"Our family had moved to Sudbury the beginning of June 2014 and this meant leaving services that had been well established in Hamilton. We came to Sudbury not knowing what would be cobbled together to meet our son's needs. We were fortunate to hear about a new young adults program that was opening in June and were taking applications. Joanne Bouchard was a ray of sunshine and enthusiastically invited Sam to join the program as it opened June 2 this year. Sam blossomed in the program and for a change - was eagerly getting up every morning to attend the program at the Adult Enrichment Center. Every day staff celebrate the unique qualities of each person and their family. Special needs families don't often have anyone cheering on their kids for just being themselves. Joanne and her team do - and it brightens my day to see my son grinning with delight when I hear about his escapades at swimming or bowling with the program. Thank you Joanne for having a dream and putting it in motion. We are very fortunate to have this exceptional program developed in our community to meet the exact needs of our kids."
Sincerely,
Heather Pepper
"I am a parent who struggled to find a program to enrol my son in that he would enjoy going to every day, and that would challenge and push him to the best of his abilities. Thanks to the Adult Enrichment Center, I have to say my search is over. The Adult Enrichment Center is exactly what my son and I were looking for. He looks forward to going and comes home with a big smile every day, and I see a big change in his personality as well as no stress or anxiety. He is making big strides in his growth and he keeps surprising us with what he knows and is capable of. I would highly recommend the Adult Enrichment Center to anyone looking for the proper atmosphere for continued learning a fun for their loved one."
-Anonymous
What do you like about the Adult Enrichment Center?
"I like seeing my friends every day and learning different things and meeting the staff every day."
What do you learn at the Adult Enrichment Center?
"I learn math like rounding money, telling time, subtraction, addition, multiplication, and algebra. We do money stuff like making change and learning about saving money. We do reading and writing and table activities. I like the group reading like when someone reads to the group. I like reading to my friends and helping them read."
What do you do every day at the Adult Enrichment Center?
"We come in in the morning and then we have circle in where we share any exciting news with everyone. We do life skills, and that's where we come into the classroom, do reading and writing, or go on the computers. We also do cleaning in the afternoon and awareness where we talk about street awareness, cyber bullying, kitchen safety, stranger awareness, personal awareness, and we read our code of conduct. We dance and e-mail our parents about our day."
What kind of outings do you go on at the Center?
"Swimming, bowling, laundry, grocery store, the movies, the mall, volunteering at the old age home, library, walks to the park, lunch outings,
"Since I have been coming to the Adult Enrichment Centre, the staff here showed me a lot of things I can do. I do not say no more that I can’t, I do. They go for walks, we go to the grocery store, we go out bowling, we go out swimming, we go shopping. They do my makeup and they make you feel so good about yourself that I did not know that I had that quality in me but now that I have been going here, the staff here showed me the things I can do for myself. I love the feeling of this place. I did not know that I could not read but now I am doing better, I go bit by bit. I work on the computer. I just did not know how beautiful this place was, its the most beautiful place to come, people here are so happy and so beautiful. I have been showed the happiness that I have never had before. Thanks for Joanne and all the staff here for showing me the love that I did not know I can do. I would just like you to know that people like us can do things that no one else can know what we can do and it really makes us feel better. I hope this note will make you understand that people like us, can do things that other people did not know we can do."
-Donna Trottier