Congratulations to Padnoma Support Services.
The local group which supports people with mental and physical disabilities, celebrated its 30th anniversary on Sept. 13 with a barbecue and speeches by dignitaries, including Mayor Mike Muzychka and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper.
Padnoma was founded by Ann and Bernie Bystrom in 1989 in the wake of a report called Claiming My Future, produced by the premier's council on the status of persons with disabilities.
The Bystroms had a daughter who was coming of age and needed supports to enable her to live independently.
"They bought her a house and she got a roommate and basically that's where Padnoma started from. She wanted to work and be independent and not stay at home with mom and dad, and they supported her in her dream of being independent and being a part of the community, and that grew to what we are now," said Marina Smith, a job coach at the facility, located on 51st Avenue near 51st Street.
By the early 2000s, Padnoma Support Services was serving about 40 clients in 17 residential settings, employing about 60 staff.
They look after clients 24 hours a day, at home and at the facility, and their clients provide services like lawn care, snow removal, recycling, shredding and grocery delivery. One client even provides hot lunches for peers.
There have been some great successes over the years, according to Smith.
"We've got one that works at Timmy's that's been there for 17 years. We've got one that works at Olds Soft Gels that's been there nearly 25 years," she says.
"She works independently at Olds Soft Gels now. Years ago she started off with a job coach and we would support her, but she got so good at her job that she doesn't need a job coach."
Several fundraisers are undertaken to keep Padnoma Support Services running and to raise the group's profile in the community.
One of Smith's favourite activities along that line is Midnight Madness, an annual event to lure people to Uptowne Olds in late fall.
During that night Padnoma offers a babysitting service and a chance for kids to write letters to Santa.
"The kids just love to come along and write their letters to Santa and then they always get something back from Canada Post. We'll go over the next day and post them for them," Smith says.
"It's great; the Grizzlys have come out, the fire department. The police have come out and supported us. And it's such a fun night. It's great for them to give back to the community after they have given to us."
Padnoma Support Services and other groups that support mentally and physically disabled clients like the Olds Association for Community Living (OACL), which held its grand reopening last Friday, deserve our support.
These people can function quite well in the community with a little help from caring supporters. And our community is all the better because of that.
A story on the OACL grand reopening will run in a later edition of the Albertan.
