H.O.P.E.

Hope Haven's Recreation Therapist (RT), Shannon Speer, programs and facilitates the day program with the assistance of volunteers as well as our equestrian coaches for certain aspects of the day. As a RT, she is specially trained in assessment and intervention planning towards goals that are recreation, leisure and/or life skills based for individuals with unique needs.

H.O.P.E. is unique in that each activity will have an incorporated goal and facilitative technique in order to guide individual and group experiences from a Recreation Therapy perspective. Activities are chosen to be adaptable to individual needs, promote creativity, exploring, teamwork and active living in an outdoor setting. Check out the many example activities listed below:

Helping Hands
Participants will engage and help out with a variety of different tasks around the facility. These tasks can include helping with lunch time feeding, horse stall duties, shovelling, checking the
paddocks and so much more!

Mapping, Navigation, & Orienteering
Participants will have use of compasses and maps to participate in various activities including treasure hunts, orienteering challenges, and map making activities. Participants will test their skills in our back fields to show their learning.

Animal Tracks
Come and explore the animal world through tracks! Learn and discover all kinds of tracks of animals that live within our farm environment through crafts, activities and games.

Nature Art
We have 142 acres at Hope Haven to help inspire creativity! We have an abundance of natural materials to create sculptures and many natural landscapes to reproduce on canvases.

Outdoor Survival
Learn the basics of wilderness survival including food sources, how to get fresh water, shelter building, and even fire making. Participants will get to practice their outdoor skills through challenges and trivia.

Daily & Seasonal Changes
Students will explore seasonal changes through interactive games, crafts, and activities. The focus will be on the current season, while exploring what is different during other times of the year.

Growth & Changes in Animals
Participants will learn all about animal life cycles and their survival process. Interactive games and activities will have them exploring various predators and prey, animal life cycles, and animal adaptability in the wild.

Outdoor Activities
Participants will engage in a variety of outdoor winter games such as floor hockey, snow shoeing, tobogganing and more! There will be opportunities for individual and group play in a wide selection of different activities.

Campfire Building
Participants will learn a variety of different ways to build, light, feed and as well the proper ways to put out a campfire. This is a safe process and the only person to manage the flame will
be the Recreation Therapist or the volunteers that are instructed to do so.

We will be running  Fridays throughout the Spring, Fall and Winter Seasons. Drop off time is 9:00am and pick up time is 3:30pm. Please meet in our Activity Centre which will be the program's central hub and warming area.

Season length is dependent on the season which tends to be anywhere from 9 to 14 weeks long. We ask participants to commit to a full season with the opportunity to provide two away dates that will not be included in your invoice.

This program is for young adults, 18 years and older, who have unique needs and abilities and would like to continue to learn and explore in an outdoor environment. If a participant requires hands on assistance with one or more of the following, they will require a support person, organized and/or paid for independently from Hope Haven:

• toiletting
• eating/food prep
• basic dressing
• mobility on even or uneven terrain
• following 1-2 step instructions

$45 per day (no Adaptive Riding)

$80 per day (includes a group Adaptive Riding lesson between 9:00am-3:30pm)

We will be asking for full season commitment. Invoices may be paid by monthly instalments.

Please contact our Program Manager, Robyn Allen, if you are interested in registering. We will do a basic screening over the phone, answer any questions you may have and then do a site visit to meet you if you are new to Hope Haven.

Email: program@hopehavencentre.org or 519-986-1247.