About CRIP

Community Resistance Intimacy Project (CRIP) is a collective based out of Toronto using arts and education to facilitate connections within the disabled community and beyond.

Our Story

In 2018 Kate Welsh and Dev Ramsawakh began developing the Unpacking Ableism workshop with Jayde Hinds. This workshop was developed as a response to the gap in anti-oppression training focusing on disability with an intersectional approach in Toronto. CRIP began as a first step towards a dream of creating a community hub for multiply marginalized disabled people that offers both connection and education. It was very much created in the image of the performance arts collective Sins Invalid.

After Jayde took a step back from the collective, Dev and Kate continued offering workshops and saw growing interest from organizations across many industries. They eventually received more requests than either of them were able to keep up with! In 2021, they decided to establish a collective to both meet this demand and expand their dreams. This is how Kitty Rodé, Jheanelle Anderson, Kain Nathaniel, Salima Punjani and Midnight came to join the collective.

What clients say about us

“Thanks to your thoughtful and compassionate teaching, our staff team has had many conversations about how we can better care for each other and the youth we serve. Many of my colleagues have shared how powerful it was to hear about the impact of ableism on their peers' lives, and exploring the ways they have been supported and unsupported. It has been a truly exceptional shift in our dynamic as a team that I am hopeful the training will continue to provide rich dialogue and future action. This is the first time in our organization's history where our primary mandate has shifted in this way.”

Rae Paul, SWC
BIPOC Community Engagement Coordinator
Youth Project

“Excellent facilitators who managed to make the conversation informative and appropriately weighty but not intimidating. The content was 10/10, and the special care throughout to welcome everyone's ideas and perspectives was honestly very moving. It was easily one of the best workshops I've ever participated in, and it really expanded my awareness of ableism and intersectional disability. It also demonstrated what a truly excellent training session looks and feels like.”

Elizabeth Melito
Product Owner, Loyalty Experiences
CBC

“A great presentation is made better by those presenting it. Kate and Kain provided a supportive environment, sound advice, and shared personal experiences that made everyone feel comfortable, open, and willing to learn. I feel this presentation helps those of us who are not confident in presenting ourselves in the workplace as disabled especially when it comes to chronic illnesses; the resources, and tips on how to advocate for ourselves. The parts of the presentation that stuck with me were about identifying access needs and disability stereotypes. I would highly recommend this presentation to everyone. ”

Gail Young
Business & Rights, Digital Team
CBC