Inclusive Halloween village in Calgary supports children with disabilities

An inclusive Halloween village in Calgary encouraging homeowners to trick-or-treat from their driveways to support children with disabilities kicked off Saturday.

The Treat Accessibly movement started with a lawn sign on their front yard in 2017 and has grown across Canada, with over 200,000 lawns featuring the sign in 2023.

It then ventured to a Halloween village event, with the first one happening in Toronto in 2021. Nine of these villages have been held across Canada, including in Calgary.

Homeowners come together to hand out Halloween treats on the street and from their driveways to children who struggle to reach the front door of a home.

Siena Padulo started the Treat Accessibly movement in 2017 when she was 6-years-old. She did this to encourage homeowners across Canada to make the experience more accessible for children with mobility disabilities.

“This all started when me and my dad were setting up pumpkins and we saw a little boy in a wheelchair and we realized he couldn’t trick-or-treat at our house for Halloween,” she told CityNews.

“So we decided that year to move our candy to the street, and it’s just expanded from there.”

Calgary’s Treat Accessibly Halloween Village offers treats and fun for local kids while raising awareness and showing support for children with disabilities.

The Padulo family says they could not be more pleased with their daughter for starting the Treat Accessibly movement.

“We are amazingly proud of our daughter,” said Rich Padulo.

“It kind of proves to the world that a child’s dream can change an entire world and I get choked up about it every time I think about it. I tell you, it’s made a big difference for a lot of kids and a lot of families”

And the kids in the neighbourhood say they are happy to get involved as well.

Nine Treat Accessibly Halloween Villages are expected this year.