SARC Spring Update

UPDATE SPRING 2019

SARC UPDATE

CONTENTs

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SARC Spring Conference

Education & Training Staff with John Cronin, co-owner of John’s Crazy Socks, at the 2019 Spring Conference

Member Highlights!

Details on conference sessions, keynote presentations, and more from a busy two-day event.

COMPASS Grows 07 into its Second Year

Introducing 6 new training programs to the COMPASS Training Package.

Celebrating DSP 06 Week!

SARC Members

SARCAN Gets Techy!

The Ministry of Social Services proclaims May 27 - 31 DSP Week!

This spring we gave our SARC Members web page a new look and released a video that highlighted the incredible services our Members provide.

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Supports Made For You. Supports You Can Trust.

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SARC Members have been helping people plan vacations, try new activities, and pursue employment and volunteer aspirations.

As SARCAN moves into its 31st year, they continue to incorporate more technology to serve their customers and assist their staff.

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SPRING 2019

Member Highlights

Pages 9-17

Supporting Goals at Prince Albert SPCA, pg 13

The COR Studio: More than Pencils, Paper, and Paint! pg. 9 Building a Meaningful Life at Light of the Prairies Gladstone, pg. 14

Multiworks Sets Sail to New Destinations, Pg. 10

BEAM Me Up! Exploring New Fun at BTEC, pg. 16

Digging In at Columbian Industries, pg. 12

Carrie Enjoys Volunteering, pg. 17

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SARC UPDATE

SARC SPRING

S

ARC’s annual Spring Conference was held

Canada, talked about how

words matter and strategies to

on May 28 and 29 in Saskatoon with more

we can share stories of the

recognize the warning signs of

than 200 Disability Service Professionals

good work being done at our

stress and burnout.

from across the province in attendance. We

organizations; Garth Johnson

were privileged to have the Honourable Paul

spoke about Meticulon’s

Thanks to our sponsors,

Merriman, Minister of Social Services, open

extensive assessment service

our Spring Conference, bring greetings on

for employing people on

behalf of the Ministry of Social Services, and

the Autism spectrum; and

officially proclaim May 27 – 31 as Disability

Amanda Guthrie talked about

Service Professionals Week!

supporting inclusivity with co-

We were all treated to a great keynote

workers, friends, and clients.

presentation by John and Mark Cronin, who talked about the journey to meaningful employment, the challenges and successes they’ve experienced, and their business – John’s Crazy Socks, which creates and sells unique and funky socks while providing meaningful employment for people of all abilities. John and Mark also presented in the afternoon about how to develop a unified workplace. Both of their presentations touched on the rewards of employing people experiencing disability.

Throughout the two-day conference, there were a number of great presentations including Cara Milne, who talked about supporting and respecting the choices of people experiencing disability, and Natalya Mason, who spoke about using sex-positive strategies for supporting people experiencing disability. Rani Sanderson, from Story Centre

As always, there was also a focus on health and wellness where we addressed compassion fatigue and mental health. Thanks to Bridges Health for speaking to attendees about how our

Golden Mobility and Move Mobility. Without your sponsorship, we wouldn’t have been able to provide such expert speakers again this year.

Thanks to everyone who attended the conference and celebrated DSP Week with us.

We look forward to seeing you next year in Regina!

SPRING 2019

CONFERENCE

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SARC UPDATE

celebrating DSP Week!

The Ministry of Social Services proclaims May 27 - 31 as Disability Service Professionals Week!

F

or the second year, the Ministry of Social Services officially proclaimed the last week of May as Disability Service Professionals Week, recognizing the incredible strength, commitment, hard work, and diversity that this sector

brings to our community. Throughout the week, we celebrated alongside our Members across the province. The Disability Services sector is comprised of a group of tremendously skilled professionals whose commitment and dedication provide supports that empower people experiencing disability to live, work, and enjoy their community.

