OCTOBER 2016
H
business elite canada
3
By Cheryl Long
S
ixty-five years ago, Canadian wom-
en known as the Marching Moth-
ers went door to door collecting
“just a dime” in an effort to raise money
to find a vaccine to prevent polio. In 1955,
Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine
and as threat of the disease diminished,
the Ontario March of Dimes refocused
its efforts on funding assistive devices for
those afflicted with the polio virus, along
with rehabilitation and job training for polio
survivors.
Over the decades that followed, March of
Dimes Canada has expanded its services
to individuals with a wide range of disabili-
ties. As its mandate grew, the organization
has increasingly addressed the needs of
people with more profound levels of dis-
ability, including those with complex care
needs and those who are medically fragile.
Today, it’s hard to imagine someone con-
