Meet Jaime – a Recreation Programmer at Prince Albert Supportive Living. 

Jaime is an absolute ray of sunshine for our staff and our kids. She is a perfect member to our team as she brings so much passion, fun, and love to her position.

The Recreation Programmer role can be a bit misunderstood as you can have varying educational backgrounds to fill it. Whether you have a degree in Kinesiology, ECE diploma, or a Recreational Therapy Diploma, Hope’s Home will train you to perfectly fit the role. Read on as Jaime takes you through even more things you might not know about her and her role at Hope’s Home.

What to do with a kinesology degree1. Start off by telling us a bit about yourself.

I have been the Recreation Programmer at Supportive Living in Prince Albert since the fall of 2018! Prior to working with Hope’s Home, I worked as a kinesiologist in multidisciplinary clinics both in Halifax and in Moose Jaw. I completed my Bachelor of Science in kinesiology from the University of Lethbridge. I am also a big movement enthusiast and am a spin instructor, group fitness instructor and personal trainer on the side.

2. What’s one thing people might not know about your position?

One thing people may not know is how diverse the Recreation role is at Hope’s Home! Every day comes with its unique challenges and no two days are the same! Not only do we get to research and program new intervention strategies for each of the kiddos, we also are big advocates for inclusiveness in the community where we always look for opportunities to get the children involved. We communicate with supporting professionals such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathologists, and vision rehabilitation (just to name a few); we then take their recommendations and create functional strategies to be implemented in the home and into the children’s daily lives.

3. You get to experience a lot of everyday miracles. What’s one that comes to the top of your mind as the most memorable?

I was fortunate enough to experience a wish trip for two of our children at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Watching the reaction when one of the children met any Disney character was priceless (Buzz lightyear and Minnie Mouse were their favourites!); pure joy and happiness.

Our other kiddo is a daredevil and wanted to ride any and every rollercoaster possible. They made me and another staff ride the fastest one over and over (they are much braver than me!).

Recreational Programmer - Hope's Home4. You have a lot of career options with your Kin degree. What’s made you stay in the non-profit industry, and Hope’s Home specifically?

Prior to Hope’s Home I enjoyed my position but was never left feeling as fulfilled as I do working here. Working here, you get to see the direct impact of what you program, you learn to problem solve on the fly, and best of all you get to play! Hope’s Home is so incredibly special to this community, to the province, and has such an impactful message behind it. I am beyond grateful for each day I get to come into work and play a small part in this amazing organization.

I think having my kinesiology background, as well as experience, gives me a unique perspective into programming for the children. A lot of what we do in Supportive Living is incorporating recommendations from supporting professionals and making it fun and turning it into functional play. Having a deeper understanding of growth & development, and functional anatomy allows me to make sure the kiddos are getting the most out of their activities.

5. How would you describe the culture and atmosphere at Hope’s Home?

Supportive, welcoming, and so so fun. We have amazing staff here who make work not feel like work. From a management perspective, our supervisors are always there to listen and offer constructive feedback and to push our employees to reach their full potential.

6. What’re your long-term goals with Hope’s Home? Either personal, professional, or both.

I am currently pursuing my certified therapeutic recreation designation, which I’m very excited about! Once that is complete it will bring a whole new standard of recreation therapy at our center and hopefully at others as well.

I also love to mentor students and hope to accept many more from the therapeutic recreation program. Within Hope’s Home and the community, I will always continue to advocate for our children but also for this profession and what we can offer to these kiddos care teams.

 

That’s why there’s no place like Hope. ❤️

Working from home - the new normal

Like many other small organizations and businesses, working from home is the new normal, and it turns out there are many more benefits to it than we initially thought.

For the past 6 months, our Provincial Leadership team has been working from home as we navigated the pandemic. What started out as a temporary solution to a global problem, is now being brought forward as a permanent, cost saving model. Reduced overhead costs and increased productivity is just the beginning.

Figuring our logistics, like how to navigate technology; and combatting cons, such as miscommunication in email writing, posed quite the obstacle for our small non-profit. But by working together, and finding solutions through trial and error, we ended up finding that there were a lot of benefits that we enjoyed about working from home. Which made us completely change our perspective on the necessity of in-office at all.

Working from Home

Here is what we found:

  1. Working at your own pace. Whether it was staying on a schedule of 9-5, being an early bird and starting at 6:00 am, taking a 2 hour lunch break, or finding inspiration at 8:00 pm. We all work differently and are the most productive at varying hours. Why force yourself into a schedule that doesn’t work for you? Working from home has given us this freedom.
  2. We can do laundry during the day instead of at 9:00 pm at night. Who would’ve thought that something so minor would bring so much joy. Being able to switch your laundry throughout the day? Absolutely amazing.laundry from home-hopes home
  3. Brain breaks are a miracle. A morning filled with meetings? A tedious task that made your brain feel like jello? Go for a walk, pet your dog, make some tea. These all never seemed like a possibility before, but now that they are – we actually feel more productive!
  4. Even though we are still working 8 hour days, there is more time for family time. We can be there when our kids get home from school, make them breakfast, or spend lunch together.
  5. Our team feels more connected and in the know with other departments and colleagues than ever before. Even though it’s all virtual, our organization has made a bigger effort to stay up to date. Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint has made collaboration and meetings so efficient.

