LCLA celebrates three decades of support for persons with disabilities

 

For 30 years the LCLA has been helping persons with developmental disabilities reach their potential.

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Today, the LCLA has its own facility and employees and supports nearly two dozen people in Leduc, Leduc County and Devon. It’s still a relatively small organization, but staff say that’s part of the secret to its success.

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“We’re not super big, but that’s sort of at the direction of our membership. We feel by remaining a fairly small organization we can provide a more personal service to our individuals,” said Wendy Martinook, LCLA’s program manager. “We’re growing, but in different ways… We’ve started tailoring our services to what our individuals need.”

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Indeed, meeting the needs of its clients has been the LCLA’s core focus since it was begun by a group of parents in February 1986, looking to give their children a place to go and activities to do following graduation. “It was just because their children didn’t have anywhere to go or anything to do after high school, so the parents started the organization,” Martinook said.

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For the LCLA’s earliest years it served only two participants, seeking out volunteer opportunities at first, which eventually evolved into a role running the gift shop at the Leduc Community Hospital, a project that continues to this day. Early success attracted more participants, and more resources.

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“When I started here 15 years ago we had a budget of $2,000 to buy stock, and now our budget is $30,000 for stock. So that’s grown, but the mentality of using [the gift shop] as a training centre for our individuals is still there,” Martinook said.

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Now, the LCLA offers a much wider suite of services and opportunities for participants, from volunteering to employment placement, besides help in finding housing and care respite for families.

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Two years ago the LCLA bought its own building, on 51 Avenue, confident in its future stability. Stability has long been its strong suit in fact, particularly in retaining staff. Martinook said out of its 20 current staffers, 14 have been there for five years or longer, in various roles. She said the rewarding nature of the work, for all involved, is what keeps them around.

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“I’m here every day working because I care about people with developmental disabilities. This is one of the most rewarding jobs you could have,” Martinook said. “Our jobs are to help the people we serve become as independent as possible in everything they do, and when you see someone making strides, it’s so rewarding. I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.”

Martinook said an open house to mark the 30-year milestone will likely be held at some point in the spring.

Mark Wierzbicki – mark.wierzbicki@sunmedia.ca

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