BCCPD Volunteer Missing
Please contact the police if you have seen Violet.
January 24, 2012 For Immediate Release
BC Coalition of People with Disabilities issues plea for help finding missing woman, Violet Puskas
VANCOUVER – The BC Coalition of People with Disabilities is issuing a plea for public help to find a missing Vancouver woman last seen on January 3.
BCCPD Executive Director Jane Dyson says the sudden disappearance of Violet Elizabeth Puskas, a long-time volunteer with the organization, has been reported to the Vancouver Police Department by her family but she remains missing.
“Violet is an extremely dependable volunteer and when she didn’t call us or answer her phone we knew something was wrong,” said Dyson. “We are all really worried about Violet and are doing everything we can to try and find her.”
Dyson said the VPD has issued a Missing Person’s Advisory for Puskas after her family reported her missing. The advisory can be found online at:
http://vpdreleases.icontext.com/2012/01/10/missing-person-for-location/
Dyson said Puskas family last spoke with her on January 3 at her home in the Killarney neighbourhood of Vancouver and urgently want her to be found.
“Please Violet contact me and let know where you are,” says Violet’s frantic mother Antonia Winkelnen. Violet’s family and friends are distraught about her disappearance and are urgently asking the public to look out for her and contact the police if they have any information about her possible whereabouts.
Dyson said the BCCPD became concerned when Violet did not show up for her shift answering phones on January 4.
BCCPD staff has mounted a poster campaign to help Violet’s family find her, providing posters to over 200 non-profit organizations and women’s shelters and using social media and the BCCPD website to help the search for Violet.
For more information, contact the BCCPD at 604-875-0188.
Council for Canadians with Disabilities: Celebrating our Accomplishments
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) has published a new book called “Celebrating our Accomplishments.”
The book describes 30 years of progress by people with disabilities in the areas of inclusion, transport, access, social policy and human rights. The various authors are a veritable “who’s who” in the disability community.
It is a great read, and highly recommended. The book can be accessed on
line at www.ccdonline.ca.
Here is an excerpt from the forward by Laurie Beachell, Executive Director
of CCD:
“Today the expectations of Canadians with disabilities and their families
are decidedly different. Canada has become more inclusive and accessible
because people with disabilities have spoken out and ensured that their
voices were heard in public policy debates. The voices were heard at every
level of Canadian society, local, provincial, national and beyond our
borders. Canadians with disabilities today seek equality not charity. They
expect to attend their local school, get a job, have relationships, raise
their families, and contribute to Canadian society in the same ways as non-disabled Canadians. They expect barriers to be removed and no new
ones created. The changes that have come about have been made a reality because of the disability rights movement. Equally true is the fact that
this could not have happened without governments’ support of that
movement. That support must never erode for new challenges emerge
every day as our society and world find new ways of functioning and governing.”
Tetra Society of North America
The Tetra Society of North America provides custom-made assistive devices to its clients upon request. Since 1987, its volunteers have created thousands of devices for children and adults with disabilities. The devices they’ve created have ranged from safety- conscious items like wheelchair lights for nighttime travel, to artists’ brush-holders.
Visit Tetra Society’s website to learn more about them. To request a custom device, fill out their online order form.
