Taking Flight December 2019

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December 2019

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Daniel (In-Home) Laura (In-Home) De’undrae Wells (29th Avenue) Katie Purington (Fairview) Molly Mendscole (Skycroft) Kristine (Skillman) Brian (Oliver) Megan Strohecker (York Lane) Michelle (Sheridan) Kamrice Lockwood (Harmony) Ajoke Adeniyi (Aurora) Sherri (Aurora) Lydia (Troseth) Justin (In-Home) Torrie Boehmer (Harmony) Richard Bell (In-Home) Kong Vue (1489 Hoyt) Amelia Kaizer (Thomas Avenue) Omaru Jalloh (Demont)

Birthdays

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Taylor Steele (Portland Our House) Kris (In-Home) Richard (Fairview) Dennis Ogamba (Colfax) Farhia Osman (91st Street) Peter (Fairview) Lisa (Aurora) Saidat Adetunji (91st Street) Maycee Dougba (Portland Avenue) David Muasya (Groveland) Amarech Tullu (Skillman) Nicole Ballard (1489 Hoyt) Stephen Odika (16th Avenue) Adebimpe Ogunleye (Oliver) Ruth Barclay (Skillman) Susan (48th Circle) Suzanne (Groveland) Tanya (91st Street) Rachel Zaffke (Demont)

Happy Birthday!

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Anniversaries

Nigeria Boclair (Colfax) 1 yr, Brittany Fishbaugher ( Oliver) 1 yr, Lisa Jones (Colfax) 1 yr, Tawrence McMiller (29th Avenue) 1 yr, Ayan Mohamed (91st Street) 1 yr, Rebecca Johnson (In-Home) 2 yrs, Laurel Robinson (In-Home) 3 yrs, Adebimpe Ogunleye (Oliver) 4 yrs, Thomas Ajayi (Oliver) 5 yrs, Shahrazad Hassan (1250 Hoyt) 6 yrs, Diane Goodlow (Skycroft) 17 yrs, Pam Carlson (Plato) 18 yrs, totalling 60 years. Congratulations everyone!

Pumpkin Decorating Party!

On Saturday, October 19 at Parkway Pizza in St. Louis Park, they held an event for a pumpkin decorating party. They supplied the pumpkins and the materials to decorate, and we were able to bring them home with us. I was lucky enough to attend this event with two of our In-Home clients, Sherry and Anne. We had a wonderful afternoon and the staff at Parkway Pizza were awesome. We were lucky to have found this event for us to participate in. Thank you Parkway Pizza and especially the manager, Sarah, for hosting and having such a positive attitude. We look forward to the cookie decorating in December! ~Jodee Enfield~

Halloween Fun! Our annual Halloween festivity took place Saturday, November 2nd at the Plato Campus. Our facility was packed to nearly overflow capacity with clients and staff enjoying the fun. The winners of the costume contest included Jane from 1250 taking first prize (a skull) for her police uniform. Second prize, a Halloween cup, went to Jack from Demont who dressed as a woman (“Jack or Jill?”). Third prize, a Halloween themed stuffed animal, went to Shantel from our In-Home program who dressed as a bug. Guests played Bingo and enjoyed snacks including fruit and cheese, cookies, and “ghost eggs” made by In-Home Supervisor Karen Nelson. The fun never ends at Wingspan!

Pajama Party!

In “the old days” at St. Ann’s, our house of 30 women in Minneapolis, it was our custom to gather everyone in the big living room and watch Little House on the Prairie every Tuesday evening. We ate popcorn and sat glued to the small TV set for an hour. Mary Austin (1489 Hoyt) and I decided to re-create this fun time by marathoning “Little House” episodes at the Plato office November 9th. Twenty-four people came, most in pajamas, and got popcorn, soda and movie candy to enjoy while 5 of the earliest episodes played. The screen was much bigger this time! Dana, and Tim got themselves there and back by Metro Mobility, and 91st Street house brought Mary and Nancy, who remember doing this the first time around. Karen Nelson and Carol Hanson from In-Home were in on it from the beginning, of course, and Karen made 24 “rattlers” from empty pop bottles filled with dry rice. These were enthusiastically shaken every time mean Nellie Olson or her mother did something wicked.

Eventually, the rattlers were sounded with great enthusiasm whenever anything scary, bad or good happened. Eleaisha Jackson and Jodee Enfield (In-Home) quietly cleaned up the mess as the day went on. Thanks everyone who came and who helped. Most wanted us to do it again soon. ~Maureen Merrill~

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Wingspan Life Resources 30 East Plato Blvd.

St. Paul, MN 55107

Taking Flight

is published monthly by Wingspan Life Resources Executive Director Therese Davis Editor Pam Carlson The Wingspan Life Resources mission is inspiring community and empowering people impacted by disabilities to live their best life.

Please email us your changes to mailing address or email address: Contact sseverson@wingspanlife.org

With Deepest Sympathy Pam was born April 13, 1950 and joined the Wingspan family (Portland Golden Girls) in October of 2013. She was a very feisty woman with a big personality who quickly found her way into the hearts of all the staff at Portland Ave. Pam loved to go out shopping for clothes and jewelry, (Goodwill and the Dollar Store were among her favorites,) and loved getting her make up and nails done. She loved going out to eat, her favorite restaurant being White Castle. She loved helping cook as long as it was dessert that was being prepared, and she enjoyed playing all sorts of games…as long as there were prizes. Pam’s last few years were difficult. It was hard for the staff to see dementia rob her of her vibrancy, but glimpses of the Pam they knew and loved sustained them. Pam passed away November 11th at home. Pam had been in hospice for the past couple of weeks receiving loving care from many people. Please keep her housemates and all the staff, Lafayette Dolo, Debi Rattler, Susan Teibowei, Afi Daklou, Steve Chinatu, Taiwo Afuye, Maycee Dougba, Aishah Adeyera, (& others) and her guardian Nicole Ballard in your thoughts and prayers. We are so very sorry for our loss of Pam.

Empowering Abilities. Nurturing Spirits. Caring For Life.