For this, and every reason, SARC recognizes DSP Week and the tremendous work that people in the Disability Services sector bring to our province and society, making it more inclusive for people of all abilities.

During DSP Week, we celebrated at the SARC Spring Conference with a social media contest, encouraging attendees to share pictures and stories with us on Facebook about how they and their organization were celebrating the week.

Organizations shared pictures of their staff and stories of how they would celebrate the week with community events or special treats, while individuals shared pictures of themselves with colleagues and guest speakers at the conference. SARC provided special chocolates (pictured below with the government proclamation) and an ice cream bar for attendees to enjoy. Our social media contest winner posted a fun picture of her and a colleague testing out the weighted blankets at Hylkje Vanderkooy’s Exhibitor Booth on Day One of the conference (pictured far right).

It was so much fun taking part in the celebrations and seeing how organizations recognized their talented and dedicated employees. We can’t wait to do it again next year!

SPRING 2019

COMPASS AT N O C O S T T R A I N I N G In 2018, SARC launched the COMPASS Training Package to Regular and Associate Members as well as Affiliate Members with CLSD funding which provided five training programs for service delivery staff, management, and Boards at no cost to their organization.

The COMPASS Training Package delivers foundational training for community-based organizations to provide the most comprehensive support for their clients.

Due to our Members’ overwhelming support of COMPASS as well as continued funding through CLSD, this spring we announced the expansion of training programs available through the COMPASS Training Package, at no cost. The 11 COMPASS training programs are:

Training programs launched in 2018: •

Med Assist

•

PART

•

TLR

•

Leap

•

ELEVATE

Training programs to be launched in 2019: •

Food Safety Training * Launched May 2019

•

First Aid & CPR

•

WHMIS 2015

•

Stride (formerly BST)

•

Positive Behaviour Support

* Launched June 2019 *Available Fall 2019

*Available Fall 2019

*Available Fall 2019

•

Person-Centred Training *Available Fall 2019

The following CBOs are eligible to access the COMPASS Training Package: • Regular Members • Associate Members • Affiliate Members with CLSD funding Note: organizations not eligible for COMPASS may still access the training programs on a fee-for-service basis.

Visit www.sarclearningcentral.ca/index.php/compass to learn more.

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SARC UPDATE

sarc members SARC MEMBERS SUPPORT PEOPLE TO LIVE THE LIVES THEY WANT

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s you browse through the next few pages, you will read stories that are inspiring, fun, diverse, and most importantly, inclusive. These are just a few examples of the excellent work SARC Members do every day to support people to live their lives in this great province.

SARC MEMBERS HAVE PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED STAFF DELIVERING SERVICES TAILORED FOR EACH PERSON

“It’s a great place to be; it’s where I belong. I get to be with warm hearted people. I can write stories there. People at the organization help to do the things on my MAP – I go on trips with friends; I volunteer at the Clothes Basket and now at the Food Bank.�

- Lacey Arlt, Supported by a SARC Member

SUPPORTS MADE FOR YOU To learn more, visit: www.sarcsarcan.ca/members

Me m b e r s

You can check out the video and web page at: www.sarcsarcan.ca/members

“We trust the staff and their desire to give Ty the best life possible.

We are impressed and thankful for the efforts to get Ty and others out into the community and participating in activities and events.�

- Paul and Colleen Nicholson, Family Members

SUPPORTS YOU CAN TRUST To learn more, visit: www.sarcsarcan.ca/members

Me m b e r s

SARC Member Poster - May 10.indd 2

5/10/2019 2:02:48 PM

SPRING 2019

T h e CO R Stud io: Mor e tha n P e ncils, Pa pe r, a n d Paint!

