As well as Tuesday's walk to city hall, staff will be celebrated throughout the week with pizza lunches, cupcakes, a community barbecue and gifts, as well as daily draws for a chance to win a paid day off.--NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat’s CORE Association has several activities planned to celebrate its staff members during Disability Service Professionals Week, which runs from Monday to Friday this week.
CORE Association executive director Rita Bessant was happy to see staff and clients smiling, laughing and enjoying a morning of fun Tuesday as they kicked off the week-long celebration with a walk to city hall, followed by cake and other snacks back at CORE’s main building.
Bessant hopes Tuesday’s festivities, as well as those planned throughout the rest of the week, will remind CORE Association’s approximately 136 disability service professional staff members they are appreciated for both their commitment to caring for clients and their work to enhance inclusion within Medicine Hat.
“(It’s important to acknowledge) what they do for vulnerable individuals,” Bessant told the News. “They see people with compassion, understanding and total dedication … and we value their work.”
Disability service professionals at CORE have varying roles and responsibilities which are dependent on the needs of their individual clients.
Staff who work one on one with clients often assist with personal care, provide emotional support and facilitate social or employment opportunities within the community; while staff members who work at care residences primarily oversee personal care including medication dispensation and recreational activities. Some staff also manage programming out of CORE’s main building, including programming focused on life skill-building and employment support.
Bessant says the responsibilities disability service professionals at CORE and other organizations carry out are vital to clients’ overall wellbeing, and thus extremely deserving of recognition, especially when taking into consideration the challenges within that field of work.
“We place a lot of demand on frontline disability service professionals,” said Bessant. “And you have to remember, they’re still underpaid.
“We appreciate the fact that the premier did give us a 10 per cent (salary increase) for the work, compared to government employees doing the same work, (but staff working for) nonprofit, charitable organizations are still vastly underpaid.
“That’s why we so appreciate people who come into this field.”
CORE staff members are altogether grateful for the recognition and are looking forward to taking part in other activities planned throughout the week.
“It’s nice to be appreciated,” said community rehabilitation worker Tara Bitschy. “I love my job, I love supporting our individuals and I hope I make a difference in their lives.”
Fellow CRW Peggy Ruzicka is also grateful for the effort shown by association executives and management.
“We’ve had smaller things for recognition, but this is a whole week, which is awesome,” said Ruzicka, who highlighted the association’s commitment to building a community of support, not just for clients, but also for staff; as well as a community of inclusion throughout the city.
