One man I had heard a lot about from distinct sources while searching for interview candidates about Toronto's Beach neighbourhood is Marie Perrotta, the Founding Director of the Pegasus society project for Adults with special Needs. This non-profit charitable society provides daytime opportunities for adults with developmental challenges, house preserve and society outreach. Pegasus also runs a thrift store whose revenues preserve the operational funding needs of this society and supply practical work experiences for schedule participants.
Just before 10 am this morning I went to meet Marie at the Beaches society Centre which is the location for one of her schedule groups. A few minutes before Marie's coming I had a opportunity to sit down for a few minutes with Gillian Story who is now a full-time schedule counsellor with the program. Gillian explained that the Pegasus schedule consists of three groups of adults with special needs that meet at three distinct locations: the Beaches society Centre, Centre 55 and the Matty Eckler society Centre, all in Toronto's east end. Since graduating with a degree in music and science of mind at Concordia Gillian started working at Pegasus in October of 2006 and admits it was a big studying sense at first. But she says that the staff and the participants in the schedule have been highly welcoming and made it easy for her to fit in.
Kingston
As Marie arrived and took off her coat to get ready for an interview, one schedule participant, a 24-year old woman named Shannon sat down beside me. The group was very cheerful and demonstrated a very natural sense of curiosity. A incorporate of the participants had peppered me with questions as to who I was, why I was here and what I was planning to do, and I briefly explained my interview plans. Shannon mentioned that she works at the Pegasus Thrift Store twice a week and volunteers there on Saturdays as well. She operates the cash register and welcomes the customers. Marie confirmed that Shannon has a great talent working with citizen and referred to her as a "natural public worker". On Mondays Shannon goes to collection Village, a fitness and life skills facility in Toronto's east end, where she and her friends from Pegasus enjoy swimming, weight-lifting and other corporal activities. Shannon was very gregarious and outgoing and inquired whether they might be a possibility to see her later at the Pegasus Thrift Store.
I did not want to let Marie wait any longer, so I thanked Shannon for talking with me, and Marie and I relocated in order to be able to do a quiet interview. Marie is originally from Buffalo, and she and her husband moved to Ontario to perfect their graduate degrees here. After her undergraduate degree in French literature she completed her graduate studies in assessment counseling at the compose of Child Studies at the University of Toronto. Her work background prior to her involvement with Pegasus includes psychiatric study at the Hospital for Sick Children.
One of Canada's attributes that captured Marie right from the start was people's openness, the country's civility, diversity and tolerance. Marie noticed these characteristics right away and added that tolerance is underrated. In her words, if you spend enough time with citizen who are different, with time you'll get over those differences. I wholeheartedly agreed with her and we done that often it is lack of exposure to citizen of distinct backgrounds that creates negative stereotypes.
Marie has three children: Andrew, 34, an adult with developmental challenges, Olivia, who just graduated from international development and science at McGill University in Montreal, and Cristina, who at 17 years of age is still attending high school. As the mum of a child with a developmental disability Marie understands the unique pressures of families dealing with developmental challenges. In 1993 Marie found out that adult children with developmental handicaps would not have passage to day programs after the age of 21. About 650 citizen in Toronto were on waiting lists for existing day programs and Marie knew she had to do something.
Marie got several parents together that were in similar situations, but the group did not last long. She called on government funding agencies and approached the Matty Eckler society Centre, part of the Toronto Parks and Recreation Department. The representatives at the society centre reacted highly in fact and offered Marie some space for her intended day-time program. Once she had secured the location, she formally set up a charitable society and put together a board of directors which included another parent with a developmentally challenged child, as well as three other board members, together with a teacher, a child daycare administrator and an occupational therapist.
From January to September of 1994 the team raised ,000. Alison Masters, one of the Board members, held a big auction and a party at Lido's Restaurant. With another fundraising event and a small grant from the city the schedule was ready to start. One of the earliest exercises was to find a name for the organization, and Marie came up with the idea to draw on Greek mythology. In the spring of 1994 they had set a goal to get the society launched by the fall, so she decided to pick a fall sky constellation and came up with the name Pegasus. The society in fact got its start in September of 1994. Today many other names of heavenly objects are used in the fundraising efforts of the organization: The "Galaxy of Stars" lists donors in distinct categories together with "Hercules", "Perseus", "Cygnus" and "Lyra". another group of donors is referred to as the "Meteors".
Over the years funding has come from many distinct sources. For ten years Marie ran an annual yard sale from her front yard and as the handling and warehouse of donated goods became too onerous, fundraising efforts have now shifted to the "Pegasus Thrift Store", settled at 970 ½ Kingston Road. The store is an fascinating project because not only does it supply essential funding for Pegasus, it also offers practical training and work opportunities for many of the participants in the Pegasus program.
