Since March 2020, DABC’s office has been closed to the public due to COVID-19. However, our staff continue to work remotely. Since the pandemic began, our organization has become increasingly overwhelmed by demand for our services, beyond what our staff capacity can provide within a reasonable time frame. For some of our programs, the waitlist to speak to an Advocate is several weeks long. As many of our programs and services target people with disabilities who are most in need, we are acutely aware that a long wait time affects them greatly, particularly as they await financial assistance.

We believe the reason for this increased demand is that prior to the pandemic, much of our client base was local – in Metro Vancouver. We are now able to assist clients remotely, and we have been receiving many more requests for assistance from across the province. Before the pandemic, many of our programs and services served clients exclusively in person in our office in Vancouver. For many of DABC’s programs and services, we are well known across the province for our knowledge and expertise; we are flattered that individuals requesting our assistance would prefer our Advocates to assist them, but the result has been longer wait times.

We are looking into more sustainable ways to increase our capacity, though as a non-profit organization reliant upon grants and donations, it is at times difficult to source more funding to increase our capacity. We apologize that our capacity does not currently allow us to meet this higher level of demand, but we are always willing to work with individuals to refer them to other non-profit organizations in their area that may be able to assist them in a shorter time frame. We ask that you please bear with us as we address this issue.