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e are all sparks. We are all flashes of genius and we all have the potential to glow brighter than

we ever dreamed; we all have ideas and carry sparks

up for. Passionate photographers are coming out to

of potential and every once in a while those ideas

learn how to share their perspectives. Musicians who

have the potential to ignite. If we are in the right place

once marched to their own beat have found a place to

at the right time, that fire can turn ablaze in a way that

nurture their unique interests. Even gamers and avid

is staggering.

readers have uncovered fellowship in this truly unique space.

In the summer of 2018, Creative Options Regina (COR) introduced the COR Studio to supports and the people

It is our hope that supporting people in uncovering

they serve. It promised a place where people could

their dreams and potential is empowering. It is also

learn new skills; it demonstrated new ways to create

our hope that by empowering people to follow their

connections; and it has slowly become a hub in the

passions and share them with our community, we

COR community, putting smiles on all the faces of the

are aiding in the development of our future leaders.

people who enter it.

People often believe that we need to grow taller and get higher than others to achieve or demonstrate their

But it has done one more thing: it attracted sparks.

Those sparks brought their ideas and those ideas have ignited into programming that people want to show

potential, but we often forget about the importance of mastery and growing stronger in our core before we may reach new heights. By nurturing our sparks we are investing in our own future.

The world needs sparks. It needs ideas and people to run with them. It is our hope that in opening the Studio we are giving each person the agency to share their passions, develop skills, and also strengthen their connection to the things they love outside of COR. We do a great job of looking for the hidden talents of the people we serve and this is our way of nurturing and empowering the hidden talents of our supports.

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SARC UPDATE

Multiworks sets sail to new destinations

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n November of 2018, a group of individuals from

Port Canaveral, Florida. The cruise made three

Multiworks Corporation had the opportunity to

stops in total: Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway

experience a once in a lifetime vacation. It started

Cay (Disney’s private island). The cruisers were

when Program Coordinators Brittney Norman and

Dale Schneider, Jean Oatchess, Cynthia Cantell,

Brooke Demmans were doing a person-centred-

Reginald MacDonald, Cheryl Koller, along with

plan for Jean Oatchess (an individual from

Brooke Demmans and Brittney Norman. Many of

Multiworks) and discovered that she had always

the individuals going had been on vacations before

wanted to go on a cruise. The cruise was planned

but none had ever experienced a cruise.

shortly after Jean’s meeting was held and included others supported by Multiworks who could afford the trip.

Each stop was a new experience, from the food, to the sightseeing, to the cultural diversity. The Disney Fantasy had rotational dining between

The Disney Cruise took place mid-November; the

three dining rooms: Animators Palate, Enchanted

group boarded the Disney Fantasy cruise ship in

Garden, and Royal Court. The dining and service

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during the cruise was outstanding.

we enjoyed tours, shopping, and beach

The cruise ship had everything from

days at the three different beaches: Cane

waterslides and swimming pools to huge

Garden Bay in Tortola, Castaway Cay in

theatres, where we attended the musical,

The Bahamas, and Magens Bay in St.

Pirate Night, Disney’s musical, Aladdin,

Thomas.

and Disney’s musical, Believe. We also

The islands we explored were all unique,

experienced a hypnotist show, a fireworks show, many character greetings, dance

beautiful, and entertaining.

parties, and more throughout our time on the cruise ship. During our ports of call,

“I had a great time on the cruise, it was a fun experience, and it was very different. I always wanted to go on a cruise ship, the food was so good, and I would love to go again.”

– Jean Oatchess

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SARC UPDATE

Digging in at columbian industries C

olumbian Industries has worked in partnership with Cedar Ridge Greenhouse in St. Benedict over the past

three years. Beginning in late February, bales of dirt are dropped off at our agency to thaw indoors. Throughout February, March, and April, participants and staff fill a range of containers from smallest to largest, ready for their return to Cedar Ridge to be filled with beautiful flowers, succulents, and herbs that Cedar Ridge nurtures and grows each spring. We love showcasing these beautiful planters at the front of our agency each spring!

