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COR Supports
Meet Our COR Family: Dillon Schmidt
Hi. I’m Dillon! I began as a support on the adult side of COR in 2018. Approximately six months after starting, I was approached to join a new team on the youth side. I jumped at the opportunity and within that team, went from support to Key Support to Team Leader. I spent a little over a year as a Team Leader before taking a three-month parental leave. When I returned from leave in June 2022, I stepped into my current role which is a Youth Experience Advisor. My main role is capacity building within the youth teams. I work directly with supports to help build competence and confidence both as individual supports and as a collective team. I work with everyone from new hires to Team Leaders to accomplish this goal. I have also recently become a trainer for multiple pieces of training and workshops. I became a certified ASIST trainer in the fall of 2022. I also created an FASD workshop with the goal of filling what I perceived as an organizational knowledge gap. I’ve begun facilitating both and will be quite busy with them in 2023! Unlike most people in COR, I was not referred by a friend or family member. I wanted an organizational switch while still staying in the same field of work and happened upon COR in my search!
It has long been a goal of mine to become a training facilitator. In the fall of 2021, I was offered the opportunity to enroll in an online university certificate class centered around FASD. I did so with the goal of creating an FASD workshop to be disseminated within the organization. With the class and my parental leave completed, I was then able to create the workshop from the ground up. While I’ve only facilitated it a couple of times, I’ve received very positive feedback thus far and look forward to sharing my knowledge further in 2023. Additionally, I was also given the opportunity to become a certified ASIST trainer. Again, I’ve only facilitated ASIST a couple of times at this point but I look forward to continuing on a journey toward a goal I’ve had for several years!
COR is not a traditional job, nor is it a traditional organization. The organizational culture is unlike anything I’ve experienced elsewhere. While we expect a lot from all of our support, hard work is always rewarded. Positions and promotions are merit-based and you can be assured that going “above and beyond” will be recognized in tangible ways.
Fun Facts about me!
My favourite book is the Black Company series by Glen Cook.
I’m the father of a 15-month-old girl so my free time is spent guiding and watching a human being form before my eyes. Her being hilariously entertaining at all times is just an added bonus for me!
Meet Our COR Family: Kristyn White
Hi! I’m Kristyn, the Literacy Facilitator for Inclusion Regina/Creative Options Regina. I began my journey at COR as an undergraduate student at the University of Regina. Jim Temple came to one of my classes to talk to us about COR and the philosophy of Gentle Teaching, and before the class ended, I had already sent in my application. A few weeks later, I was hired as a Support Worker. As 2023 approaches, it will mark my 8th year with the organization! WOW, time flies, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of the COR family still.
I was a Support Worker for several years and eventually transitioned into the role of Team Leader. During this time, I also began facilitating Tell It Like It Is – a sexual health and wellness initiative that COR offered. I became passionate about supporting the sexuality of people living with disabilities, and this led me to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Regina. Shortly after becoming a graduate student, I started my role as Literacy Facilitator! My role involves the development and facilitation of Inclusion Regina’s literacy initiatives. People with disabilities and those within their support networks deserve access to comprehensive, accurate information on sexual health, financial literacy, technology use, reading, and much more. The opportunity to connect with the people we serve and those in the community is the best part of my role!
I am incredibly proud of the growth I have experienced at COR, not just with my career but also with myself! I was in my early 20s when I started at COR, and when I turned 30 this year, I realized I have quite literally watched myself grow up with the organization. My experiences at COR have been invaluable. This past October, I had one of my proudest career moments when I helped to organize a Sexuality & Disability conference that COR, Inclusion Saskatchewan, and Saskatoon Sexual Health hosted in Regina. The conference featured presenters from Saskatchewan and Alberta, a self-advocate panel, and over 100 attendees who came to learn about supporting the sexuality of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The event was a first of its kind in our province, and I am still beaming with pride as I reflect on the day. I am so lucky that I get to work alongside colleagues who I not only admire and learn from but who also support me and my aspirations. I am excited to see where my role at COR takes me in the future!
Fun Facts about me:
I was born and raised in Regina, and although it might not be the warmest or most exciting city, it is home. I have always believed that where you are doesn’t matter; what matters is who you are with. Spending time with the people I love is what makes me the happiest! In my free time, you can find me at our family cabin at Moosomin Lake, up North in Waskesiu, or camping with my partner, Jon. I love to explore new places and am always down for an adventure or road trip. I am obsessed with our pets (Sienna and Luna), and if I am not at the lake, I am likely spending my time telling them how cute they are.
Here are some facts you may (or may not) know about me: I have been vegan for over five years and love to cook, I taught myself how to build outdoor furniture, I hate watching people brush their teeth, I drink too much diet coke, I always forget how to spell the word ‘definitely’, I was once on the same flight as Pamela Anderson, and I hope to one day own a cabin in the mountains!
I hope you learned something new about me! Come and say hi next time you are in the COR Studio!!
