet they haven’t had the opportunity to explore their culture, or the family acceptance to learn their traditional ways of life. We did a pilot project with grades 3 – 6 to learn about medicine bags, to create a moose hid bag and engage in storytelling. These children asked such great questions, were eager to learn and were completely immersed into the session. Starting at a young age allows us to set seeds that will flourish when nurtured. Things like caring for the earth, sustainable hunting fishing and forging and traditional crafting. It is a piece of work that can bloom into an extraordinary program where we can partner with local groups, other indigenous partners to share techniques and culture and families who are interested in learning.

 We have identified the lack of tech support we currently have and were determined to find a solution. Creating this app/tech would make our accessibility more user friendly for 55+ persons and those with accessible requirements. This will give us the opportunity to share our knowledge in a safe and reliable manner. When we have everything in place, we will be able to share this opportunity with our colleagues, and partners. This will ensure that visitors will experience a seamless transition from tour to tour as we  accommodate with accessible features.

 This can change the market by highlighting the opportunities of sharing, partnership, and inclusion. It will broaden the minds of residents, business owners and visitors as we shape a brighter future. We are working towards a more sustainable future. We want to protect our environment and culture through our teachings, reduction of unsustainable products and partnerships. This will allow for growth in acceptance of persons with limitations, showcasing the possibilities when you think outside the box and ensuring we treat everyone fairly. Nothing is impossible, we just must find a way to make it accessible.

Our impact goals:

Employment opportunities – in the next year we will be able to offer employment opportunity to a minimal 3 individuals. We need to determine the requirements of each employee, understand their specific needs, identify how many hours they can comfortably work and set a schedule. The new product development and current soap/candle products require many sets to complete s finished product. Our goal is to work with everyone to determine which of those processes fit their strengths and the best times for the individual to be engaged. We know our residents and understand that the work schedule may vary from person to person. Their schedule may range from   an hour a day, 4 hours a week or 20 hours a week. We understand this concept and are willing to support each employee. Our 5-year plan would be to support 8+ employees. We would like to expand further in numbers however we have to ensure that our employees have their necessary training and position before we expand further. In addition, we are determined to have an multi use space that residents with disabilities can feel comfortable and safe to come and learn a new skill or technique.

Accessibility – Over the next year we would like to have the app/tech in designed so that we can implement the process and tech for our guests. This would breakdown language barriers and offer accessible functional communications for all visitors. Over a 5-year term we would focus on sharing the app with our colleagues and partners as we move towards a more accessible region.

Indigenous Culture – In the next year we would like to source sustainable furs, pelts, and products for our education piece. Prepare the presentation and partner with local schools to share the teachings of our Mi’kmaq culture. In 5 years, we are focusing on outreach to other industries, and businesses to strengthen their understanding of reconciliation, our culture and sustainability. We will be expanding our tour offerings to incorporate additional teachings, medicine/nature walks, understanding of mother earth, and how to reduce our footprint. New product development and hands on crafting sessions in tufting, beading and leather work can engage residents and visitors in a unique way. Connect with our National Park to offer sessions for visiting groups and their corporate training.

2025 - all renovations and expansions completed for welcome space and work space.

2030 - Accessible training opportunities for all residents or Rocky Harbour and Norris Point who have a disability.

2028 - Outreach in our region with training session of indigenous culture and crafting sessions.

2028 - Partnerships with National Parks and business collaborating in indigenous training sessions

2024 - Implementation of the new app/tech to support inclusion and eliminate restrictions to create more accessible experiences. 

Theory of Change

 Results

 Provide accessible employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in our remote community. Working with the individuals to design adequate scheduling, positions, job functions and training for purposeful employment and social gatherings.

Design training sessions to share our indigenous culture, teachings, and crafting techniques. Partnership with local business and corporate trainers.

Implement the app/tech to support accessible experiences and reducing barriers for persons of all abilities.

Assumptions

Residents with disabilities would avail of the opportunity for training and employment.

Funding would be available to support our business in purchasing the necessary equipment and supplies needed. Without the equipment and supplies the opportunity to train individuals and offer creative solutions in employment and session would be restrictive.

App/Tech would be complied on an iPad or other piece of technology, with the Language conversions, Seek and Find component, common questions readable and enlargement of photos options.

