Congratulations to the Physical Activity Research Centre (PARC) on being selected to receive a City of Vancouver 2017 Award of Excellence in the Accessible City category.
The Awards of Excellence recognize excellence in five categories of achievement that benefit everyone by making Vancouver more green, healthy, diverse, and accessible. The Accessible City Award celebrates outstanding leadership to enhance accessibility, inclusion, and elimination of barriers to full participation for persons with disabilities.
PARC is a community-based research facility that is part of the University of British Columbia’s spinal cord injury research centre at the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (I-CORD). Their goal is to advance research to create the best strategies for providing opportunities for people with complete or partial paralysis due to spinal cord dysfunction to participate in physical activity.
PARC is the first facility of its kind in Canada and aims to engage Vancouver’s spinal cord injury (SCI) community through exercise and science. Since opening in 2013, PARC has become a community hub, serving as an educational resource and meeting place where those living with SCIs share experiences and learn from each other. There are now more than 250 participants enrolled and the centre is completely run by volunteers.
Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vancouver City Council presented the PARC team with the award at a special ceremony on February 28th.