Overall, working from home has provided our staff with the ability to find that work-life balance everyone has been struggling with. It has increased everyone’s productivity because they are now working on their own terms and on their own time.

How has your company been handling working from home? Are you already back in the office or are you permanently going to a work from home solution? Or are you somewhere in the middle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanksgiving is meant for family, and that’s what we are at Supportive Living.

Our Supportive Living locations across the province enjoyed some quality family time this Thanksgiving. They took in the last of the fall season going for walks around the river and in their neighborhoods, ate good food, got crafty, and carved some pumpkins.

There is so much to be thankful for. But especially during this time, we are so thankful for the health of our kids and that we are still able to spend time together during the holidays; embracing every moment and appreciating all the joy that can come from the little things.

thanksgiving festivities Hope's Home 3 Hope's Home donation Regina thanksgiving festivities Hope's Home crafts5 1 Thanksgiving festivities - Hope's Home

Feeling Thankful Part II: Our CEO, Jacque Tisher, takes us through what she is thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend:

 

Jacque Tisher

Each morning I want to wake up with intention and purpose.  Opening my eyes to the sun shining, the beauty of a fall day, and I smile with a grateful heart.  Life is sometimes very challenging.  As people, we face each morning with personal expectation for our life.  The expectations fill our heart with joy, excitement, or some days even worry or sadness.  Our human experiences may be filled with wonderful, warm memories of our childhood or grief over the loss of loved ones. We may experience intense love, uncertainty, fear, wonder, and hope.  I am thankful for each of these emotions and experiences.  These experiences make us human – they make us real.

Even in our world of uncertainty there is much to be Thankful for. We may not be able to control the world around us – COVID, illness of a family member, politics, the weather. Yet in all of this, we can choose how to respond. Today, I wake up and choose Thankfulness.

I am so THANKFUL for the incredible love of my family. I am thankful for the love of my life. I am thankful for the memories of the people I love that have gone before us. I am thankful for the people in my world who have made a difference in my life – you make me smile. I am thankful for the many amazing memories made with my friends and look forward to making many more. I am thankful for today and the incredible beauty of each breath. I am thankful for the feelings I get to experience that remind me I am alive.  I am thankful for each smile and every tear. I am thankful for tomorrow and the journey God has me on. It isn’t easy. It isn’t perfect. Yet I am thankful for each moment in it.

This Thanksgiving Day, I wake up in anticipation, expectation, and thankfulness for the future. With a grateful heart I will embrace the magic of each moment and cherish the memories yet to be made.

With a grateful heart – Happy Thanksgiving to Each of You!

 

Jacque Tisher.

CEO & Founder

Favourite Regina non profit banner

October! The month of giving, feeling thankful, and being grateful for everything you have. So we decided to kick off this month by recognizing some pretty awesome people right here in our community. We put together a list (which doesn’t even begin to cover all of them) of 5 of our favourite Regina non-profits, what they are up to, and how you can help them out. Our community wouldn’t be the same without them, and we are very grateful for the work they are doing.

1. Creative Options Regina (COR)

Creative Options Regina was started in 2009 and has since been a passionate advocate in our community for adults with disabilities. At COR, they aren’t running “group homes,” they are simply supporting people in their own homes.

They’re a family at COR and it’s incredibly heartwarming to hear their stories. Find them on Instagram @CORuchoose to hear them for yourself.

2. Shine On Foundation

The Shine On Foundation aims to support families whose mom has been diagnosed with cancer. The organization supports the family financially in terms of treatment costs not covered by the government and helping them create positive, happy memories by sending them on a trip of their choice.

To keep up to date with with news, events, and stories of the families they have helped, follow them on Instagram @ShineOnFoundation.

3. CCRezQ

While a lot of non-profit’s operations came to a pause through the pandemic, local dog rescue CCrezq got busier. They had litter after litter that they took in, and they were adopting them just as fast. However, with the increased amount of litters came an extensive amount of vet bills. They did their best to fundraise by continuing on with their annual summer raffle and small in person events (with social distancing of course). This organization is helping so many pups get healthy and find the homes they deserve,

Find them on Instagram to keep up with all their latest pups available for adoption and to donate supplies they are in need of: @ccrezqsregina.

4. Build Love YQR.

Each year people in the community can nominate a family that they think is deserving of a home renovation. From there, Build Love chooses a family in need that is living with permanent non-typical challenges. With the help of community members with all different expertise, Build Love completely renovates their home for free to make their life easier and more functional.

2020 would have been their 3rd year making a family’s dream, reality. We look forward to 2021, when COVID has subsided, to see what the Build Love team can come up with. Follow them on Instagram to stay in the know of the 2021 project. @buildloveyqr.

5. Happy Mother Huggers.

Ending off with a bit of light heartedness. While not actually a non-profit, local duo Eddie and Mark, put their talent of hugging in action and created the cutest and most wholesome project. With the idea to simply spread more love in the community, the two created Happy Mother Huggers – a place where people can DM them and request they go give someone a hug. Adorable, I know. We could all use an extra hug every once and a while, and these two deliver them!

Find out more about them and when they’re delivering hugs next by following them on Instagram: @happymotherhuggers.

 

Stay tuned for Feeling Thankful: Part II.