Until 2000 Marie ran the schedule out of her house and recalls that acquainting herself with the essential computer skills initially presented a challenge. In the beginning, when her daughter was only 4 years old, Marie had trained her to take telephone messages. So one day a call from the relationship of society Living came in and Cristina politely asked the caller to spell out the name of the association. When Marie had a look at the message Cristina took, she saw a big note, all scribbled out across the whole sheet of paper in a 4 year old's handwriting, but with a perfectly allowable spelling of the organization's long name.
Today, the Pegasus society project receives essential funding from the Ontario Ministry of society and public Services, and a schedule fee has been implemented. Marie indicated that the government preserve has been tremendously helpful in light of the gigantic financial and psychological strain on families with a man who is suffering from developmental handicaps, which contain such disabilities as Down's Syndrome, autism, inescapable cases of cerebral palsy and others. Marie added that many cases of developmental handicaps do not have an exact diagnosis.
The schedule is very staff intensive: the ratio of staff members to schedule participants is 1 to 2.5. Some of the participants want care to meet their corporal needs. Staff also look after some medical needs, such as seizure monitoring, giving medications, and feeding through a G-tube. All of the staff members and volunteers in the schedule receive the essential training to be able to supply allowable care to the participants. Marie indicates that today virtually all of her staff members have two or more years of post-secondary education and many have university degrees and connected experience.
The Pegasus society schedule today has 38 participants settled in three society centres. Two types of programs serve the participants: the Aquarius schedule offers long term preserve while the Pegasus schedule is a transitional schedule which focuses on skills development and vocational experiences.
Marie strongly believes in a decentralized coming since it allows for greater integration into and acceptance by the community. Other facilities often house the same or an even greater number of participants in one location, but often these locations are in market areas, isolated from residential communities.
Marie is a strong proponent of society integration, and she feels that virtually every human being, together with citizen with developmental disabilities, have the potential to give back to the community. The Pegasus participants volunteer at the Thrift Store, they also take on unpaid volunteer work assignments in the local society at stores such as Price Chopper and Zellers, and they volunteer to deliver a local society newspaper, the Beach Metro News.
Viewed from the perspective of a man with disabilities, society interaction and integration is in fact critical. Every human being needs a change of scenery as well as thinking and sensory stimulation. One day when her son was not able to attend the Pegasus program, he was sitting in the kitchen, sadly staring at the door. Although he was not able to declare his feelings, Marie recognized very clearly that he deeply missed being able to go out and join his friends at the program. She added that when you work with citizen with disabilities you get very good at paying attentiveness to decoding non-verbal communication.
Volunteers are an in fact essential element in Pegasus' success. Marie refers to some of her quarterly volunteers who come out to work with the participants: Margaret Simmons, a retired principal, comes in ordinarily to supply a literacy schedule while Selma Smith has been teaching an arts and crafts schedule for five years. The projects of the "studio program" are quite sophisticated and the artistic products are sold at the Thrift Store as well as by local retailers in the Beach such as Arts on Queen.
Three students from the Behavioural Technology schedule at George Brown College are currently completing internships with the schedule while six nurses from Centennial and Humber College are completing practical society nursing placements for their Bachelor of Science Degrees. A high school pupil named Kelly, from a society schedule at Inglenook High school is also currently volunteering with the program.
The Beach society has widely supported the program, and the participants ordinarily venture out into the society in distinct excursions. Today as I was there, several citizen arrived with shopping bags full of groceries, and collectively the group ready a delicious and nutritious lunch that included chicken wraps and sweet potato fries. Marie also indicated that fitness and corporal activities are an important component of the program. Participants quarterly go to collection settlement to go swimming and play team sports such as soccer and basketball. Marie added that there are quite a few gifted athletes in her groups.
Some of the participants have fewer preserve needs than others, and with several years of aid and preserve they may even move on to keeping paid jobs in the community. The young lady Shannon who I was talking to earlier was a good example of this and she has successfully and enthusiastically been working at the Thrift Store. Marie believes in all sorts of possibilities for her participants and the schedule provides job coaching for the participants who have the potential for gainful employment. Other practical skills such as studying how to take public transit are also taught in the program. Marie adds that this type of training does take years, but it is an important venture in individuals and the society as a whole.