Meet Our COR Family: Kevin Mclean
Hi, I’m Kevin! I am a Home Team Leader! I have been a part of the COR family for four and a half years! I first heard about COR when one of my friends was previously a member of the board of directors. I started at COR as a home support and then after a year and a half, I moved on to support within COR’s Supported Living Program for another year and a half! I was then approached to apply for an aspiring team lead position which I ended up getting! After one year of learning and supporting, I was offered the role of Team Leader! I have also been an encourager at the studio and a facilitator for a roleplaying group for Dungeons and Dragons!
My favourite part of COR has to be my encourager position at the studio! It was just so much fun! My proudest moment was helping Michael and Peter, old roommates and friends that had a falling out, to start talking and going out together to events. If I had any advice for people who are interested in joining the COR family, I would have to say to come in with an open mind and an open heart!
Fun Facts about me:
- My favourite series of books is The Legend of Drizzt by R.A Salvatore! I am on book 38 of the series.
My favourite quote is “All right, All right, all right” Matthew McConaughey, Dazed and Confused.
- My son also started supporting at COR
- In my spare time, I love to play games! Video, board games, and tabletop miniature games.
Meet Our COR Family: Tai Shier
Hello! I am Tai! I am a Team Leader at COR and have been here for just over 2 years! I heard about COR while supporting at a different agency. COR had come out with a video for 100 acts of kindness and was giving back to members of the community that made a positive impact around them. It was such a heartwarming gesture; it didn’t take long for me to realize that I would have a very fulfilling career at COR. I have had the amazing opportunity to facilitate some classes. I’m not great at public speaking, but COR and Inclusion Regina gave me the opportunity to facilitate Tell It Like It Is, and the COR Studio allowed me the chance to host an art class in preparation for the Cathedral Arts Festival. I have lots of projects in the works for next summer and can’t wait to get working on them.
I am most proud of my team; we faced a very challenging year and everyone did well in facing the challenges with kindness. The growth I have seen in the individuals we serve has been quite impressive and the credit goes to all the supports! My advice to new COR candidates is don’t be afraid to try new things, and allow yourself to think outside the box. You can make your support times very exciting, and fun with the right mindset.
Quotes that I love:
a reminder to myself that everyone starts in the learning stages and the most important thing to do is try regardless of the outcome. It may work the first time but, highly unlikely.. so it’s okay to get messy.
“Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy”
– Miss Frizzle
Meet Our COR Family: Keir Trainor
Hi, I’m Keir! I’m the People and Culture Advisor! I mainly work within recruitment alongside our Employee Experience Advisor, Casey! In addition, I facilitate payroll for all COR employees alongside Lill! I began my journey with COR working as the Payroll and Benefits Specialist, but quickly moved into what I was really passionate about – people!
I recently celebrated my 2 year anniversary at COR! I’ve been here since late September 2020. Time really flies when you love what you do! I first learned about COR when I was working at PEBA (Public Employees Benefits Agency). I met one of my great friends, JJ Mathieson, who was working full-time at PEBA and supporting overnights at COR. He told me about what he did and that he loved the organization and its culture. From there, I told him to let me know if there were any opportunities to work within COR in a business role! A few months later, he said to me that they were hiring a People and Culture Advisor. I applied for it, didn’t get it, but I was offered a benefits and pension specialist position (very in line with what I was doing at PEBA) and I took it!
My favorite project at COR so far has definitely been Healthy Workplace Month. I spent time over the past year filming different shorts for the COR socials and it was a blast! I’ve realized I’m very camera-shy, but getting out of my comfort zone really stretched me as a person. This year, we’ve decided to garner as many recipes from everyone across the COR family and compile it into a cookbook that everyone can use in their daily life. I’m super stoked to see what recipes come in from who, and try them all out! There are a few major projects at COR that have really strengthened my ability to move through adversity and plan for the future. Before moving to COR, I didn’t have much experience in implementation and planning. I felt very privileged to be able to come into a role that would impact the organization as a whole, as well as to work with incredibly supportive individuals who always had my back through thick and thin!
My advice for prospective COR candidates would be to have an open mind and open heart! Since starting at COR, I’ve really tried to immerse myself in the philosophy of Gentle Teaching and I feel that it’s really impacted how I think, my values, and how I conduct myself on a daily basis. It’s interesting to reflect on prior years and positions I
held in different organizations and see how they compare to COR in terms of culture, philosophy, and structure. I know it sounds cliché, but I really do feel that everyone has my back within COR and that I’m free to take risks and make mistakes without judgment!
Fun Facts about me:
My favorite book is called “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins. It’s an autobiography-style book with some insane stories about persevering through adversity and creating mental toughness within yourself. I think I’ve read it about 3 or 4 times over. I would totally recommend it to anyone who is looking for a brutally honest story about
overcoming obstacles in your life!
I’m a major Dark Knight fan, and I always think back to when he fell down the well in Batman Begins. The quote goes, “Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up”.
I think this quote is insanely relatable to my life and I can honestly say I hear this quote in my head from Alfred at least once a day! I’m constantly falling down, but it’s having the strength to stand back up, dust myself off, and keep pushing forward that’s so important!
I once had to do a triathlon because I lost a bet with my partner! We were casually chatting about a video game that I play, and I told her it would be impossible for her to reach a “max level” skill in the game. Sadly, she took on the challenge with the prize being me doing a triathlon with her. I laughed in her face but ended up doing the triathlon a few months later…