Special Olympics PEI is honoured to announce the selection of three individuals and organizations as the 2020 Golisano Health Leadership Award recipients. These awards were provided February 25 and 26, 2021 at the Confederation Centre for the Arts. The Golisano Health Leadership Award was established in 2016, in partnership with Special Olympics and the Golisano Foundation, and is given to selected individuals or organizations that are dedicated to improving the health of people with intellectual disabilities and advancing the health work of Special Olympics.
Every other year, we have the opportunity to recognize up to three individuals or organizations for their contributions toward inclusive health. “In 2018, we proudly honored our first Golisano Health Leadership Award recipient, Dr. Joanne Reid, acknowledging her dedication to Special Olympics Health and her role in leading the 2015 Medfest screening which happened to be the first in Canada and took place her in Charlottetown, PE” said Matthew McNally, Program Director for Special Olympics PEI. “The three organizations and people being recognized this year have been ongoing supporters of our community and we would not be where we are today without their continued support to our health mission. Each have continued to adapt with changes due to COVID-19 and play a big role in the virtual program opportunities available SOPEI athletes” added McNally.
Golisano Health Leadership Award Recipients
ahead in the game
Tara Costello, Ahead in the Game business owner, was a contributor to the pilot project activities for the globally implemented Strong Minds Healthy Athlete screening. She has continued to train volunteers and offer these sessions locally (in-person and now virtually) to help our athletes and other Islanders with intellectual disabilities learn coping strategies for dealing with stress and anxiety in any environment they are in.
“Thank-you very much. This is truly an honour. I cherish my relationship with SOPEI and all the athletes and individuals involved” says Tara Costello.
Long-time athlete, Tommy MacGuigan says “One of my many experiences working with Tara was on mental preparation. She helped both the floor hockey and softball teams that I played on with our focus, parking our frustrations, and helping us learn what we had to do to stay positive. What she has done for me has made me a better all-around athlete”.
Synergy Fitness
Synergy Fitness is a key partner of our wellness program offerings. The team, led by Kris MacPhee, has been instrumental in keeping fitness and performance training opportunities available to our athletes in the lead up to provincial and national games. They have also been an inclusive environment for all our community athletes who want to become stronger and healthier, with good comradery and support. Also, during the COVID pandemic restrictions they have stepped up with live virtual workout sessions via Facebook. When they established their new space at The Mount, they treated our community like they do every other partner and included the investment of our logo on their facility wall; we know they are as proud of our athletes as we are.
Athlete Lisa Bernard shared “Synergy have helped me with training for my provincial and national games experiences. Kris showed me some stuff to do during COVID-19 lockdown too that was really helpful. I want to say thanks to Synergy for all their help”.
Kris MacPhee, Synergy owner: “Thank you so much for this! It's an incredible honor. Our team at Synergy absolutely loves working with all the athletes, coaches, volunteers and staff at Special Olympics. It's a partnership we cherish and one we want to continue for a very long time. Being recognized with this award is like icing on the cake”.
UPEI Department of Applied Human Sciences
UPEI Department of Applied Human Sciences have been collaborative and forward thinking partners with the support from many individuals. Under the leadership of Dr. Bill Montelpare the 2020-21 research project welcomed an athlete as a member of the research committee. They successful obtained a Special Olympics Canada grant to further understand the context of islanders with intellectual disabilities and are gathering information on a virtual platform that can provide support for personalized wellness goals. Another instrumental professor, Dr. Sarah Finch has taken her learnings from this committee and applied them to her nutrition counselling curriculum for students. We also really appreciate the way the nursing department allowed third year students have a placement with our organization and their work has led to a presentation that educates their classmates on communication strategies when working with adults with intellectual disabilities in the nursing field.
In presenting UPEI with their award, SOPEI athlete, Heidi Mallet said “I was honoured to be the athlete representative on the UPEI research team. My experience was very valuable and respectful as we worked together to brainstorm ideas that would help SOPEI athletes be more independent and improve their health behaviours. The team made sure the material was in plain language for our athletes so they can understand information provided to them”.
UPEI, Bill Montelpare (Research Project Lead): “Thank you very much for this amazing news. We are humbled by your appreciation, and feel that the success is a result of our combined efforts”.
Art Showcase
In conjunction with the award presentations, Special Olympics PEI engaged with local artists to share the stories of what our organization has meant in the eyes of its athletes. It is fitting that through both sport and art people strive for their best, strive to engage with others, and strive to express themselves, and it makes perfect sense that, eventually, the two worlds should meet.
The artwork displayed outside of Memorial Hall from February 25-28, 2021 has brought artists and SOPEI athletes together in collaboration, finding commonalities and inspiration in each other.
Artists were invited to engage in one of three ways:
- Meet an athlete and create a piece inspired by them
- Work with an athlete to create a piece together
- Display an existing piece that reflects the SOPEI experience
Displays include paintings, needle felting and a music compilation.
More Information
People with intellectual disabilities are part of one of the largest and most medically underserved disability groups in the world. Millions with intellectual disabilities lack access to quality health care and experience dramatically higher rates of preventable disease, chronic pain and suffering, and premature death in every country around the world.
Since 2012, philanthropist and Paychex Chairman Tom Golisano, and the Golisano Foundation, have committed $37 million to Special Olympics health programs to increase access to inclusive health, fitness and wellness programs for people with intellectual disabilities in the communities in which they live.
Special Olympics’ vision of its health program, made possible by the Golisano Foundation, is to create a world where people with intellectual disabilities have the same opportunities and access to quality health care as people without intellectual disabilities. For the past 20 years, Special Olympics has been working to identify and address the unmet health needs of people with intellectual disabilities and has revealed a myriad of complex barriers to health faced by this population. Barriers to this vision include lack of access to quality health care, education and resources.
