AIM for the sky

Posted on: jamacsadmin

Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter

Belated birthday celebrations took place for the Strathmore detachment of the Foothills Advocacy In Motion Society (AIM). AIM has been in Okotoks and High River for close to 30 years and only recently came to Strathmore in February 2009.

They celebrated their one-year anniversary and hosted an open house so members of the community could come down and find out more about them.  The company provides services and support to adults with developmental disabilities and has 12 clients in Strathmore and 80 overall.

The idea behind the company is to be a support system and help the clients achieve success no matter what their disability may be. For each client there will be different levels of success and opportunities available.

“We have clients who live on their own, or are married, and some need day-to-day help. The levels of support differ on each client’s need,” said Vince Kimura, the executive director of the program. The Strathmore location has never been busier and Kimura credits much of the success to the relationships within the community.

“Craig has done a great job establishing a partnership with the local businesses and individuals.”

Craig McKenzie is the program manager for Strathmore.

“We have a motto here, it’s right people, right support, right placement,” said McKenzie. 

If all of those are filled, there will be a successful match, and sometimes they just need a little tweaking. AIM made a community connection with No Frills, which has exceeded their expectations. There are two clients currently working at the store.

“They started with a support worker with them and once they became more confident and more independent we moved to the end of the aisle, then to the front of the store and now we’re outside of the store,” said McKenzie.

“I think they have really demonstrated a sense of belonging and developed a sense of camaraderie.  Quite often adults with disabilities experience isolation after school. Their school mates go on to college etcetera and sometimes they are still sitting there at 20 or 25 wondering, when is it my turn. Unfortunately some of them aren’t going to get to experience some of the milestones that the people around them get to,” said Kimura. The AIM society helps those individuals complete their own set of milestones.