One year after opening on Clyde Street, Progress Place is creating new opportunities for people to connect, explore Halifax, try new experiences and feel a greater sense of belonging.
A year ago, Progress Place opened its doors. This Community Hub in the heart of Halifax was designed to be a fully inclusive space. Progress Place was designed using trauma-informed care, an approach that aims to create a low-stress environment that promotes calmness, safety, dignity, and empowerment. We are so proud to see how this project, which was once a dream, has become a reality. Now, one year later, it is a place full of love, laughter, inclusion, friendship, and belonging.
Running every Saturday, Carers and Me! offers families of all abilities a warm and welcoming place to come together through play, movement, music, sensory experiences, and creativity. Beyond the activities themselves, this program recognizes something equally vital: caregivers need community too.
A Space Designed for Everyone
Progress Place features a wheelchair-friendly space, automatic doors, accessible signage, fully accessible washrooms, adult change tables, hearing loop systems, and quiet sensory rooms. All of these elements were thoughtfully implemented to ensure that everyone who walks through our doors feels fully supported and welcomed. Everyone has the right to feel included in community spaces.
“Progress Place is bigger. I’m a wheelchair user, and here I don’t struggle moving around.” — Aaron Robertson.
New Experiences and New Partnerships
Being located on Clyde Street has made it more accessible for our participants to engage with the community. “Before, it took us a long time to travel on the bus to go swimming. Now, we are able to walk to the YMCA.” — Elisabeth Graves-Smith
Moreover, we have been able to connect with organizations such as Halifax Public Libraries. Our participants joined the MOCEAN programs at Halifax Central Library. This accessible movement class, featuring ASL interpreters, creates an environment where our participants can take part in programs open to the public in an inclusive way. Our participants love attending these sessions, which shows the importance of increasing accessibility in infrastructure and programming throughout our community. Being downtown has helped us break down barriers to access. We have been able to create partnerships with places such as House of Eights, showing our participants the many opportunities for recreation available around them. “I like trying new things and visiting new places. It was nice going to a real dance studio.” — Christine Riley.
Prescott Group has two Community Hubs in the HRM: Progress Place on Clyde Street and Club Inclusion on Joseph Howe Drive. “I like that there are more places where I can go, see, and hang out with friends.” — Jared Rose.
Progress Place is more than a building; it is a space where people belong. We have been able to try new things, explore new parts of our city, make new friendships, and build new partnerships.
This past year at Progress Place has been a big adventure, and we are excited to see what comes next.