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I trust people at COR.
“Well I like COR cause people get along. They don’t fight, they don’t hit, and they don’t hurt kids. I feel safe. I know everything isn’t cheap, but I work hard for my money. I work 2 jobs. My life was not going very good before. My life was going down instead of going up. Now my life is going up. I don’t have to put up with people that try to hurt me because I know no one is going to hurt me. If I have a problem with people I can talk to them and they listen. I’m glad my friend helped me when my back got sore. If someone was afraid or something, COR would say “I’m not gonna hurt you, you can trust us”. I trust people at COR. I was scared at first. Oh yeah, it was scary. It was really new. That was a long time ago. I was scared of my new boss and my new job for a while too. I got used to them. I have to get used to my job’s new building now.”
– Peter
Characteristics of a Caregiver
“To be a caregiver involves more than caring: it is to enter into a mutual change process with the person, with both becoming more, instead of less — the parent embracing the crying child instead of yelling; the teacher befriending a lonely child instead of punishing; the psychiatric nurse sitting with the confused and belligerent patient instead of opening the heavy seclusion room door; the social worker creating circles of friends around the homeless person instead of simply dishing out soup; the relief worker entering into the world of the political refugee and seeing the suffering heart instead of seeing only a number. Indeed, our intent has to be to change ourselves, deepen our love, increase our warmth, and recognize the wholeness and goodness of the other. We might never “change” the other. Our purpose has to be to change ourselves. Our hope is that our deepening love will also change the other.”
-John McGee
Festive Cheer! COR Christmas Dinner 2015
Holiday cheer was alive at the COR Christmas Dinner held at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Regina on December 18th. COR families, friends, employees and individuals served gathered for an evening of festivities. A scrumptious holiday feast, along with music by our favorite east coast band, Jakey’s Gin, and a rockin’ Photo Booth by the guys at Strategy Lab made the evening that much more spectacular! The smiles, joy and laughter shared by everyone made for such a memorable night! THANK YOU!
From the Board of Directors and Leadership Team at COR, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!
Angie and Richie Lookin’ Amazing!
We’re not quite sure which one’s more naughty? HeHe!
Ben and Larissa rockin’ the Santa gear!
We have an Elf, a Reindeer and Ms. Claus…. Happy Holidays!
Andrew and the ladies!
Who has the biggest beard? Jeph or Patrick?
And a HoHoHo to you! 🙂
What a beautiful group of people!!
The dance floor was on fire!
Two handsome fellas!
Elise, Dave, Roger and Lill spreading some Christmas Cheer!
HoHoHo! Sean (Mr. Coca Cola) and Jonathon!
Happy Holidays from the gals on Bronwyn and Gillian’s Support Team!
Dylan and Andrew making some holiday magic!
A beautiful photo of John and his mom, Voula.
Brother and Sister, Jarrod and Caleigh.
Stylin!
Couples Pic! Looking Great Lexi, Michaela, Andrew and Jordan!
Jesse and the ladies!
Lexi and Jordan.
Angie and her AWESOME Support Team!
Ho!Ho!Ho!
What a stylish group!
Naughty or Nice? hehe
Some Christmas Fright!
Jessie and Jesse!
Spreading the holiday cheer!
Lisa and Diandra spreading the cheer!
Brooklyn and her family!
John and his family.
Who’s that peeking over Santa?
Brenda and Marc spreading the holiday love!
Holiday Door Prize by: Jason Robin’s Artwork
Holiday Carvers, the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Regina.
East Coast music by: Jakey’s Gin
Dispelling Myths About People with Disabilities
COR partnered with four AWESOME UofR Kin Students on a project for the International Day for Persons With Disabilities (IDPD 2015). Check out this great story about the project posted to the UofR webpage on December 2, 2015. Be sure to watch the video too!!
Article by: Costa Maragos
________________________________________
Some myths and misconceptions about people with disabilities are being explored in a compelling and thoughtful video produced by four Kinesiology students.
