OLDS — Cindy Tippe has a dream.
The president of Olds & District Special Family Voices Council (ODSFVC) hopes one day the organization will have its own headquarters where it can offer assistance and activities for residents with special needs.
Tippe hopes to also realize another dream: to provide an education program for special needs residents once they graduate from Horizon School, perhaps in conjunction with Olds College and/or Horizon School.
She already has a potential name for it: Horizon College.
Tippe got the idea for the ODSFVC back in 2014 when her son Evan, now 31, graduated from Horizon School.
“We realized his world was going to be very different, away from the structure the school had been providing,” Tippe said during an interview with the Albertan.
“Graduation from Horizon School is a celebration, for sure. But it's also a time of uncertainty for families.
“And it was a time of immense sadness for us, because a big part of Evan's world that he relied on and benefited greatly from was completely disappearing for him.”
So Tippe and a few other concerned citizens got together with representatives of the province’s Persons With Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program to set something up for people like Evan.
Discussions were also held with Olds College and Horizon School staff about an education program along the lines of the college’s TEP (Transitional Employment Program).
“But unfortunately, most of our graduates from Horizon don't qualify for the program, so unfortunately, that the Horizon College concept didn't get off the ground at that time either. And then everything stopped,” Tippe said.
The ODSFVC was re-established in November, 2022.
It now has an eight-member board of directors and the organization has created several programs for special needs residents.
Tippe said the ODSFVC has received some funding from Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) in Olds and Mountain View County.
“We have a mission and our mission is to create an inclusive community built on respect, dignity and kindness, where people of all abilities can connect, be socially engaged, and have fun together,” she said.
“We have two rules: have fun and treat everybody with respect, dignity and kindness.
“Our special population tends to be more isolated and have less access to activities, so we hope to change that with this, with our programming, with our group.”
There are several organizations in town that work with special needs residents. Tippe said they’re mainly geared around the living arrangements for special population.
She said what makes the ODSFVC different is the activities it offers special needs residents and the effort to get them “connected.”
For example, monthly games events are held at Pandora's Boox. Also, a drumming and music program is offered.
This past summer, they organized a swimming program.
An arts class, provided on Saturdays at the Mountain View Museum during the summer, continued on into the fall.
Tippe said anywhere from 15 to 50 people have accessed the group’s programs and activities.
“Family support is really important to us as well,” Tippe said. “We've been holding monthly information sessions aimed directly at family support.
“We've had topics like RDSPs (Registered Disability Savings Plans), disability, tax credits.
“Inclusion Alberta came up to speak and we had a guardianship lesson with a local lawyer, and those are things that you don't typically see covered.”
Plans called for October's Information session to be a round table discussion about accessibility in town.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the Town,” Tippe said.
“Our challenge has been getting the word out about our group and finding grants that we can access so we can grow our programs.
“We will continue to add more programs that people can access and hopefully eventually have a place where people can go that has a full calendar of events.”
The organization has a Facebook page and is in the process of developing a website.
She said work is once again underway toward developing a curriculum for the proposed Horizon College program.
“We're early stages with that. Hopefully it's local,” she said. “But hopefully it's also a model for other areas, because I do think that this is a gap in the system.”
As for Evan, Tippe said he’s one of the ODSFVC regulars.
“Evan participates in everything that we put together here, so he's definitely benefited from it and we want other people to benefit,” she said.
“We want people coming out of Horizon School to be able to have a place to go and have a place to belong.”
