StopGap Foundation

📣 SAVE THE DATE!

The PROMise Party is back - and this year, we’re going Beyond the Ramp.

Join StopGap Foundation for an unforgettable evening celebrating accessibility, community, and the people who are helping move us toward a more inclusive future.

✨ PROMise Party: Beyond the Ramp
📅 November 4th, 7-10 pm
📍 Centre for Social Innovation - 192 Spadina Ave., Toronto

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of our annual fundraiser, and we’re making it a special one - with celebration, connection, a little PROM magic, and recognition of some incredible accessibility leaders.

The PROMise Party is all about raising much needed funds to support StopGap’s important awareness raising work and keeping the promise of accessibility alive.

The ramp was never the destination. Together, we're moving beyond it.

Save the date! More details coming soon.

Super excited to partner with City of Ottawa to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility and inclusion! We'll be raising awareness and actually removing barriers by setting up business and building owners with single-stepped entryways with a StopGap ramp courtesy of the City's investment in this important project! Know a restaurant or retail location in Ottawa with a single steeped entryway? Have them contact us at [email protected] for info about how to get involved!

is partnering with StopGap Foundation to provide free temporary ramps to local businesses on a first-come, first-served basis.

These ramps help businesses overcome single-step barriers while raising public awareness about accessibility.

Learn more about the program and how to apply: https://bit.ly/4yg7zpN

Alongside a team of Deloitte Canada employees, StopGap hosted an accessibility tour and panel

We went to various places in Kensington market, talking about how public spaces can support —or impede —accessibility needs, and what the role of community is in forging a truly inclusive society.

We were joined by:

Kevin Shaw, entrepreneur and accessibility lead at Tangerine Bank and who grew up with low vision and lost his sight at age 19.

Emily Akerman, a Deaf artist whose practice moves across painting, illustration, and creative writing, shaped by lived experiences of deafness, identity, and belonging

Mike Johnson - an entrepreneur who sustained a spinal cord injury at 16, and went on to found SCI Supply Inc., an online medical supply retailer and distributor that serves people with spinal cord injuries across Canada.

We’re so grateful to partner with Deloitte on important access-flourishing initiatives like these!

[ID: Slide 1: A photograph of a group of people huddled in front of a storefront. Bold, orange text reads: “Access Tour & Panel.” Below it is smaller font black text that reads: “with Deloitte.”

Slide 2: a translucent brown light brown background graphic introducing panel speakers. “Emily Akerman” in orange title text sits next to a cutout image of them speaking. A photo of Kevin Shaw standing next to their name in title text. Below Shaw is a cutout of Mike Johnson next their name in orange title text. Dashed arrows connect the names across the page.

Slide 3 and 4: Photos from the tour and panel: the panelists speaking; everyone gathers over a dining table of food; community members gather outside in a circle huddled in front of different places across Kensington Market.]

We’re stoked to announce the growth of our partnership with TTLMakerspace and introduce them as our new ramp builders!

For the last few years, we’ve had the pleasure of hosting ramp painting sessions and corporate team building events at the Makerspace - and now our ramps will be built there, too!!

Thanks to our Makerspace friends for being so awesome to work with and continually supporting StopGap’s work 🥰

[ID- Slide 1: Orange graphic with yellow title text that reads: “meet StopGap’s new ramp builders” with a white spotted arrow signalling to the next page. Below, a photograph of two people smiling standing back to back, with one person holding up a wooden ramp. Slide 2: TTL MakerSpace logo followed by a thick yellow “X” and the StopGap Foundation logo.]

Captured chronicles from our ramp paint day with Deloitte! This is Deloitte’s second year in a row participating in this full scope of our corporate team building offerings.

This is just one part of a larger corporate team building program with StopGap. This will include an accessibility tour of Kensington Market and panel with disability advocates this month so keep an eye out!

[ID: slide 1-An orange background graphic with a centre title that reads "Deloitte paint day." Beneath it is a photo of four people smiling behind a table with paint and StopGap ramps. slides 2-5-photos of organization and community members painting ramps in studio. slide 6- a video of someone spray-painting the StopGap logo overtop a stencil.]

Meet Amy, StopGap’s new Operations Manager! Amy joined StopGap as Operations Manager in 2026. She has worked in the environmental non-profit sector for over a decade, taking on a range of program management and operations roles along the way. Her experience spans program strategy, operations, event planning, facilitation, fundraising, and communications.

Amy operates on the belief that a truly sustainable world can’t happen without truly inclusive spaces. She is excited to bring her non-profit experience to support StopGap’s mission and its multi-dimensional approach to building more accessible communities.

Outside of StopGap, Amy is active in climate change education and engagement work. One project close to her heart is climate comedy songwriting, as she believes that creativity and laughter can be a powerful force for building more resilient communities.

When prompted about her favourite access practice, Amy says she appreciates when events have designated spaces to take breaks from sensory stimulation. “When I’m at events with large crowds, it’s really reassuring to know there’s a space available to sit down and calm my nervous system for a few minutes if I need to.”

Here’s to an access-making newcoming with Amy!

Many of you have been asking about our Co-Founder and Executive Director. You may have noticed we have been a little quieter than usual.

Luke has been experiencing some health challenges and has been uncharacteristically offline while he navigates appointments and procedures. We are very pleased to say that he is doing much better and looking forward to being back in the world of StopGap very soon.

This experience has highlighted—for Luke and the whole team at StopGap—a part of accessibility awareness we don’t often talk about. Living with a disability involves so much more than making sure our spaces have ramps. People with disabilities often have many, many appointments, changing medical needs, and complex schedules. Things like going to work or taking your kids to soccer practice, for example, often involves a dozen additional details and supports to coordinate that non-disabled folks may not even consider.

This invisible labour can slow us down at exactly the wrong time. It’s also a reminder that accessibility is about more than just ramps. It’s about making space for and accommodating individualized needs.

What does this mean for StopGap? Well, over the past few weeks, we had to delay a few projects, miss events, and decided not to pursue a grant due to reduced capacity. Prioritizing health is worth it every time, but having to pause or slow down is an unfortunate reality for an organization led by people living with disabilities. It has a real impact on the work.

Which also means: we need your support

If you are in a position to make a financial contribution to StopGap as we rebuild our momentum, we would very much appreciate it. Please consider a donation of any amount:

https://stopgap.ca/get-involved/donate/

Thank you, from the all of us at the StopGap Foundation family.