“A community where everyone belongs and participates” JUNE, 2014 “We are what we Repeatedly do, Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” CELEBRATING STAFF APPRECIATION Aristotle Inside this issue: Magical Moments Faces of KW Hab KW Hab Annual Golf Classic Health and Wellness Fair You are Invited to Our Party on Sept. 25th! In Memory AchievAbility Campaign This year’s staff appreciation event featured an Ice Cream Sundae Bar, art from The Studio and several activities including a very popular pie in the face contest. Staff were lined up for a chance to whip some cream at their manager, connect with old friends and test their skills and knowledge on Core Competencies, PRISMS and KW Hab Trivia. 140 staff attended this drop in event where there was a one in three chance of winning a door prize. Many thanks goes towards the Committee for Excellence in coordinating this event. KW Habilitation truly appreciates all the good work staff do throughout the year! Magical Moments at KW Habilitation Dreams really do come true! For a young woman who resides at our McFadden Home, a life time of memories took place the week of June 5th to the 9th. The planning however began a year ago at Angela’s Life Plan meeting. She has always loved princesses, Disney movies and characters. Angela indicated she would like to go to Disney World someday. So the planning, organizing and saving began! Angela and her support worker, Kay enjoyed five fun filled days at a lovely resort right inside Disney World. They rode the Expedition Everest roller coaster (Kay only screamed a few times) and got soaking wet while riding the waves on the Keli River Rapids at animal kingdom. The fun never stopped coming. They lunched with Mickey and friends at Magic Kingdom and took lots of amazing pictures. They went back to the future, helped find Nemo and swam with mermaids at the Epcot center. Angela really enjoyed spending time at the hotel pool and watching the spectacular fireworks. She met amazing people and made lots of new friends. Angela loved her time at Disney World which was evident by her enthusiastic remark of “stay here” when it was time to come home. This trip was made possible due to a support circle who knew Angela well and worked hard to make her dream a reality. Because of that, Angela has a scrapbook of memories to talk about for years to come! TOGETHER WE WILL. . . Continually Learn Be Accountable Maintain Excellence FACES OF KW HAB “When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” Lao Tzu Yes that’s right! We have Janet Jackson at The Studio, and no, Michael is not her brother. Janet lives at Forest Heights Long Term Care Centre where she was part of the Seniors Day Program until it moved to KW Hab in April of 2011. Janet is a very social woman who has a great sense of humour. She loves to have her hair styled and her fingernails painted and is often sporting a new necklace and bracelet from her vast collection. She keeps busy visiting the library with her sister and going for walks. At The Studio, Janet’s interests range from cooking and baking to mall walks and painting. Look for Janet this fall making her debut at the IDOL competition! Barb Wappler has been a Resource Consultant in the Early Learning, Child Care and Family Resource Program for almost 27 years. She has watched this program evolve from a segregated preschool at 115 University Avenue to full integration into the community which has been very exhilarating. In fact, her job has changed about every five years to keep up with legislative and internal changes with the biggest change recently moving to 99 Ottawa Street and tripling the size of this team. Barb is married with two wonderful children and a grandson who brings a whole new level of excitement to her life. She loves gardening, golfing, spending time by the pool, traveling and having her family around. Barb is known for her positive energy on the job. KW HAB ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC On Thursday, June the 5th, 110 golfers went out to the Ariss Golf Club on a beautiful sunny day to do what golfers do—run around 18 holes after a little white ball, enjoy some laughs, fellowship and great food! Along with the prizes for top and not so top teams, there was a silent auction which was a great success. Twenty volunteers helped out during the day and evening making sure everything ran smoothly. Approximately $15,000 was raised for the AchievAbility Campaign. There were many sponsorships for the different holes around the golf course and KW Habilitation would like to thank everyone for their kind and generous contributions to the tournament. KW Hab’s 6th Annual Health and Wellness Fair This year marked the 6th anniversary of KW Hab’s Health and Wellness Fair. One hundred and thirty people participated in the fair on Tuesday, May 27th to learn about healthy lifestyle choices within our community by visiting over twenty community booths. As always, the highlight of the evening was the door prizes and prizes given out for the top three health posters. These are made possible by generous donations from The Kinsmen Club, Westmount Pharma-Save, Toysense, Med Pro, Martin’s Apples, Hoegler’s Pharma-Save, Food Basics and many private donations. SAVE THE DATE FOR 99 OTTAWA ST. SOUTH’S GRAND OPENING Everyone is invited to come out and help us celebrate the completion our new building on Thursday, September 25th. The celebration will be throughout the day and evening although details are still being finalized. Stay tuned for more information. Hope to see you there! IN MEMORY Bruce Parker August 14, 1929 to June 6, 2014 Bruce Parker passed away peacefully at Winston Park while listening to his beloved bagpipe music on June 6, 2014. He was supported by KW Hab since 1983 residentially and at the Kinsmen Centre. Bruce lived at the David Fisher Residence and then at Batavia before moving to Winston Park two years ago. Bruce had a zest for life that was contagious. He was passionate about many things including the Kitchener Rangers, the Blue Jays, marching bands, and western movies with John Wayne in them. His big smile and joy in the little things endeared Bruce to many people within his community and he shall be missed by his loving family and friends. Please give to the KW Habilitation AchievAbility Campaign WE ARE ALMOST THERE! Thanks to many personal donations, fundraising events, Trillium Foundation grant and MCSS funds, we are 75% of the way towards meeting our 5.4 million dollar AchievAbility goal! Your continuing support is truly appreciated. YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL HELP INSPIRE ABILITIES & ENRICH LIVES Our new 21,000 sq. ft. location will form the cornerstone of a vibrant, open community, allowing for expansion of services for children and adults we support and their families: Expanded early learning (preschool) services for children who have any special need in the Region of Waterloo A social cafe, teaching kitchen, horticulture area, recreation and meeting place for all Fully accessible and barrier-free community hub with elevator Energy-efficient and ‘healthy’ green building Construction completion April 2014 OUR GOAL $5,400,000 $5,200,000 $5,000,000 $4,500,000 $4,000,000 $3,500,000 $3,000,000 $2,500,000 $2,000,000 Please make your donation today by calling 519-744-6307 or online at www.kwhab.ca/donate Thank you for your generous support! K W H A B I L I T AT I O N Inspiring Abilities. Enriching Lives. www.kwhab.ca WE’VE MOVED! 99 Ottawa Street South Kitchener, ON N2G 3S8 Phone: 519-744-6307 Fax: 519-571-1629 E-mail: generalinquiries@kwhab.ca “Together with families and the community, K-W Habilitation provides services and supports to create opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to learn, work and live in the community.” KW Habilitation was incorporated in 1970 and provides a wide variety of supports to approximately 1000 people with developmental disabilities and their families in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. This includes Early Learning, Child Care and Family Resources, Residential, Respite, as well as Community Participation and Employment Supports. Check out our website for more information.