Ranch Ehrlo Society is celebrating 20 years of innovative and unique alternative education and employment programs.

Ranch Ehrlo’s Community Vocational Education Program (CVEP) first began in 1993 as the Ranch Ehrlo Supportive Education Program (RESEP). The inventive program was designed to deliver employment training and education services to people with developmental disabilities.

The need for the program was identified by a gap in services, as Ranch Ehrlo youth aged out of the classroom setting and transitioned into the “real world” workforce.

cooking program at CVEP cooking program at CVEP

Program manager Brad Endicott said the program was an opportunity for young adults to gain educational and employment experience, opportunities, and transition planning designed to meet the participants’ individual interests, needs, and strengths.

RESEP began with seven participants and a partnership with Cosmo Industries. Participants gained employment experience collecting and sorting newspapers, but the role didn’t offer a plethora of learning opportunities, said Brad.

“It was a place to start, but then we wanted to grow the program from there.”

And grow it did.

RESEP formed a partnership with the Regina Hospital Foundation and Kinsmen group to develop the KidsCan recycling group. It was the first of many partnerships integral to the program and its future growth. Community groups, media outlets, and retailers backed the initiative providing an array of support. Dozens of internal and external recycling bins were placed at locations throughout the city of Regina, awaiting pick up and sorting by RESEP participants. The revenues generated through the program were divided and split between the Regina Hospital Foundation and Ranch Ehrlo, putting money back into the community and into the program.

While the recycling program remains a major staple in the pre-vocational and vocational services delivered by CVEP, the program has diversified employing its participants through community work, contractual employment, social services, Ranch Ehrlo Society, and corporate/community-based employers.

“Our whole focus was to get the participants out of a sheltered workshop and into the community where they could contribute to society by doing meaningful, safe work that allows them to gain education and experience,” Brad explained. “The program has really grown, because there’s a real need for it.”

In 2005, RSEP was reviewed and renamed CVEP. The structure of the program was assessed and formalized, and programs within the program were evaluated and recycling photorestructured to foster future growth and continued success.

While the program began with only seven participants, CVEP now operates three facilities throughout the city of Regina and serves upwards of 50 program participants at a time.

Through an established network of partnerships with local businesses and industries, CVEP clients are provided the opportunity to work in a variety of environments and situations in which they can succeed and thrive. Clients are matched to employment and educational training based on individual skill and ability, said Brad, allowing each participant to learn and grow at their own pace.

It’s through these partnerships and the program’s framework that CVEP participants are able to gain job shadowing, job coaching, employment skills, and additional training in functional literacy, money management, social skills, and more.

“The goal of CVEP is to help the young people discover their abilities, and to help them build upon their skills as they move toward fulfilling their potential,” Brad concluded.