This activity gives our Day Program participants something to look forward to and it puts a smile on their faces—there’s just something about getting your hands dirty! - Fran Yuzik, Manager at Columbian Industries We have worked with Columbian Industries for the past three seasons and have developed a great friendship with the clients and staff over time. Their provision of top-quality service in filling pots and delivering to the greenhouse has been crucial to my business and I cannot imagine how I would get through a season without them!

It is an absolute joy for me, and it brightens my day to see the clients’ smiling faces, full of enthusiasm, when they come out on deliveries. Iona and Bill especially have been such a pleasure to deal with, they go out of their way to accommodate my business needs. The impact of their caring and compassionate nature on other people’s daily lives is truly admirable. I want to extend my sincerest THANK YOU to Columbian Industries for your dedication and hard work- I appreciate it so much; it takes a huge weight off my shoulders in my busy season which is invaluable to me and my family.

-Tracy Carpentieri, Owner of Cedar Ridge Greenhouse

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supporting Goals at Prince Albert SPCA S onya joined the Prince Albert Supported

Employment (PASE) in May of 2017. Sonya

is a woman who has been deaf since birth; her

first language is American Sign Language (A.S.L).

Because of this, she has experienced significant communication barriers on a daily basis throughout her life. Even though she has been to school, both reading and writing were very difficult for her.

It was arranged that an interpreter from the Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services would attend the job interview with her. Sonya’s passion for animals was evident immediately. Sonya said that because she was deaf she has an advantage

During her time at PASE, a Psycho-educational

to working with animals as she did not get spooked

assessment was administered in order to give PASE

or startled by an aggressive animal. She was able to

staff a better idea of the different job types she would

stay calm and the animals follow suit. She effectively

excel at. What was most interesting is that the two

portrayed this to the employer and was hired for the

top choices were quite different from each other:

full-time position.

housekeeping and animal care.

Sonya started her dream job on January 7, 2019 and

In September of 2017 Sonya did a work assessment at

enjoys going to work every day!

a local hotel for the position of housekeeper and was

The PASE staff of Community Service Centre wishes

hired directly after the completion of the assessment.

Her employers noted that Sonya was kind, caring, friendly, energetic, determined, and a very hard worker.

to acknowledge Sonya’s success and appreciate her permission to share her motivating and inspiring story.

One year after being employed, Sonya returned to the PASE program. She was ready to move forward in a different direction and look for her dream job. After greater consideration of the assessment results she decided she wanted to work in a place where she could care for animals. A vocational counsellor with PASE made contact with the manager of Paw Print Inn and the SPCA in regards to a job positing. Based on this conversation as well as Sonya’s impressive resume, an interview was secured.

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SARC UPDATE

Building a G meaningful life at light of the prairies, gladstone

ood food plays an

good morning, and showing

important role in the

concern recently when one

day-to-day life at the Light of

of the other men had to go to

the Prairies (LOTP) Gladstone

the hospital. “That wouldn’t

home. At the beginning

have happened before,”

of each week, Team Lead

Shereen said. “Now he has

Shereen Scott sits down

that empathy for them.”

with Paul to find a recipe he

He’s picking up on LOTP’s Do

likes that they can prepare together. Once a month, Paul invites family or friends to dinner.

Paul moved to Gladstone last year from the Valley View Centre in Moose Jaw. Now that he’s in Saskatoon, his family gets to see him more, and he’s gotten involved with his local community by helping out at his church.

“He’s really developed a lot of great relationships there,” Shereen said. “He’s making those friendships and relationships outside the home, which is great for him to be part of the community.”

Paul’s also making friends inside the home, which came as a surprise to LOTP staff.

The Valley View staff had told them Paul wouldn’t want relationships with any of the other clients but since he

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Love First philosophy from the staff and applying it to his own interactions.

The Do Love First

philosophy focuses on 10 love characteristics, such as patience, kindness, and gentleness, which the staff then teach to their clients and even apply to their own life.