The video production is titled; Inclusion Matters: Debunking Common Myths Around Disability.
“We hope to generate some critical thinking and open-ended discussions about the current myths and stereotypes many people have about people with disabilities,” says Jordan Wirachowsky, one of four students involved in the production. “The overall message is we hope it can change attitudes towards people with disabilities and create a more inclusive society.”
Wirachowsky, along with Matthew Pacholko, Jason Mo and Jordan Wyonzek, came up with the idea as part of a project in their Kinesiology 342 class, Developmental Disabilities & Well-Being, taught by professor Brenda Rossow-Kimball.
The video has been produced to coincide with International Day of Persons With Disabilities, December 3. That day, the video will be shown to a class at Campbell Collegiate in Regina.
In the video, students, faculty and staff on campus are asked to respond, sometimes with little or no warning, to various statements relating to myths about people with disabilities, including:
- people with disabilities only like to spend time with others who have disabilities;
- people with disabilities are more likely to be injured in the workplace;
- people with disabilities are not independent and are unable to perform tasks of daily living.
“A few individuals gave some real thought to the questions and strived to dig deeper and find true meaning in the questions,” says Pacholko. “Some students appeared at a loss of explanation. Perhaps it was because they’ve never thought of the topic in such a way before or because they were put on the spot.”
Watch Inclusion Matters: Debunking Common Myths Around Disability, produced jointly by Brandon Wu of Strategy Lab and Creative Options Regina.
As part of the assignment, the students were asked to connect with a community organization and create a project that recognizes this year’s theme for International Day of Persons With Disabilities.
The students connected with Creative Options Regina, a non-profit organization in Regina that develops personalized support services for people with disability.
“Participating in class projects such as this helps raise awareness of our organization, while further contributing to the development of a more inclusive community for all,” says Michael Lavis, Executive Director of Creative Options Regina.
The video’s overall message, say the students, is the hope it can change peoples’ attitudes towards those with disabilities and create a more inclusive society.
“A more inclusive society helps build relationships and allows people with different abilities to be valued and shown dignity,” says Pacholko.
Click here for the full story on the UofR webpage.
The Al McGuire Award Winner for Transition to Employment 2015 – Patrick Flaman
Creative Options Regina (COR) is very happy to annouce that our very own Patrick Flaman is the winner of the Al McGuire Award for Transition to Employment 2015. His work ethic and attitude are like no one else, Patrick is an exemplary employee and just an all around great guy. We’re proud to have Patrick a part of the COR family.
“Freedom”: Patrick’s Story
I was living in an approved home before COR. I had a friend that lived in COR and I started hanging out with him more and more. I stayed for sleepovers and his friends got to know me a little bit. He wanted me to move to COR… I guess he suggested it to somebody!
We had some meetings and then Andrew and Jim showed up one day with a U-Haul truck. All my stuff was in boxes and bags. It felt good to load it in. It felt like freedom. I threw everything in there. I came to the house, unpacked the U-Haul and there were lots of people helping me out. I didn’t sleep that night. It was a new environment for me and it took me a while to fall asleep the first couple of nights. Once I felt more comfortable it started to feel like home. I had things given to me for my apartment. On my birthday I was given things that I basically wanted. It was sort of weird at first. I had birthday parties before, but I never got things that I needed. My friends all bought me a Keurig for Christmas this year!
I’m going to a class that helps me deal with my anger, my anxiety, stuff like that. Some days I don’t really feel the greatest… and some days it could be like… I don’t know its kind of an up & down thing for me. Some days are tougher than others. That’s why I’m going to a class. I know that people in COR aren’t judging me or anything and that they are there to listen not scold you. They are there to help, they don’t say “wow that’s a dumb question to ask”, they just listen and try to help. When I moved in I needed somebody to talk to and I had a friend who would sit and listen, help me out and talk with me. It made me feel more comfortable because I know there is always someone to talk to if I need to. I get to go places like the bar, camping trips, hanging out with my friends. There’s not really a curfew. Your friends treat you like an adult, and if there’s a problem we sort of talk it out and work through it.
