CSR has always been a part of K&P’s culture, and over the years we have proudly supported community organizations that align with our company values. Since 2021, our CSR efforts have been focused on a cause close to our hearts: advancing accessibility in the workplace. Our goal is to empower communities, employees, clients and partners to stand for individuals that are displaced from the workplace due to all forms of disability and work towards creating a workplace that is accessible for all.
Recently, K&P had the pleasure of volunteering our time at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Holland Bloorview) in Toronto and at the Villa Medica Rehabilitation Hospital in Montreal. Holland Bloorview is the only children’s rehabilitation hospital in Canada focused on combining world-class care, transformational research, and academic leadership in the field of child and youth rehabilitation and disability. Villa Medica, a subsidiary of leading healthcare provider Group Santé Sedna in Quebec, specializes in providing patients with the full spectrum of rehabilitative care, including occupational therapy, neuropsychology, and speech language pathology.
In September, our Montreal and Ottawa teams had the opportunity to support Villa Medica’s resources initiative to help re-organize the patient media library over the course of two sessions. The rehabilitation hospital had just received several boxes of donated books that needed to be carefully organized for patient accessibility needs as they readjust to everyday life. During session one, the K&P team diligently organized books by genre, language and patient interests. During the second session, we moved on to shelving the books and even met some patients and the hospital’s emotional support dog, making the entire experience a truly rewarding one. The library is a key part of the hospital’s recreation department, where both recreational therapy and social activities such as bingo, hockey nights and a walking club are offered to patients during their stay. Located on the hospital’s top floor, the library offers an escape from the traditional hospital environment and provides a space for patients to socialize throughout the day.
K&P’s Toronto team spent two sessions volunteering at Holland Bloorview in October. Both volunteer sessions (morning and afternoon) began with a hospital tour, where the team experienced the many purpose-built, accessible areas that were created to improve patient comfort and recovery. One example of this is the many interactive, accessible art installations throughout the hospital that were developed specifically for patients of all abilities. The hospital also offers incredible resources for recovering patients, including a research and development team that has created life-changing tools that are now used across the globe. We also had the privilege of viewing some of the spaces within their research lab, including a prosthetics lab, where prosthetics are custom-made on site.
In the morning, our team helped develop a Halloween-themed escape room for Holland Bloorview patients. We helped plan, organize and create different escape room activities that were both age-appropriate, inclusive and accessible. Holland Bloorview holds a lot of value on letting kids “be kids”, so in addition to learning about the benefits of recreational therapy, this experience gave us the opportunity to help the kids at Holland Bloorview experience the fun of Halloween.
We collaborated with the communications team at Holland Bloorview in the afternoon to brainstorm ideas around their annual fundraising campaign, Capes for Kids. Capes for Kids is a fun, family friendly event where individuals and teams wear capes and raise money to support kids with disabilities. We also shared ideas for a user-friendly digital toolkit, with tips for families and patients to help guide the content creation process.
We were so inspired by the innovation, inclusion and creativity at Holland Bloorview and Villa Medica, as well as the comfort and care provided to patients and their families.
Check out the recap of our day at Holland Bloorview and Villa Medica here.