“The philosophy is very much ingrained in everything that staff [do],” said Program Coordinator Jade Leblanc.

“The client is always the focus and helping the client building meaningful relationships with everyone around them.”

The philosophy brings a special, relaxed and mellow presence to the home which the clients then pick up on.

There have been other

moved in, he has shown an

improvements too.

interest in the other people

Before Dennis came to

he’s living with, saying

Gladstone, they were told he

H I G H L I G H T S

SPRING 2019 was non-verbal, but now he’s

Shereen says it has made

saying new words every day.

her workplace better, and she

Alan has diabetes, but since he moved to Gladstone, his health has improved so much, his doctor has drastically reduced his medication and she says one day he may not even need

considers the staff her family.

Jade has been with LOTP for 12 years, and she says that since they brought in the philosophy three years ago, staff turnover has been very

it anymore.

low.

Before Mark came to Gladstone,

“People want to stay because

he had a tendency to take off unexpectedly from his house; since moving in, this hasn’t happened once.

The LOTP staff have heard great feedback from the clients’ families about the Gladstone home and the impact they’ve seen in their loved one’s lives.

All four of the men living at the Gladstone home have moved closer to their families, allowing their loved ones to become more involved in their lives.

Clients also get to invite their families to their own home, which is a much different experience for their loved ones than visiting a facility like Valley View.

Paul, Dennis, Alan, and Mark aren’t the only people who have seen their lives improve thanks to Light of the Prairies and the

we’re doing such great things for people and they can see the differences we’re making in our clients’ lives, our staff’s lives, our own lives.”

But it always comes back to the clients: Having less staff turnover means the clients can make stronger connections with their caregivers, creating a more comfortable and safe home for them.

When developing the Do Love

First philosophy, LOTP asked what all people need to live meaningful lives — they didn’t separate out people with disabilities — and Shereen says she’s seen a difference in her personal life, too.

“It should be a class in life that everybody has to take,” Shereen said.

Do Love First philosophy.

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SARC UPDATE

beam me up! exploring new fun at btec T

his year BTEC acquired a wonderful new game system, “BEAM by EyeClick”, which allows us

to provide hours of entertainment and activity for our participants. Their tagline, “One Space, Limitless Attractions, Zero Room for Boredom” is entirely accurate; everyone who goes into the BEAM room has a difficult time leaving!

There are countless games: simple games like Balloons and Ball Pit where you stomp on things to get points; sporting games like Super Soccer

Xylophone let you explore your musical creative side.

and Ice Hockey where you score goals and can be

We now have over 30 games in our system and the

competitive; musical games like Orchestra, Jazz, and

best part is that we can have it on a loop so that the games change every three or four minutes before you move onto something new. This is especially appealing as the game system is new to us so no one knows which games are their favourites yet.

This system is quite expensive but we had some help with donations from our friends at RBC. It’s also a great option for future donors who want to connect their money to something specific, which allows them to point to it and say, “I helped pay for that!”

With this past winter being especially cold and hard to get out and exercise, the BEAM room really came in handy for participants to remain active.

We even had some folks from Cosmopolitan Industries try it out while they were touring our organization!

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Carrie enjoys volunteering C

arrie Funk is a wonderful, vibrant young woman who really knows how to enjoy life.

What is her secret? She has an incredibly strong connection to her community! Carrie, a participant at Swift Current’s Quality of Life Day Program, has been attending SaskAbilities programs for 20 years, and in this time has taken advantage of many opportunities. Carrie loves to socialize. She continues to expand her horizons and jumps at the

at The Meadows. She says, “Carrie helps improve

chance to be active in her community and through volunteering she has developed more independence —a big milestone for her was learning to use city

the quality of life for our residents by volunteering her time to porter them to and from the hair salon.

Carrie’s smile and willingness to help creates a

transit!

positive environment for the residents.�

Carrie is incredibly active! An avid swimmer and

Keep up the good work, Carrie!

bowler, she even competes with Special Olympics!

