To care deeply about one another means we share in each others joys and sorrows. This newsletter tells of both, our sorrows and joys. We are grateful to be community together. Click here to read it…….
Photo: Pascal Erickson and her sister Jennifer
At Astonished! the strengths, dreams, and needs of the Core Members set the direction for our work and our play. To see where our Strengths, Dreams, and Needs have taken us recently, click here.
Our July 2022 newsletter is jam packed with adventures. Click here to view it. Enjoy
Check out all the ways we are Creating Community in these unique times. Click here to view the April 23, 2022 e-newsletter.
It is wonderful for us to celebrate this Valentine’s Day with you, because we are indeed, Better Together. Check out all the work and fun we are having being together in a variety of ways. Take a look at our February 14, 2022 newsletter.
We know everyone could use a little good news these days. We hope these stories from Astonished! will be blossoms of good news in your day.
Click here to read ‘A Little Good News’ in our July 2021 newsletter.
Check out our May 2021 e-newsletter. It is a great way to get a flavour of Astonished! these days. We are finding all kinds of ways to stay connected, including participating in Front Porch Photos. We hope you might join us for our Yoga for Every Body Event on June 11th. Click here for the news and details…..
PHOTO: Madison and Amanda Crerar Koshuba
In harmony with the UN International Day of Disabilities, Astonished! is hosting its 6th Annual Walk & Roll. It will be a virtual event, for the first time ever, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Walk & Roll is a family-friendly pledge event that aims to raise funds to support the work of Astonished! We invite you to create a team or join a team and come walk and roll with us. December 3rd at 7:00 via Zoom. To learn more, create a team, or support someone, click here.
We hosted our first Walk and Roll in 2015. Students in Dr. Brenda Rossow Kimball’s Kinesiology 342 (Developmental Disability and Well Being), at the University of Regina, had the opportunity to put their learning into practice. Student groups partnered with community groups to recognize the International Day of Persons With DisAbilities. It was a steep learning curve for all of us; but together we carried out a successful event. Since then we have hosted four more Walk and Rolls and they have been getting bigger and better. BUT, now it is 2020 and the pandemic creates some new challenges for us. We hope you are up for a challenge!
The past six months have been times of challenge, worry, change, and finding new ways for everyone. This is especially true for us at Astonished! Many Core Members have been at home not been able to go to work, some have changed where they live, have missed summer camp, have not been able to be with friends in ways that are familiar to them, and some have been isolated from family because of the protocol for their housing. It has not been easy, but we are so impressed with the way the Astonished! staff, Core Members, board, volunteers, and families have worked to create new ways of being together. The photo above of Emma and Sean is a great example of these new ways – outdoor, physical distanced, together. Click here to see more…..
On December 14th, 2019, Astonished! hosted our annual Holiday Feast. A! Core Members, families, friends, volunteers, and staff all joined in the festivities. With the Core Members, we began the event with a craft activity by decorating ornaments with paint and lots of glitter. When that was occurring, staff and volunteers were hard at work preparing the food. There was lots of food including turkey, mash potatoes, cabbage rolls, meatballs and to end the night, ice cream for dessert. We had fun coming together and catching up with one another over good food. Thank-you City of Regina for the Social Development Grant, which partially funds our monthly Astonished! Social Club event! Check out our Face Book post for more photos from the evening.
