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Touchwood Park, Neepawa’s local organisation to support adults with developmental disabilities, was finally able to open the doors to its new day program building this winter. The day program currently supports 53 individuals but the building is designed for 60 full-time clients. Because of COVID-19, the supported individuals are currently divided into cohorts and some are unable to attend day program activities at all.

Holly Pankratz, Director of Services for Touchwood Park, leads us on a tour of the new facility to highlight the features of the building and how they present such a huge improvement for their clients.

The building wasn’t designed with Covid in mind, but a lot of its adaptations for persons with disabilities serve that purpose well, with push-button entry to an increased number of washrooms, touchless lighting, and sufficient space to divide the clients into cohorts. The building is not only significantly larger but also has separate spaces for different activities. Hallways are all widened to allow for assisted use of large mobility devices and the building is designed in a single loop both for ease of access and also for use as a walking trail to keep clients mobile and active.

A dedicated grooming room with a therapy tub, hygiene table, 5-foot shower, and transport sling allows private, discreet and accessible use for everyone. There are three fully operational kitchens, which are used both internally to make lunches and teach life skills and also as a commercial kitchen for the baking business when it reopens post-Covid. Other life skills and job skills training areas include the dropped reception training counter, the janitorial area, and the literacy room which has a small bank of computers and is also where they invite guest speakers to the facility.

One feature that wasn’t available previously is the three sensory rooms, which are individual quiet spaces with sensory items on the walls, soft lighting, and quiet music. Another is the small gymnasium, which is not only equipped for daily instruction sessions but is also available for clients to engage in physical activity without being disruptive to others. Arts and crafts were always a part of the day program’s activities but now they have their own dedicated space which allows for more long-term projects and learning.

Future needs include additional furnishings for the dining room and lounge area, but the biggest project on the horizon is the outdoor playground. The organisation wants to convert it to be fully accessible including wheelchair-accessible swings, ground matting, and a four-person see-saw to allow for assisted use. The playground is not only used by clients but is also fully open to the public.

Touchwood Park thanks all the community members who made the new facility possible and looks forward to their next stage of serving the community.