Her best-loved activities, however, all involve volunteerism and community support. Carrie volunteers at many community venues including Living Sky Casino, RibFest, and Windscape Kite Festival, but her favourite place to volunteer is at The Meadows, Swift Current’s new long-term care facility.

She spends two afternoons a week volunteering as a porter, with duties that include helping residents to and from their activities in the facility. She enjoys the opportunity to have such a meaningful role where she can get to know many of her fellow community members. Saskatchewan Health Authority Volunteer Coordinator Arlene Deg is so pleased with the contribution that Carrie has made to the community

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SARC UPDATE

SARCAN gets techy A

fter celebrating our 30th year in 2018, SARCAN not only looked upon our past in celebration, but we looked toward our future and modernizing our system with new technology. Below are just a few examples of

how we’ve recently improved the way we share information with our over 750 employees and the 62 million customers that come through our door every year.

Point-of-Sale Systems In 2016, SARCAN began replacing our

Largely as a result of Aspire, SARCAN was able to provide 14,671 hours of training and learning opportunities, almost three times the hours dedicated in the previous year.

aging cash registers

CAN’ned Wisdom

with modern,

Two years ago, SARCAN launched a monthly series

computerized

of live video presentations aimed at increasing staff

Point-of-Sale (POS)

knowledge about our company and why we do what we

systems.

do.

Our new POS

The topics presented over the past 24 sessions

system tracks

are decided by our employees. They are presented

container volumes and cash, and ties in directly to

by subject matter experts (including Telemiracle,

our primary computer in the Supervisor’s office. This

Saskatoon Police Service, and the SK Waste Reduction

integrated system has also automated parts of the

Council), SARCAN’s managers, and SARCAN

trailer documentation process, which has been a huge

Supervisors themselves!

time saver in our busiest locations.

Aspire Online Training In 2018 SARCAN launched an online training platform that allows us to provide consistent and timely training to all employees across the province. Aspire hosts a wide variety of training and extended learning opportunities to SARCAN staff, including courses on health and safety, equipment use, redeemable materials, and professional development courses.

This training takes place on either the depot’s main computer or new tablets.

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Drop & Go

Email

Drop & Go, our line-skipping option for SARCAN

This spring SARCAN began

customers, continues to grow in 2019!

to provide email addresses

As the system grows, it allows us to experiment with

for all employees across the province. Email provides

electronic payments, extend our hours of operation

us with more opportunities to share information with

in select locations, and provide a virtual bottle drive

all staff members in a more timely and consistent way.

option to fundraising organizations.

For some of our employees, this has been the first

This past year, SARCAN collaborated with Telemiracle

email address they have ever had. Learning how to use

to host Saskatchewan’s Biggest Bottle Drive. The

email at SARCAN has turned into a great opportunity

campaign encouraged residents across Saskatchewan

for personal and professional development.

to donate their beverage containers to Telemiracle’s

Connect

Drop & Go account in the month of February to help support Telemiracle 43.

SARCAN recently launched Connect, an online SARCAN-specific intranet that allows supervisors and managers to share information and resources with their staff, 24/7.

Connect hosts all of the necessary documents and resources our Supervisors need to do their jobs. It also provides an opportunity for staff to share news and messages with their coworkers across the province.

We have plans to expand Connect to all SARCAN employees in the next year.

Shifting the way we do business has been challenging at times, but we have all learned a lot along the way which makes us stronger, more flexible, and more resilient. All of these improvements to our recycling system provide more supports to staff, improve our ability to serve our customers, and position us to embrace the challenges and opportunities of our next 30 years in business.

Spring Conference 2019

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

Contact Us Office: 111 Cardinal Crescent Phone: (306) 933 0616 Fax: (306) 653 3932 E-mail: contact@sarcan.sk.ca www.sarcsarcan.ca