Therapeutic Recreation Ontario is the provincial professional association that represents Therapeutic Recreation professionals from across Ontario. Each year, TRO holds a three-day professional development conference for professionals and students.
This year, the TRO is holding its 20th annual conference at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Niagara Falls, from May 29 to May 31.
Christine Wilkinson, professor and program coordinator of NC’s Recreation Therapy program, along with professor Jaclyn Frail, are the co-chairs of the event. Wilkinson will be talking about Second Wind Dreams as an organization, and the process of fulfilling dreams for residents, with examples of many dreams that have been fulfilled by NC students. PK Belville, keynote speaker at the conference, and founder-CEO of Second Wind Dreams, will be presenting alongside Wilkinson.
Wilkinson says she first heard about Second Wind Dreams on a television show in 2005, and thought that it was a perfect fit for therapeutic recreation students. She was teaching at another college at the time.
“In 2006, we partnered with a long term care home to have students fulfill dreams of their residents. This was an incredible experience for several years,” said Wilkinson. “I wanted the NC Recreation Therapy students to have a similar opportunity; it is a remarkably unique feeling.”
When she came to Niagara College in 2011, she was instrumental in bringing SWD with her to the college, and helping students weave a dream for long-term care residents.
Therapeutic Recreation Ontario is the leader in uniting and advancing the Therapeutic Recreation profession in Ontario. Therapeutic Recreation Ontario is dedicated to guiding, supporting, educating and advocating to enable the Therapeutic Recreation practitioner to deliver quality professional services. The conference is one of the biggest professional development and networking opportunity for TR professionals in Ontario each year. Niagara College faculty, staff and graduates have played a large role in the organizing of this conference, with many presenting at the conference, and a considerable number of students volunteering at the event.
Second Wind Dreams (SWD) is an international non-profit with a mission of fulfilling the wishes of long-term care residents. For seven years under the guidance of Recreation Therapy professor and program coordinator, Christine Wilkinson, students in the program have fulfilled the dreams of more than 25 long-term care residents through SWD.
This Foundation is an international organization whose mission is to change the perception of Aging through fulfillment of dreams for adults living in long-term care. Students in the recreation therapy program at Niagara College apply to be Dream Weavers where they fundraise and use the money to make the dreams of local residents become a reality.
The purpose of Recreation Therapy is to enable all individuals to achieve quality of life, and optimal health through meaningful experiences in recreation and leisure.
