Adults With Exceptional Needs Make a Difference in the Community

By Grace Bauer

A program in Windsor is giving adults with exceptional needs the opportunity to make a difference in the community by volunteering and using their talents.

Christian Horizons is a Canadian organization dedicated to serving people with exceptional needs such as Down syndrome or intellectual and developmental disabilities.

According to Christian Horizons’ website they believe “people with exceptional needs [should] belong to communities in which their God-given gifts are valued and respected.” The organization began in 1965 with one participant and has grown to include thousands of individuals across Canada.

In 2014, the leaders of Christian Horizons in Windsor and Essex County realized the need for their clients to get involved with the community. Their solution was to start the Community Participation Program.

The program, also known as The Link, is for adults of various ages – the youngest is 21 and the oldest is in their 70s. Most of the participants have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program runs every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and goes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Chris Matthews has been working for Christian Horizons for nine years and is responsible for directing The Link program.

“My favourite part about running this program is seeing the participants be successful in finding their place in the community and using their gifts and talents,” said Matthews. “Each day looks different. They have the choice to do whatever activity they want.”

Activities include volunteering at the Downtown Mission, working in community gardens and at community events in Windsor and Essex County.

Stephanie Hazel, 21, has been a participant of the program “since May or June.”

“I like helping people,” said Hazel, who has volunteered for different events such as the Windsor ComiCon that took place at the end of October.

Hazel has also helped with relief work for a woman who was affected by the flood that took place in Windsor in September.

Hazel said she hopes to attend St. Clair College next year to take child and youth studies and wants to eventually work at the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society.

“ I want to get as much experience as I can before I go back to school,” she said.

She is excited to continue participating in The Link for the next couple of years.

Matthews said she has great plans for The Link’s future and said they are moving into a new building which they have purchased in East Windsor. There are hopes of expanding the program to five days and to include more employment opportunities for the participants. She hopes to have it up and running in the new year.