During Disability Service Professionals Week, Cosmo Industries in Saskatoon is highlighting its weekly rhythm of work and community activities for more than 400 program participants, while staff describe the everyday support that shapes participants’ lives.
More than 400 program participants head to Cosmo each week in Saskatoon. balancing time at work with community programming that keeps their days social. structured. and familiar.. Cosmo Industries has been supporting people with intellectual disabilities since 1971. and during Disability Service Professionals Week. staff and participants are spotlighting what that support looks like in real life.
For participant Shelley Nynnletwin, the best part is the time she gets to spend each day with friends.. She describes a routine that includes activities and outings beyond the worksite—bowling. playing bingo. and then. after the day’s programming. plans that can include supper with friends.. “You get to go bowling, you get play bingo, you have to have fun.. I’m going out for supper tonight,” Nynnletwin said.. “I have friends. talk to them. you know. have a chit chat and have lunch. go to Tim Hortons for coffee and stuff like that.”
At Cosmo, participants are able to follow a regular work schedule in a safe environment designed around their needs.. Local businesses, including the University of Saskatoon, hire Cosmo participants for tasks such as cleaning or recycling.. Support work manager Theresa Paydli said Cosmo offers a plant-pot cleaning service to more than a dozen companies across Saskatoon.. “So right now they are cleaning plant pots, and we offer that service to probably 12-plus companies throughout Saskatoon.. So, instead of their plant pots going into the landfill, they bring us their dirty plant pots.. We dry brush them, wash them, sanitize them, and it’s repeated every month,” Paydli told Global News.
Beyond job tasks, participants share lunch together in the cafeteria and take part in enrichment activities that range from drawing and bowling to visiting museums. The program also includes access to an on-site gym and a busing service.
Disability Service Professionals Week is also a chance to recognize the support staff who work alongside participants day after day.. Cosmo Executive Director David Troesch described DSP Week as an opportunity to show appreciation for the people who help shape participants’ day-to-day lives.. “It’s a very special position.. They get to do a lot of great work with people every day.. When your main goal in your day is to just enlighten somebody else’s day. it’s pretty fulfilling. ” Troesch said.
For staff at Cosmo, the work is described less as employment and more as a relationship-driven routine.. Colton Wall. Cosmo LE4 program coordinator. said the phrase “That fills your cup” changed meaning for him after he began working at Cosmo.. “You’ve probably heard the expression. ‘That fills your cup.’ I didn’t really know what that meant until I started working here at Cosmo.. Just sort of the relationships you make by being a part of it here and seeing all the participants come in every day is very special. ” Wall said.
The week’s celebration ties together the same daily pattern described across the interviews: participants arrive to work and community activities. staff provide an ongoing schedule and support. and the result shows up both in concrete services—like the monthly plant-pot cleaning program—and in the social time participants say they value most.
During DSP Week. Cosmo’s message is clear in the details: more than 400 participants attend weekly programming. the work is carried out through partnerships with local businesses. and enrichment activities—from bowling to museum visits—run alongside the day’s tasks.. For staff. recognizing the DSP role centers on the same motivation they describe in their work: making each participant’s day better. every day.
Cosmo Industries Disability Service Professionals Week Saskatoon intellectual disabilities community programming employment support