Photo by David Lipnowski Photography, courtesy of Winnipeg Foundation.
A Smart Suite officially opened today at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children, offering families an interactive opportunity to explore home technologies and adaptive tools that can make everyday living more accessible for children and youth with disabilities. Created through generous support of The Moffat Family Fund at Winnipeg Foundation, donors of Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation, and Rehabilitation Centre for Children, the new Smart Suite demonstrates practical solutions to improve independence and participation at home.
“The Smart Suite is a wonderful example of how innovation can create greater independence and opportunity for children and youth with disabilities. Winnipeg Foundation is proud, through the generosity of the Moffat Family Fund, to support a project that helps more children develop their potential and participate more fully in everyday life,” says Megan Tate, Vice President, Community Impact, at Winnipeg Foundation.
The project started with a goal to simulate an apartment or small home set-up and help families identify solutions that can work within their own homes.
“The multidisciplinary teams at Rehabilitation Centre for Children collaborated to review in-home barriers and determine which accessibility options could be best customized to meet a child’s unique needs.” says Barb Borton, Interim Executive Director, Rehabilitation Centre for Children. “My gratitude to the team and to the donors who made this idea a reality for Manitoba families.”
The Smart Suite now displays a realistic home environment including a kitchen, living room, computer workspace and bathroom, all with adaptive features to support everyday living. It is a learning space where children and youth can trial equipment and explore how technologies and other innovations can support greater independence. Through guided visits, pediatric clinicians and therapists assess challenges, demonstrate adaptive features and help families identify solutions that can work within their homes. Some of the options include voice-controlled or eye-tracking technology to use blinds, lighting and door controls, as well as adaptive kitchen appliances and cabinetry.
“The Smart Suite helped us learn how to give my daughter, Zoe, freedom and independence,” says Elsien Versteeg, mother of smart suite home technologies recipient. “Zoe does not verbally communicate but with this technology she can use her eye gaze technology to play her favourite music and change the colour of the lights in her room. It’s the simple things that we take for granted that she is getting to experience and control for the first time.”
Families participating in Smart Suite visits with therapists may also be eligible for a starter kit of equipment to help reduce some initial costs associated with implementing accessibility and smart-home technologies in the home.
The $275,000 project is funded by Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation through a $200,000 gift from the Moffat Family Fund via Winnipeg Foundation major capital grant, and $40,000 from donors to Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation to support smart technology requests and additional starter kits for families, plus $35,000 for operational costs from the Rehabilitation Centre for Children.
“Innovation that supports inclusion leads to better opportunities for the children in our community,” says Kathryn McBurney, Executive Director of Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation. “We are so appreciative of The Moffat Family and Winnipeg Foundation, and all donors who choose Children’s Rehabilitation for your gifts to help make spaces and supports like the Smart Suite available for children with disabilities.”
Families who cannot attend with a therapist in-person will soon be able to experience the Smart Suite through a video available on the Rehabilitation Centre for Children website (rccinc.ca). The video will provide a general look at the tools in the Smart Suite so families can discuss options with their therapist.
To support innovative and inclusive projects that help children with disabilities thrive, please give at childrensrehabilitation.ca.