Skip to content

Fostering capabilities at Pizzability

New program teaches valuable life skills to young adults with developmental delays
67237goldstreamGNG-GarthHomer2-md
Staff member Bri Santuccione helps Garth Homer client Taiha Salvador with her toppings during “Fun Friday” at Pizzability in Langford.

Things were a whole lot busier than normal in the kitchen of Langford Pizzability on Sooke Road last Friday, as they hosted a group of clients from the Garth Homer Society.

The Society has a new program designed to help young adults with developmental disabilities, and on Fridays, they partner with local businesses like Pizzability to add another dimension to what they’re doing.

LifeStreams, as it is known, offers an individualized approach to giving these Garth Homer clients skills they can then incorporate into their lives further down the road.

“It’s a new program we’re working on that’s built for young adults (who) might not be quite ready for full-time employment,” says LifeStreams program manager Helena Prins. “This program will give them some skills to help them get there.”

The goal isn’t necessarily to get them into the workforce, however. At least, it’s not the only goal.

Prins says for many of their clients, it’s more about giving them the capacity to more easily interact with others, get them engaging with the community around them and developing the skills required to become an engaged member of society.

Most of their activities are individualized and cater to each client’s specific needs, Prins says. “Fun Friday,” as they are calling it for now, is about going together in groups to practise the skills they’ve learned individually in group and social settings.

A group of clients gathered last week to make pizza at the Langford shop.

“It’s wonderful to see the smiles on their faces,” says Pizzability owner Clive Brown.

“Wherever possible, we like to include people with challenges. I would be more than happy to have them again, because I feel it’s important to support the local community in whatever way we can. We all live here, so let’s make living here the best it can be.”

For more information on LifeStreams or the Garth Homer Society, head over to garthhomersociety.org.

mdavies@goldstreamgazette.com