At the DDRC, we love being able to watch our clients succeed. Join us in celebrating just a few of their recent accomplishments!
Career and Leisure Services:
Ryan is now volunteering at the YMCA.
Yad and Shawn are both volunteering at Southland Leisure Centre.
Phung is volunteering at 2000 Days Pre-K, helping out with craft activities for the children at the centre.
Eileen celebrated her tenth year working for GoodLife Fitness and received a beautiful watch as a gift for her service.
PACE:
Chris is now working as a kitchen helper for a high-end restaurant downtown.
Daniel has been getting rave reviews for his volunteer work at Holy Cross Manor, where he distributes mail, visits with residents, and helps out with a fitness class.
Daniel has started working as a ramp attendant with Air Canada.
Congratulations to everyone for their hard work and dedication. We are very excited to see what successes 2015 brings!
Whether you are looking for a full career change, or just have a few hours to give, we have many opportunities for those looking to support our mission that everyone belongs™!
Careers: We offer a comprehensive benefits package and very competitive pay, 3 weeks holidays to start and flexible working hours. The DDRC is community-minded: we operate in all quadrants of the city for ease of access for staff and clients. We also have an active employee social committee! Visit our website for a full list of current position descriptions.
Volunteer: At the DDRC, our volunteer program engages volunteers to support client services and our day-to-day operations. We value the diverse talents, skills, and abilities of our volunteers which help us achieve our vision of a community where everyone belongs. For a list of volunteer positions available, click here. Or, to learn more, e-mail [email protected].
Join a Committee: The Watson Family Foundation provides financial assistance to families with limited or non-existent means to help improve and sustain the quality of life for their special needs child.The Watson Committee is made up of a group of passionate volunteers who determine how best to disburse the funds allocated to them. For information on this, and other committees, please e-mail [email protected].
It’s a brand new year, and clients in our Learning & Leadership Centre are facing 2015 head-on. They’re creating vision boards, sharing the things that they hope the new year will bring. This is just one of the many workshops that members of the DDRC Craft Club take part in.
“The club started from me trying to develop some kind of connection with a few clients,” said Trask, who is quite crafty herself. She noticed that some clients who seemed previously unengaged, would come to life when she picked up her scissors and started to cut. She added that the club has also strengthened many client-CRW (Community Resource Worker) relationships.
The workshops are attended by both male and female clients, spanning a wide variety of ages. Trask explained that this can present a challenge, as she tries to find activities that are interesting to all attendees on top of being age appropriate. She will often find ideas on Pinterest or teaching websites, and modify them for adults. To date, they’ve done a number of different things: vision boards, 3D art, painting on canvas, advocacy art, card making, ornament making, and lanterns; they’ve even made their own “What I Love About Myself” books on Valentine’s day! Trask finds it amazing to see clients who tend to lose interest in activities quickly, or who struggle to express themselves, spend two hours creating a project that they can be proud of. “It’s a chance to get creative and try something different,” she added.
Here are just a few of the pieces members of the Craft Club have made:
The DDRC takes the safety of our clients, staff, and visitors seriously. Because of this commitment to the well-being of all, we are excited to share some important safety updates around our building.
As a member of our Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, Emily Holland says that the updates are a direct reflection of feedback received by the committee.
Our first improvement is the replacement of our front stairs. Visitors to our building may remember the old uneven stairs that once led to our main entrance, but those are no more. We bid the old stairs farewell, and welcomed our new concrete stairs, complete with a sturdy railing.
“We have leveled the front steps and removed the exposed rebar,” Emily said. “This will reduce the potential for trips and falls.”
Front Stairs
The pathway along the side of our building to the upper parking lot has been redone. We’ve had the old stepping stones removed and replaced with a continuous line of wider square slabs. This makes for easier snow removal, and even footing.
New Pathway
Next, we are happy to say that the stairs leading down from the upper parking lot to the lower one now have a railing on both sides, marking a substantial safety increase. This is especially crucial in the winter months, when the stairs have the potential to be slippery despite our best snow removal efforts.
New Railing
Our main entrances have been upgraded to use automatic locks and key fobs, which helps to ensure the security of the building, and those within it. This update also includes a new fire alarm system to alert everyone in case of an emergency.
Front EntryFire Alarm
Last, but certainly not least, we have introduced a visitor badge system so we are aware of who is in the building at all times. Visitors to our office will sign in and receive a badge to identify them. This is good news for two reasons: it increases our building security, and it provides us with an accurate record of who is in the building if an emergency arises. As an added precaution, we have included directions on the back of each badge advising visitors what to do if the fire alarm sounds during their time here.
Emily notes that the distinctive nature of the badges are also adds one other benefit. “We can offer assistance to help our visitors find the person or place they are looking for,” she said.
DDRC Visitor Badge
Do you have any questions about our recent safety updates? If so, please feel free to leave us a comment, or call us at 403.240.3111.
Every year, as fall turns to winter, our Fund Development department puts together a special letter for our annual fundraising campaign. A program is chosen that would benefit from additional funding and, thanks to generous donors like yourself, we are able to make big improvements in the services we provide to support full community inclusion.
The last couple of years have been incredibly successful: in 2012, we raised over $25,000 to purchase SMART Boards for our Learning and Leadership program. In 2013, we had the aim of funding a new DDRC initiative: The Saturday Children’s Learning Program. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, that program is now underway, and will be available as a great resource to families and children in the new year. This year, we hope to better the lives of our clients by providing additional Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).
All DDRC front-line staff undergo PBS training, learning theories and strategies, as well as Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training, in order to best support clients with high behavioural needs. Our PBS Coordinator is on hand 5 days a week, developing support strategies for staff to implement when a client puts themselves or others at risk.
Additional PBS funding will give the 60+ adults clients who require PBS supports more access to the resources they require to help minimize their level of risk, reach their personal goals, and improve all aspects of their daily living and quality of life.
Currently, we have raised $10,608 of our $25,000 goal. With your help, we hope to reach this goal by February, 2015. You can donate online, by mail, or over the phone (403-240-3111). For more information, see our current fundraising letter, or e-mail [email protected].
