Prairie Branches having fun with safety in mind

The Prairie Branches program, which helps people with special needs every day, has been celebrating Safety Week. Executive Director Eunice Washkowsky talked to West Central Online about what has been going on at the program, and she elaborated on where the special Safety Week videos (like the one below), came from:

“Actually, I did, with the support of the leadership team here.  I came up with the idea inspired by other videos we've seen, right? It's kind of the thing right now, to do TikTok videos and YouTube videos of various things happening in the world, so we thought it would be pretty well received by staff and so far, so good.” 

She then talked about what the residents and staff members have also been doing to celebrate Safety Week.  

“We're not only doing safety videos, but we also actually ask staff for safety hacks, we are doing some arts and crafts with our participants, things like that. And there's been a pretty good uptake on all of those things. So, we're very pleased.” 

The new group home in Wilkie, which they officially moved in last year, has been a great asset to staff and residents. 

“It’s absolutely wonderful, very accommodating to the changing needs of our residents here. We have no concerns at all and the home was designed for what we needed and it’s proving to work for all abilities,” Washkowsky added. 

The new group home differs from other ones, as it is a one level building with no basement, which Washkowsky said makes things easier for residents. 

“It's a ground level group home, which is something different for us. All of our other homes have a ramp to get into the home. Being at ground level is really turning out to be a better way, a lot easier in the long term.” 

Washkowsky also shared that they moved into a new office building this summer. 

“We relocated our head office in Wilkie Day program, so we are now back downtown. We used to be downtown Wilkie years and years ago. We had an old grocery store renovated for us, worked on the layout and design ourselves and the building owner made it so that it fits everything that we need. This included sensory rooms, kitchen, offices, and a large activity space. We've been down there since July 15th.” 

You can head to the Prairie Branches Facebook page, or head to their website here to keep up with what staff and residents have been up to, and what else there are doing to celebrate Safety Week.