Daniel’s Story – Enrichment with a Sense of Social Community

Daniel Anderson, 35, is one of many ABLE2 Ottawa clients of the Build Community Program. Anderson has been a program client since 2020 and a client of ABLE2 for roughly 30 years. 

Ottawa’s Build Community Program continues to provide services for clients like Anderson, who can rely on knowing his future is planned for by the program’s collaborative family-driven model and his lifetime network. 

For Anderson, the Build Community Program has enriched his life with a sense of social community. 

“[My lifetime network of family and friends] call me every week. And we go for walks together, and we have a nice chat on the telephone,” Anderson said. 

In addition to weekly phone calls with his lifetime network, Anderson also enjoys the fact that the program has provided him with the opportunity to meet new people at Build Community Program social gatherings. 

“[The Build Community Program] has helped me meet a lot more people. Like we go bowling together with the Build Community program. Last year we did a four-hour bowl-a-thon!” Anderson said. 

At the bowl-a-thon, Anderson was thrilled to participate in the activities while meeting the program’s facilitators and other clients. 

Upon reflection on the most significant impact ABLE2’s Build Community Program has had on Anderson, he says it is the many relationships he has cultivated through friendships and his lifetime network.