Disability and Community Support grad flies high in rewarding field
Profile by Sherry Kaniuga (Creative Communications, 1998)
Moments that make you realize “it’s all worth it” can happen anywhere, any time. For Sandy Kauenhofen, one of those moments hit while she was hundreds of feet in the air.
She was strapped in a tiny four-seater airplane soaring above the Pembina Valley at the time, as part of an excursion for people with disabilities living in a community home she worked at in Carman, Manitoba. When she first came up with the idea to take people flying instead of to somewhere on solid ground like the zoo, not everyone was on board.
“The families said, ‘Are you kidding? What if they don’t like it?’” Kauenhofen remembers. Her response? “Well, then we’ll land!”
The risk was worth the reward. Sandy recalls one woman who was clearly apprehensive about taking to the skies.
“When she first got onto the plane, she was looking at us like, ‘What the heck is this?!’ She had a really puzzled look that turned into a bit of a scowl as we taxied down the runway,” Kauenhofen says. “But as soon as the plane lifted off the ground, the grin on her face got so big and so wide, I had tears in my eyes. You could tell by the look in her eyes that she just loved it and was so excited. It was the most exquisitely amazing experience.”
Now a coordinator at Epic Opportunities – a non-profit organization in Winnipeg that offers holistic, person-centred supports to empower people with an intellectual disability to live, learn, work and enjoy life in the community – Sandy works more behind the scenes, overseeing the staff teams by providing leadership and support as well as supporting individuals living in their homes. But although she is less hands-on, she says she is grateful every day to work with amazing people, a passion first ignited in her when she volunteered with St. Amant Centre’s school program while in high school. Read More →