Seeing as we were all told to social distance for WDSD, we all had to celebrate from our homes. Thank goodness for social media and the ability to connect that way. Thank you so much to those of you who rocked your socks and posted a pic tagging us and using the hashtag #chfwdsd I will share just a few pics here to show that community support means the world to us! We can't change the narrative and the negative stigma around Down syndrome or disability alone. WE NEED YOU! We need you to educate, share, support, and acknowledge the abilities of ALL people in our world. Thank you even bigger to those of you who shared facts, listened to...
They say, "The show must go on" - well - THE SHOW WENT ON! We had originally intended to have an event at All Level CrossFit and celebrate WDSD with our fitness community, but the universe had other plans. All Level is the gym where our Adaptive Athletes participate in a fully inclusionary setting twice a week. Please email me for more information or if you want to some and check out one of the Adaptive Athlete Sessions! John, the owner of the gym, wanted to do something special to honour WDSD and all of our athletes with Down syndrome on WDSD. He created a custom workout where all the numbers are significant to Down syndrome. Here is the...
About a week before WDSD, I was super lucky to be able to visit 3 kindergarten classes and a WE leadership program at a local elementary school. Since then things have changed drastically. So much so that we are now in self isolation in order to protect ourselves from a nasty virus going around right now. Which makes these few visits super special to me now. One of my all time favourite things to do is be in the classroom (probably why I am a teacher LOL). Being a teacher is amazing but there is something very different about coming in and talking to young kids about really grown up stuff. The Kindergarden kids were amazing as I sat and used...
We got the unique experience of being invited into the council chambers to get our photo taken with the Mayor, Drew Dilkens and the rest of the council members, who were all rocking this years CH socks! It was a blast to see the kids in that huge room with all the grown ups, including the sock designer Aksel. Everyone was so happy to stand together and show off their funky socks for WDSD. We are so lucky to live in a community that supports our efforts in advocating for those who have Down syndrome. We were honoured to be there, and appreciate the efforts made by all those involved. A special thanks to Jason Parent, head of CUPE...
Part of why we started CHF was to be able to support families who may sometimes feel isolated, or who may experience financial hardship due to medical issues that can not be handled locally in Windsor. Some families find themselves on endless drives on the highway going back and forth from Windsor to London, and sometimes Windsor to Toronto. These times can feel desperate, lonely, and scary. These times force people into living a life with no consistency, no routine. It can even force them to take time off work and keep them away from their other family members. We know, we've been there. When I was pregnant with Hazel, we left the house at 4am with some complications. We...
