As a teen, Rebecca Rubuliak found her community playing, and then later coaching, youth volleyball. Those experiences set in motion Rubuliak’s interest in child-development and recreation — her master’s thesis explored the experiences of children with disabilities during recess and free play — as well as sparked her fascination with belonging.
“The thing that I loved about sport recreation is people having opportunities to meaningfully participate and build authentic and rich relationships,” Rubuliak says about her philosophy. “I see sport as something that can be an in-between space where people can create relationships and belonging.”
Rubuliak’s graduate supervisor recognized her passion for inclusion and recreation and spoke highly of Skills Society, a non-profit that supports people with developmental disabilities to live meaningful, inclusive lives that was founded over 40 years ago. Rubuliak, who connected to the Society through a non-profit board internship, is now a director, and manages Action Lab, an innovation space where groups can come together to think through social problems and questions.
Rubuliak also helped design the Future of Home Lab, which envisions more inclusive housing options for people with disabilities. The project resulted in a local property management company adopting the position of a Community Animator — a person whose role it is to build a sense of community and belonging amongst building residents — and set aside a dozen suites for folks supported by Skills Society at a deeply reduced rate.
“When we bring people together to co-create solutions, it leads to possibilities that we couldn’t have imagined.”
This article appears in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Edify
