SMART CL – special services for special needs

Sicamous Malakwa Adult Resource Training and Community Living.

SMART CL had its beginnings in 2006, when a group of Sicamous/Malakwa residents came together to discuss how they could assist local young people with special needs to develop the skills they needed in order to become independent, whatever their disability.

Robbie Gallipeau of Malakwa is one of SMART CL's successful clients.

The mission of the organization is: “To … enhance and enrich the quality of their lives, nurture and build their self-esteem and dignity by assisting them in securing local employment. This will enable them to learn/develop job skills/knowledge that will aid them in becoming productive members of their community.”

The organization received status as a Charitable Society in 2009, with a board of directors made up of a learning resource teacher/coordinator from Eagle River High School, a lawyer, a United Church minister, a local business owner and four local residents.

Some of the services that SMART CL provides are:

• encouragement, assistance, advocacy and integration for adults with disabilities into the local workforce by building relationships with local employers

• arranging transportation for clients and their job coaches, if they have them, to and from their places of employment

• liaisons with government and non-government organizations or agencies to provide financial and/or social assistance for clients, if required

Since its inception, SMART CL volunteers have applied for grants, held soup/bun sales, bottle drives, hosted a dinner theatre, sponsored two Beef on Buns, collected receipts for a local supermarket’s till tape/gift certificate exchange program and sold memberships. With the funds raised, they hire high quality job coaches to work for SMART CL clients.

For more information contact Regina Forry (reginaf@telus.net) or Dian Simons (diansimons@telus.net).