Currently Marie is working on organizing a fourth group which will be run out of Sh Armstrong society Centre just a bit west of the Beach neighbourhood near Coxwell. Marie firmly believes that the decentralized coming is essential for the success of her schedule since it provides for greater society interaction and acceptance. She adds, maybe a time to come successor of hers might make changes to that approach, but for now she is happy that she now has a schedule employer who is very well-known with the program's philosophy. She is relieved that even if she were not around, the schedule would continue.
Running a registered charity comes with all sorts of challenges, together with a wide range of executive duties as well as quarterly financial reports and budgets. Marie indicates that although Pegasus is a small society you have to deal with the same organizational issues as in a large organization. But once you get it under your belt it becomes much more manageable.
Several merchants and organizations also preserve the Pegasus society Project. Residents in the Beach have welcomed the schedule and Marie adds that Beachers are more broad-minded and charitable than they are sometimes given prestige for. Some citizen have even thanked her for bringing developmentally challenged individuals into the Beach. Just recently one personel wrote a 0 cheque to the project, and he was so happy to do so as if he had just been waiting to be asked to write that cheque. The generosity from so many citizen is outstanding, and Marie in fact appreciates all the preserve she has received.
One society that has been particularly helpful is the Toronto Beach Rotary Club which supports Pegasus with quarterly fundraising initiatives. Local merchant Harold Wisefeld, also known as Zoltzz, the owner of the notable fashion allowance store Ends in the Beach, has been a very generous contributor to Pegasus. another local entrepreneur, Dan MacLeod from the Price Chopper supermarket at Gerrard and Victoria Park, is highly committed to society work.
Marie says he has opened his store's doors to hire many citizen with disabilities. He will even assign quarterly employees to work alongside a man with a disability, to train them and help them. One of Pegasus' participants, a young man named Aj, works at Price Chopper three days a week and needs coaching while he is there. Dan sees to it that he receives the preserve he needs. Dan also supports many of Pegasus' special events as well as other organizations such as the Cancer society and the Alzheimers Society. Very few merchants would go to these lengths to accommodate and preserve citizen with disabilities.
After having done our one-on-one interview we checked in on the Phoenix group next door which in the meantime had ready lunch and was enjoying a good meal nearby the table. After a few photos I said goodbye to the group, thanked them for their time and interest and invited them to join me for my Photo Exhibition in the Beach which will be held in early March. Fortunately the location will be within walking distance and the members of the group will be able to drop by and have a look at the photos.
Marie and I then drove five minutes up to Kingston Road where Marie showed me the Pegasus Thrift Store. The store is open on most days, but it is better to call ahead to make sure that the store is staffed. The Thrift Store sells all things from used books, Cds, fabric, clothing, dishes and glassware to small electric appliances and even Barbie dolls. It provides a great opportunity for Pegasus schedule participants to gain practical work sense and preserve the fundraising efforts for their program. Friends and neighbours donate all the second-hand goods that are sold in the store.
For me the highlight of the store are the products that are made by the Pegasus schedule participants themselves. Marie demonstrated a range of hand-made products to me:
- handcrafted greeting cards featuring feathers and a collection of artistic techniques
- bookmarks reminiscent of beaded necklaces
- soup mixes together with recipes
- assorted types of cookie mixes
- the most up-to-date increasing to the merchandise: a handcrafted tote bag made from donated fabric
In increasing to her quarterly duties Marie works in the store virtually every Saturday and hopes to be able to find some help in organizing it soon. She added that initially her plans were only to cover the costs of the rent and telephone, but the Pegasus Thrift Store has morphed into much more than that: a major fundraising tool as well as a great place of studying for her schedule participants. Many shoppers say it's one of the most fun places to shop at in the Beach.
I also asked Marie whether her society has a website yet and she indicated not yet. But she is currently working with two volunteers to compose one.
Meeting Marie Perrotta was one of those humbling moments when you get to know man who has overcome essential personal hurdles and truly dedicated her life to citizen in need in the community. several awards recognize these efforts: Pegasus won the 1995 City of Toronto passage Award and the 1998 Innovation Award. Marie herself was honoured as the 2004 Beach citizen of the Year, following the footsteps of other important Beachers such as Gene Domagala (who is also a quarterly volunteer for Pegasus), Glenn Cochrane and Arie Nerman.
As I walked away from the store I notion the heavenly analogies of the Pegasus project are quite fitting: to her schedule participants Marie must be like an angel, sent down to earth to help them reach for the stars.
For more data about the Pegasus society project or to make a donation please sense Marie Perrotta at 416-691-5651. To sense the store regarding shopping or dropping off donations, please call 416-913-2544.
Presenting - Marie Perrotta From the Pegasus society task - Reaching for the Stars