My friends helped me find a job. I work at Sasktel right on 1st Avenue and Broad Street, not too far from the COR office. I do lots of different things. I sometimes work in the warehouse, I clean 2701’s and 3801’s, just different modems. I sometimes clean ONT’s. It feels good to have a job. I’m not isolating myself because now I actually have a job where I’m responsible for getting up and getting to work on time. I was sort of nervous when I started. I was nervous to ask questions on my first day, but when I got more comfortable I sort of came out of my shell. When I’m on my own I have a thing called Facetime. My friends Facebook, Facetime, text me to make sure I’m okay and stuff like that.
I really like hanging out with people from COR. Going to BBQ’s, hanging out, playing football, just hanging out. There’s one thing that I have learned from that. I don’t look at their disabilities, I look at them as a person. I go to the dances and I have a friend that has MS, but I don’t look at her as MS. I just look at her as just one of my friends I can hang out with and laugh, do stuff with.
[What is COR all about?]
People caring about other people, people who are willing to listen, talk to you and make sure you’re alright. They are basically there for caring. COR has a website with lots of videos. Everyone is welcome here and everyone is equal. You should check it out. COR is an awesome place to live.
– Patrick
The Business Case For Inclusive Employment
When: November 5, 2015 2-3pm
Where: Saskatchewan Science Centre Theatre
Cost: $25
RSVP: jeff@creativeoptionsregina.ca
Mark Wafer is the owner of six Tim Hortons franchises in Ontario. Over the past 20 years, Mark and his wife Valerie have hired 118 people with disabilities and currently employ 46 people with disabilities from a work force of 250.
Mark believes there is a clear business case for inclusive employment.
What is Community?
What is Community? from Creative Options Regina (COR) on Vimeo.
We need to rethink how we define “community”. People will say things like, “lets go out into the community”, when in fact we’re already IN community. We all make up the community; just being you makes you a part of it! Embrace what’s around you!
“Be A Superhero”
IN PRODUCTION–I’ve often wondered why are stories about superheroes so appealing? And why have they always been appealing throughout humankind’s history? (Recall the Roman and Greek gods and goddesses, and countless other myths of people with superhuman strength and power from all cultures throughout the world from all time.) If I was to give a less than educated guess as to their appeal, I would say that they touch something in us that we all long for…perhaps something missing from our very selves.
The reason I think this is because it seems too trite and easy to say that the appeal lies only in the fantastical. As if to say, just because those stories tell us of something that we do not see in real life they keep our attention. I can imagine a story with many fantastical details that would not make me rush to see the movie or buy the book. That is to say, fantastical does not always equal appealing.
So perhaps superheroes’ appeal lies in the fact that they are marked as special, set apart, different, but in a good way–a way that increases their human potential. I believe that is a better explanation of their universal appeal. I believe it appeals to us because we very rarely experience it ourselves.
If this lack is a common existential experience, what does that tell us about our ontological make-up? Why would we all universally experience the same lack or same desire? Were we meant for something greater? Did we, as a race, have a potential that we lost? Or do we intrinsically have it but lost our ability to see it clearly? Why the common yearning and desire?
And then, why do we feel a lack that we seemingly lack the ability to fill? Even recognizing that one desires to be “more” does not enable one to meet their own desire. Even the richest and most powerful people in the world often report that they feel this same lack in life, like something is still missing.
Perhaps finding out what really quenches that desire or fills that lack is the meaning of life.
1) Decide what you want to accomplish
Is there a specific task/dream that you want to accomplish for someone or with someone?
2) Pick a theme song
Don’t take yourself too seriously! Let loose and have fun
3) Decide what you stand for
What are you fighting for?