Dallas Verity was interested in a job at Ranch Ehrlo Society. He was going to school to work with at-risk youth and he had plenty of friends working in the agency in group homes helping youth.
In January 2012, he applied to fill a casual position and discovered another side to Ranch Ehrlo’s programs and clients.
“I sat down in the interview with Tim South and found out the program they were hiring for was not even working with youth,” explained Verity. “I was shocked. I didn’t even know that program existed.”
The Ranch was hiring for its Programs for Individuals with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities which provides varying levels of supportive living services to men and women who are coping with intellectual/developmental and other mental health challenges.
The levels of services range from high intensity programs that have constant supervision to supported independent living programs. The focus in all of these programs is to provide long-term residential support services and to develop individualized treatment programs based on principles of social integration and normalization.
The programs are for clients who express a variety of developmental disabilities, including mental health problems, neurological issues, and physical disorders, in combination with behavioural problems.
“I thought about withdrawing my application because I didn’t know anything about the field. I didn’t know how I would build a relationship with someone who was non-verbal. But Tim (South) convinced me that I had the right demeanor and resumé for the position so I tried it,” commented Verity. “Now almost a year and a half later I love my job and I feel very blessed.”
He added that the staff of the developmental and disabilities programs grows very close when working with the clients. There are many rewards to working as a team; you have amazing support during challenging days and you have someone to celebrate with when clients progress and learn new skills.
For the past year Verity has been working at Pasqua House in Regina. There are usually six clients in the home with four staff members. Residents spend time during the day at the Learning Centre, at the Transition Program, the CVEP women’s program. Clients take part in recreational programming like swimming, camping, and drumming circles. They also have access to speech therapy, occupational therapy, and art and music therapy.
Clients in the developmental and disabilities programs generally stay at Ranch Ehrlo long-term which helps strengthen the bonds between staff and the residents.
“That’s one of my favorite parts is watching the relationship form and maintaining it, which is a lot of hard work. You can’t come into work with any issues from outside because they are extremely smart and they pick up on non-verbal cues. They can tell if you are grumpy or had a bad sleep,” explained Verity. “The clients are so unique and they each have their own character and I learn more from them every day. I can't imagine working elsewhere.”
