Leading with lived experience

The excitement in the room is palpable. Dale Kendel, Shelley Fletcher, Tara Mullen, and Valerie Wolbert, who are on the advisory committee for The Manitoba Inclusion Fund, just spent a long afternoon reviewing project proposals and are deep in the decision-making phase.

From the turn of the century until 2018, the Manitoba government housed people with intellectual disabilities at the Manitoba Developmental Centre, a facility about 45 minutes west of Winnipeg. Residents of the centre, spanning age groups and demographics, faced abuse for decades, until a group gathered together to make change. David Weremy, who lived at the Portage la Prairie facility in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, was the representative plaintiff for the residents in a class action lawsuit that resulted in the official closure of the centre in 2024. The remarkable story of Weremy’s lawsuit was made into a moving documentary film by People First Canada (PFC)—an organization that serves as a connection point for Canadians rallying around disability rights that was instrumental in the Developmental Centre’s closure— called These Four Walls. Part of the recommendation that came out of the class action lawsuit was the creation of The Manitoba Inclusion Fund, led by people with lived experience. Wolbert explains, “Historically people with intellectual and developmental difficulties have not had a voice, it is essential we move away from that practice. People themselves have said, ‘I want to have my own voice, don’t speak for me.’ It is essential for this fund that every project involves the people who will be benefiting from the initiative, not just as recipients but in the development and creation of projects, so they are guiding the process.”

The Fund is the first of its kind at The Foundation and represents a long overdue shift in disability rights. Fletcher, the Executive Director of PFC, explains, “This fund was created because people were harmed, and the question is always there; what would survivors think? It’s on the table with every proposal we saw, the question of whether survivors would think the project is a good idea.”

The Fund’s advisory committee has been managing and implementing the entire granting process and expects to have selected the successful projects by summer 2025 (at the time of writing final decisions had yet to be announced). The group had around $90K to distribute and worked to find a balance between four objectives:

Educational programming related to the history of institutionalization of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Manitoba.

Inclusion initiatives (or projects) that support assisted decision making and the development of support networks development. This could also include other initiatives that support community living.

Projects that promote or support community inclusion for people with intellectual and development disabilities in Manitoba.

Training for people and agencies providing support for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Wolbert, who has been a disability rights advocate for decades and who currently serves on PFC’s Board of Directors as Treasurer, underscores the need for people with lived experience to have a voice, saying there is too often “talk about numbers and figures, but they forget about the people – nothing about us without us.”

Through her board appointment, Wolbert was part of talks with the government and eventually joined the community advisory group for the Fund. Having a community aspect to the Fund was crucial from the start, and for Wolbert the process has been “amazing.” She explains, “As we were reading the proposals, there were connecting threads throughout — it’s very hard to choose… The best thing that could come out of this fund is to support people with intellectual disabilities, to help them
with their life, and to keep people out of institutions and considered as individuals.”

To learn more about the documentary film These Four Walls, visit thesefourwalls.com.