We Change Lives with Skills, Support and Inclusion
The Delta Life Skills Society (DLSS) exists because, more than three decades ago, parents saw a need that still exists today – the long summer break was often a tough time for children and youth with special needs and their families, and there were no programs that offered relief. Over the summer, these children needed support and structure to thrive, to keep practicing the non-academic life skills they learned in school, to feel included in their community, and to have opportunities for fun – just like all children.
In 1990, when DLSS first started, there were few summer programs in Delta and none of them had the trained staff and level of support required to host children and youth with a wide range of disabilities. Even today, while the number of summer day camps in general has grown, the Delta Life Skills Summer Program is the only one of its kind in Delta.
The first Delta Life Skills Summer Fun Program (as it was then known), was launched with just under 10 participants. Today, the six-week program hosts 35 to 50 participants each summer and continues to be run, as it was back then, by a dedicated volunteer Board of Directors – many of them parents of children living with disabilities.
Our program lasts a summer,
but our impact lasts a lifetime!
Our Summer Program may only last for six weeks each year, but our Mission and Vision as an organization is to have a positive effect on our participants and community that will last a lifetime.
Our Mission:
To enhance the quality of life for children and youth with special needs by developing life skills through recreation, while promoting inclusion in the community.
Our Vision:
Empowering children and youth with special needs to become valued members of their community.
Our Values:
Everyone deserves:
- To feel safe, supported, and included in the community
- To be shown acceptance, understanding, respect and dignity
- To gain future independence in life and social skills
- To have fun!
Our Foundation is building a legacy for Delta children with special needs
When we started our charitable organization decades ago, we only needed one non-profit entity: the Delta Life Skills Society. Over the years, we recognized the need to provide a legacy of funding that would not only cover the current year’s operating costs, but also create a reserve of funding for future camps, so that we could ensure summer camp would always be there for the kids who need it most.
- The operating costs of the current Summer Program run by the Delta Life Skills Society are funded
- The operating costs of future camps will be funded, and that we can maintain and build a summer day camp program for the future
604-314-7052
president@deltalifeskills.net
PO Box 18625, Ladner Postal Outlet, Delta, BC V4K 4V7
Website designed by
Indalma Creative