Help Jameson Family with Human Rights Complaint

Our family needs help.

We filed a Human Rights Complaint against the YMCA of Greater Vancouver, after they discriminated against our daughter who has Down syndrome. We are hoping to make it to hearing at the BC Human Rights Tribunal and set a legal precedent for the inclusion of children with Developmental Disabilities in YMCA programs.

In 2021 our six year old daughter (at the time) was discriminated against in a YMCA after school program, based on her disability. She has Down syndrome, our family secured funding that would provide her with support to participate in this community after school program alongside her peers, and twin brother. For many weeks, The YMCA denied her the support she needed to participate, to feel valued and treated her without dignity. We officially filed a HRC and have invested thousands of dollars into this process so far - but we simply can't afford to keep going.

We are asking for help for two reasons. We want what happened to our daughter to be legally documented and a legal precedent set for any other family to cite if they begin a HRC. And, we want to highlight the inequity a family like ours faces when it comes to our child with a developmental disability being included in programs that enrich lives, teach valuable social skills and create opportunities for friendship that every child deserves to have. We want to remove the systemic barriers that keep a child like our daughter out of her community, and that begins with the financial barrier we are facing in moving this HRC all the way to hearing at the BCHRT.

We greatly appreciate any contribution you can give, or any share of this message. Thank you for your support, we can't do this without you.

Katie Jameson