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Gentle Teaching Stories: “I have become more compassionate, kind and patient towards the ones I love.”

Meet Our COR Family: Jonathan Mathieson

Hi! I am Jonathan! I am the Finance and Administrative Assistant at COR. My role involves the support of day-to-day accounting operations, including accounts payable and accounts receivable, maintaining accurate records of COR’s financial transactions, ensuring accurate administration of employee benefit and pension plans, ensuring employee expense reports are reviewed monthly and submitted for payroll processing, assisting with the annual budgeting process, along with filing, reporting, ordering office supplies and opening, sorting and distributing incoming correspondence.

I first learned about COR through a referral. I was very intrigued as I was pursuing a kinesiology degree and had lots of exposure to people with disabilities as my mother was born deaf. I joined COR as part-time support in 2019, after completing my volunteering hours for my course through the University of Regina. At the time, I was working full-time with the Ministry of Finance and eventually left my full-time position to become full-time at COR in 2022.

My favourite initiative at COR would have to be the development and implementation of efficient processes. I have created a custom premium deduction calculator and I have implemented a plethora of automated processes into my day-to-day operations! I have had many proud moments at COR. It is vague, however, my proudest moment would have to be seeing the growth and development of the individuals I was supporting. It is extremely fulfilling to see someone adopt healthy habits in their day-to-day lives. The advice that I would give to COR candidates is to be yourself! COR is a diverse workplace that embraces everyone’s unique individuality. As an organization, COR has been steadily growing. If you’re looking for a place where you can grow as a person and grow your career, COR might just be the perfect fit for you!

Fun facts about me:

  • My favourite book would have to be rich dad poor dad. This book gives a great perspective on the value of money and creating generational wealth.

My favourite quote would have to be “Fail to plan, plan to fail”. I believe that people are more efficient at whatever they want to do if they are very intentional with their actions.

  • In my free time, I enjoy staying healthy and active through weight lifting, running, and recreational sports such as football, ultimate Frisbee, boxing, and dodgeball. I enjoy channeling my creativity through photography and videography. I also value spending time with friends and family.

Gentle Teaching Stories: “I want to impact the lives of the people I serve in the future.”

Meet Our COR Family: Param Singh

Hi, I’m Param! I have been a key support at COR since June 2019! The way I heard about COR was when my classmate in Yorkton was telling me about it when I was moving to Regina (her friend used to be a support at COR)! There are many things that I love about COR, but I absolutely love the COR studio activities! They are always so inclusive and fun! Whenever I get the chance to go for an activity with someone I support, I always have a good time whether it is art, ipad classes, or games!

One of my proudest moments at COR is when I can change my support’s mental space and help them come back to a safe place where they feel confident again after a rough day. My advice to anyone who is thinking about becoming a support would be to be open-minded, responsible, accept people for who they are, and help them be their best selves. I always try to bring as much positivity into the house when individuals are having a bad day.

Fun Facts about me!

My favourite quote is “there is no such thing as a neutral exchange. You leave someone either a little better or a little worse.”-Dale Carnegie.”

  • I can break eggs with one hand
  • In my spare time, I play video games, go to the gym, go for a bike ride, go for a walk, or cook!

Meet Our COR Family: Dante Curti

Hi! I am Dante! I have been with COR for 7 months and currently am a support for three boys! One of my favorite things about being at COR is being able to witness the boys laugh, smile and interact is something which truly brings me a lot of joy. One of my proudest moments while being a support would be witnessing the boys grow into such amazing humans. Each individual has faced so much adversity and to see them push through it with the help of our team, brings me great pride. They have come such a long way and will only continue to progress. It makes me feel very proud of them.

My advice for anyone that is thinking about becoming a support at COR is to not be afraid to ask questions! Being a support can generate a lot of questions and one thing that I have learned is that every person at COR is here to help, and you are not alone!

Fun facts:

My favorite quote is, “Follow your own path and let the people talk.” -Dante Alighieri

During my free time, I like to play video games, go to the gym, hang out with friends, cook, and take my dog for walks.

Meet Our COR Family: Kassie Robinson

Hey, I’m Kassie! I am currently a Team Leader and have been at COR for almost four years! I pursued a Bachelor of Kinesiology beginning in the fall of 2016. During my time at the University of Regina, I had the opportunity to learn about COR through my disability studies class. I watched a presentation given by Serena, who is supported by COR, and another presentation given by Kasey Mahnic, who is a family support and counsellor for COR. I applied for COR during my undergrad and began my journey in 2018. Coincidentally, I ended up supporting with Serena’s team, and would later accompany her to a similar presentation at the university!

The wonderful part of being a team leader (TL) is the ability to chase my interests in the workplace. I can work on teaching my team more about Gentle Teaching. I can work on building relationships with those on my team, and those we serve. Being a part of COR has really ignited my passion for being a good community member. A strong community with good values has helped some of the people we serve to get to where they are. If I had to nail down my favourite thing to be a part of in COR, it’s furthering the organization’s mission, and nurturing good communities. Honestly, I’m proud to be part of an organization that prioritizes me. I feel like my skills and talents are recognized more frequently by not only the people on my team, but also other team leads, and senior leadership. COR is an easy organization to be proud of in turn – their emphasis on building relationships extends to their employees. I feel like I’ve grown so much, in communication, leadership, kindness, gentleness, humour, and emotional intelligence. We are leading in our sector and forging our own path – something that I think is necessary for a future that is fruitful for everyone.

I always tell new supports to walk in with an open mind. Gentle Teaching is easy to understand, but when it comes down to having to put your feelings and conditioned beliefs aside, it can be really difficult. Support’s who are open-minded and open to feedback and collaboration can really make a difference on a team. Support’s can challenge their own ideas, realize that there are multiple avenues that can achieve the same goals, emphasize, and recognize that people can grow and change, and our approaches should too. We should never settle on something just because this is the way it’s “always been done”.

Fun Facts about me:

I read a lot and I am currently reading books on leadership. Most recently, I read the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It has great information on how to prioritize the things that are important. As well, the book Burnout has information on the stress cycle and how to combat it. I find this especially important in this field of work, where our nervous systems can be triggered frequently. Outside of educational books, I enjoy a variety of genres including classics, literature, biographies, and some spiritually related books.

I have a pen pal from Toronto.

I have a collection of books in my home that reaches almost 300!

Meet Our COR Family: Dhwani Purohit

Hi, I am Dhwani! I am a home team leader and have been with COR for over a year now! I have a very interesting story behind how I found out about COR! One day, Michael Lavis came to the retail store where I was working to buy an appliance; we began talking about what I was studying and what I wanted to do in my career. I told him that I wanted to do something in the healthcare field which was when Michael gave me the website to COR and I ended up applying there! I didn’t even know he was the CEO!

There are several moments that I am proud of at COR because of the people and the individuals I support. When I hear stories about COR, I feel really lucky to be a part of it. When I found out that I was going to be promoted to a team leader, I felt really proud to achieve something in a field that I have wanted to be in. Some advice that I have for prospective candidates is—to be kind, building relationships is the main key within the COR community. It really helps reflect your ability to support who we serve and the team too.

Fun facts:

My favorite quote is, “Every day may not be good but there’s something good in every day.” -Alice Morse Earle

I am not an animal lover, but I am a vegetarian! Haha!

My favorite activity in my spare time is spending time with my friends and family. And I love sleeping and watching Netflix. However, when it’s summer in Regina, I love exploring new places.