By KATHRYN FRASER

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

White Birch Special Needs Program is off to an exciting summer as more and more activities and programs are becoming introduced. 

The organization offers programs and support for adults once they finish high school, starting at 18 years of age. 

Megan Luke, Program Coordinator for White Birch, has seen how the programs have grown and that more participants are wanting to go out on trips and explore more parts of the community. 

“White Birch is a place where everybody is welcome,” says Luke. “That goes to participants, to staff, to members of the community. We're basically here to try and offer a place where everyone feels safe to be themselves.”

With roughly 20 to 25 participants registered each day running from 8:30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Monday to Friday there is a lot to do each day.

One particularly big trip for White Birch participants was their recent trip to the Caledon Fire Hall where they were given the opportunity to learn more about firefighters and explore the area. 

From trying on uniforms to holding the hose to even sitting in the truck, the participants learned from the firefighters and what it meant to be on the job. 

“We base a lot of our programs on things that we see the participants enjoy,” says Luke. “One of our participants really likes trucks, so we had the Caledon Fire Services reach out to us and offered to host us for the day, which was really wonderful”. 

Luke explains that not only was this trip fun time for participants, but they are also given the chance to try things that they may never had the chance to before. 

“One station that they had was the hose, and I love the hose activity, especially because we have a couple participants in wheelchairs, and they actually allowed for the hose to go over their wheelchair and kind of wrap around them, although they weren't physically able to use their hands to move the hose,” says Luke. “The firefighter was there to kind of adapt and use it, so they were actively allowing this hose to shoot down the target on the other side. It was incredible how they adapted it for us.”

In addition to the field trips, there a number of programs that members love and really want to get involved in. One of these activities is music. 

“Music is a core component of our group programming,” says Luke. “Any kind of program that has to do with music brings life to our group. It could be trivia for music, karaoke or even just simply having it playing in the background.” 

Looking to the future, Luke is hoping to add more field trips and programs such as sleepover opportunities and aims to for further community involvement.