We would receive soft skills support through this funding: Financial, Legal Matters, Monitoring/Evaluation, Product/Service Distribution, Technology

 Activities

 Promote the training and employment opportunities. Ensure that our residents understand the concept we are providing, the flexibility and opportunity. We know all the residents and can approach families to ensure they are knowledgeable in our business plans and opportunities we are delivering.

 If we were successful in receiving this funding, we could sustainably purchase the required items. If we are unsuccessful, then it may take longer to acquire funding or save to purchase the necessary supplies. We will succeed and acquire the items as needed gradually. 

We want to create an app that would support our remote Newfoundland Indigenous tours for persons with visual, hearing, cognitive and physical impairments by enhancing their experience. This app would have the ability to convert conversation into various languages which would remove language barriers, allow the guest to enlarge scenery and navigate the wilderness with technology in hand. Most of our guests travel with a companion who has a disability like a stroke, MS, autism, Spina Bifida, unable to speak and mobility issues. This app will include a touch feature for generic questions that the guest can ask without depending on another – independence. A component for desensitization to feature a Search and Find for families with children needing that support. Find animals, plants, rock formations of the local area in picture form. (I am looking for tech support on what applications and equipment we require to help with this idea). We are currently using an iPad and 2 way mics to support our guests with visual and hearing impairment however it is not the appropriate technology to use.

Under the Stump is working had to providing accessible employment, training opportunities, and a socialization environment for residents. Currently residents with disabilities have limited opportunities for employment and no recreational programming designed for their specific abilities in our community. We want to offer these opportunities for all ages. 

The products and services we provide are locally developed and presented by a resident of the community. We live, work, and play here in Rocky Harbour which helps to support retentions of money in our region. The products (soaps and candles) provide visitors locally developed crafts for purchase (made right here products). As we partner with local businesses for our products, it helps to keep business spending local, reduction of foreign wholesale purchases.

Our guided tours offer new experiences for visitors in tourism to learn our indigenous cultures, and Newfoundland traditions. When visitors have experiences that keep them in the local areas longer, more money is injected into the industry and community. Our customers want authentic Newfoundland Indigenous experiences shared by a local showcasing their heritage. We can revive the storytelling and traditional experiences that will be lost if we don’t take the initiative to share. Our plan includes year-round experiences, that will provide opportunities for visitor which in turn will allow accommodations, craft shops and restaurants to remain open longer it the seasons. It is a win-win situation for our community, region, and province.

New product development will provide interest into our community and offer employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Though we are a for profit business, we still engage our community and citizens with free tours into the remote wilderness and donations for fundraising events with local organizations. We all must work together to ensure the prosperity of our community and to help lift individuals who currently don’t have support. We have to think outside the box to build a brighter future!

Currently we provide multiple accessible Newfoundland Indigenous cultural experiences for all abilities. These tours offer a revenue stream during the months of May through October. In April 2023 we purchased equipment that will help us to expand these tours year-round to increase revenue. Current product development of soaps and candles generates income through wholesale  and retail avenues. We have partnered with a local hotel and cabins, who purchase soap boxes which they provide as a complementary takeaway for their guests. Investing in our future, we are continuing to search for partnerships with accommodations to incorporate the soap products as a take away and to use locally sourced soaps, shampoo and body bars in their bathrooms. We have been fortunate to partner with various retail businesses in Newfoundland to sell our products. As we look forward into the future, new product development will enable us to create new revenue streams and increase profits. The new equipment we have outlined, will enable us to educate and train persons with disabilities, allow for creativity and development of unique products. The opportunity to share our indigenous culture with corporate businesses will offer another revenue stream. We will search for grants, donations, and investors to support our efforts in providing accessible employment options. 

During start up 2017, our focus was primarily on set up, promotion and product development. Through the pandemic we re-evaluated our business, integrated new opportunities for travellers and created a parking lot of ideas for future review. In the past year we have been successful in acquiring funding to assist some of the parking lot suggestions. They included renovation of an existing building to create welcome and production space and gather space for residents. The funding has provided the opportunity to design these spaces with accessibility in mind for future employees. The work is beginning in June 2023 with completion by year end.

Investment Funding was provided by ACOA $100,000 and Under the Stump got a loan to matched the funding. We were successful and awarded an Accessibility Grant of $70078 to complete the work.

 This funding is going to put us in the position to begin the next phase of our plan, to acquire needed supplies and equipment that would support education, training and development in employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.