About Vital Society
Vitals helps individuals at any stage in their life
About Vital Society
Valley Integration to Active Living Society provides services to those living in our community with developmental and physical disabilities, or other complex barriers. We offer our individuals a chance to integrate and immerse themselves in our local community while teaching them skills to help them grow in their everyday lives. We currently have over 60 individuals that we support, with a strong team of over 100 employees, including community and staffed living support workers. We have both individuals and employees who have been with us for over 20 years. We work closely with outside behavioural consultants, social workers, and specialists, to provide any level of support needed by our individuals.
Our society has a total of three programs:
Staffed Living
Home-Sharing
Community Inclusion
Vitals helps individuals at any stage in their life. As a person-served organization, we advocate for our clients rights and encourage our individuals to be as independent as possible. We are an organization that is committed to supporting our individuals in becoming active participants in their own community, and in all aspects of their life.
Quality Assurance & Accreditation
Our structure for ongoing evaluation and development in our organization’s programs, services and business support functions Vital Society strives for continual growth and development in all aspects in our society. To do so, ongoing evaluation in all areas is necessary to ensure that we can meet standards and analyze our results. To aid in this process, the Quality Assurance Coordinator position has been created. The role of this position entails ongoing audits in the society, to ensure that standards in relation to policies, procedures, regulations, funders (CLBC & MCFD), licensing (VIHA), and our accreditor (CARF) is both met and maintained. This role allows for standards to be met consistently and ongoing education in each of these areas to be shared with all members in the society.
CARF Accreditation
CARF accreditation is a public seal of trust and commitment to quality based on internationally accepted standards. This level of care is one that Vital Society strives for, to ensure that our Persons Served receive care that will enrich and empower their lives.
“CARF accreditation signals a service provider’s commitment to continually improving services, encouraging feedback, and serving the community.” – CARF International
Vital Society has been awarded the highest level of accreditation by CARF International for the following programs:
Community Housing - Staffed Living services
We help find staffed living service for individuals who require support to live successfully in their communities.
Host Family/ Shared Living - Home Sharing services
A living situation in which an adult eligible for CLBC supports shares a home with a person contracted to provide support and assistance to them.
Community Integration – Community Inclusion services
Our community inclusion programs offer supports to individuals to participate in a variety of recreational, fitness, leisure, and educational activities.
“Providers that meet our standards have demonstrated their commitment to being among the best available” – CARF International
The key responsibilities of the Quality Assurance role include:
- All staffed living homes
- Home Share
- Community Inclusion
- Governance
- Leadership
- Administration/HR
- Finance
Visit CARF for more information.
Our History
Valley Integration to Active Living Society (VITAL Society) officially began operating in 1991,
following a newly designed model of service tailored to support dual diagnosis clients with
challenging behaviours who were having difficulty integrating into their communities—with
some individuals even finding themselves in the legal and correctional systems.
At that time, the conventional model for dual diagnosis clients was not conducive to
their higher needs, and they were often sent to institutions like Glendale Lodge and Riverview
Hospital. With the closure of these institutions, this new model was designed from 1989
through 1991 which promised to provide a stable community placement for these individuals.
Aspects of institutional care that were found to be most effective, and meshing that with
aspects of conventional community living, created what is commonly known now as a “group
home”.
The first contract for a four-person home on Wharncliffe Rd., in Duncan, was signed in
September of 1991, followed by another home that was purpose-built on Stamps Rd. in March,
1992. Within six months, the high success of this model of care was clear, with the residents
living the most stable of their lives, and led to VITALS being asked to consider opening another
home.
In 1994, a new home was opened on Westholme Rd., on a large rural property. The
Wharncliffe. home was then relocated into a new purpose-built home on the same property as
the Westholme house, and renamed Abbott house in honour of a resident who had passed
away at Wharncliffe Abbott house was designed to meet the needs of residents who are
generally in wheelchairs and require specialized equipment. In 2003, both Stamps and
Westholme were expanded to five person homes.
In May of 2007, a fourth residence opened on Miller Rd. to accommodate the agency’s
first female resident who was in her early 20s. Soon, a second male resident of approximately
the same age moved into the home, and in 2013, a third resident moved in. A new home was
purchased by the VITALS on Marchmont Rd. to replace the home being rented on Miller Rd.,
and the residents soon settled into their new home. The Marchmont home was also designed
to meet needs for temporary emergency placements while suitable housing for the individuals
are being put in place.
VITALS began to facilitate Homeshare in 2010, and it soon ballooned into its own
program with designated staff. The program ebbs and flows with the number of individuals
served, but we typically facilitate home share for 30-35 individuals, and are growing as need
presents itself.
On June 30, 2013, VITALS expanded into Comox and opened Thorpe House. It is
residential, but also serves as a space to facilitate community inclusion programming.
In November, 2014, the agency purchased a home in Lake Cowichan to serve a young
man with complex needs. The house was named Peruzzo after a long time employee who had
recently passed away. It was soon realized that the individual being served required a house
layout that was different, and would benefit more from the services in Duncan, which led the
agency to purchase a home on Golab Pl., and led to the sale of the Lake Cowichan property.
The lower level of the home was completely retrofitted to suit the needs of the individual, and
included things like a low sensory room, plexiglass wall covering, and electronic
communication tools, among numerous other renovations and tools.
In 2015, the agency opened a seventh home name Dogwood House, after its street
name. The residents from Marchmont moved there, and the Marchmont house became home
for the Youth house which operated until 2023.
The VITAL Society also facilitates Community Inclusion one on one services, which is
day programming for individuals in Homeshare, living independently, or with their families, that
tailors to their specific needs or interests.
We will continue to develop programming as needs of individuals evolve, and as growth
in the greater community emerges.