ABLE Network participants learn new skills during pandemic

July 22, 2021 · 0 Comments

The ABLE Network was founded in Aurora to provide inclusive work and recreation opportunities for area adults with intellectual challenges.

With those opportunities sadly fewer and far between over the course of the global pandemic, the organization has had to retool in order to keep their program – one that is based on work experience, transit training, recreation, literacy and volunteerism – running virtually and keep members fit and healthy at the same time.

It hasn’t always been easy, but the organization, which has programs in Richmond Hill and Whitchurch-Stouffville as well, has risen to the occasion and recently received a boost from Magna International as one of 30 non-profits to benefit from the newly-established Magna Hoedown Community fund, a trust set up in lieu of the annual Hoedown event which regularly raises more than $500,000 each year for community partners.

“We’re very, very grateful for getting that money,” says Barb Allan, founder of ABLE Network. “We’re a small organization, so this makes a big difference for us. Magna has been supportive of ABLE in other ways over the years, so we feel very lucky to be living in a Town near them.”

Their share of the Hoedown funds will help cover the costs of program expenses, such as gym memberships and transit fares as both physical fitness and transit literacy are integral components of the program.

At the start of the pandemic, how to ensure these programs carry on with shuttered fitness centres and challenges related to transit was a primary question faced by the organization.

“It took us maybe three or four weeks to get it all figured out, but we have been doing Zoom every day,” says Ms. Allan. “Each location is Zooming on their own, five days a week. At our Aurora location, they work out from 9 to 10 together [on Zoom], which has been quite amazing because they have stayed in pretty good shape, which is excellent. Then they have a break, make their lunch, and then at 12.30 they have a lunch room. Every day there is something different. Our staff has planned different educational programs, yoga, and we have done a lot of really cool stuff – stuff that is not necessarily what ABLE is all about, but it has kept them busy and it gives them structure to their day. They have to get up in good time to be at the workout at 9 a.m.!”

Unfortunately, many job placements that have been secured for ABLE participants within the community have been sidelined due to the uncertainty and closures faced by so many businesses, and Ms. Allan says members thrive with community interaction.

For now, however, they are continuing in the virtual realm until the Fall when they hope to hit the ground running in October.

“That’s what we are aiming towards,” she says. “We want to see how things go, make sure there is no fourth wave coming. Our participants in general are all vulnerable medically, so families are quite protective, as they should be. We’re not going to do anything too quickly.”

That being said though, Ms. Allan says both she, the team and the participants are eager to get back out there within their community and making a difference.

“Because we’re community-based, everybody sees our guys out there taking the bus and walking places and they have not been doing that for well over a year-and-a-half,” she says. “That is one of our biggest safety concerns. When we first get back, we’re going to be doing some major transit and pedestrian training so people remember the rules of doing all that and that will be a big priority, along with getting them back into their jobs and their volunteer positions.

“One of the things that has been quite amazing is our participants have really learned the social skills that are required on Zoom. On Zoom, you can’t all be talking at the same time, so they have really learned how to take their turn and if someone talks about something, how to ask questions, be interested in other people. They have learned some social skills that when they’re running around all over the place, we had less time for the teaching of social skills and maybe that has been a silver lining.”

The ABLE Network is based out of the Rectory at Aurora’s Trinity Anglican Church. Their work is funded half from program fees from families and the balance from community fundraising.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter