Pilot project

allows independence

SILKE SCHMIDT moves back and forth in her rocking
chair holding onto one of her favorite possessions: pictures
of the rock group Duran Duran.

“The pictures make me feel
better...i've got two of their tapes
and wvo of their albums,*’ says
the 24-year-old North Vancouver
resident.

Asked how long she has lived in
the basement suite located in Lynn
Valley, Schmidt says she can't
remember,

But she nods her head in
agreement when Pam MacDonald,
resource co-ordinator of the North
Shore Association of the Mentally
Handicapped (NSAMH), reminds
Schmidt that she has been Jiving
on her own since Aug. 15.

Before that she used to live in
Lynn Valley House, a group
home.

MacDonald says the program
Schmidt is in is a pilot project for
the NSAMH because it is the first
time in the association's history
that one of the people it watches
over has {eft a group home to live
on their own.

Schmidt shares the basement
suite with a woman named Janice,
who, under the agreement she has
with the NSAMH, agrecs to spend
a certain amount of time helping
Schmidt cope with the everyday
chores associated with living on
your own.

In addition to Janice, Rosanna
Lemire is Schmidt’s residential
vocational daycare worker and
NSAMH weekend staff also work
part-time with Schmidt.

And Schmidt is adjusting well
to living life on her own, saying
she is happy she no longer lives in
a group home.

Correction Notice

By Surj Rattan
News Reporter

“S didn’t like the idea of living
there. Pm glad | moved here....'m
glad to know [ can be on my own
and learn how to cook,’’ said
Schmidt, ‘‘l felt { didn't make any
choices at all at Lynn Valley
House. I find it easier here."’

Schmidt, who works for
Amity-Cooinda Packaging  Ser-
vices in) North Vancouver, has
also learned how to take care of
banking business and write che-
ques to pay her rent and other
bills.

One of the tasks she hopes to
master soon is how to count large
bills.

“T want to be able to learn how
to add up 20s. { can’t really do
big bills right now. 1 want to learn
how to budget and to learn how
to take care of animals,"’ says
Schmidt.

Besides cooking, listening ‘to
music is one of Schmidt's favorite
pastimes and while she is a big fan
of Duran Duran, the same cannoi
be said for pop star Madonna.

“I think she gets too out of
hand,”’ she says.

Schmidt also likes to watch
movies and read Garficld and Ar-
chie comic books.

“Silke wasn’t getting much one
on one and was being held back.
She’s mildly handicapped. This
was to give Silke the independence
that she desired,"’ says Mac-
Donald.

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“NEWS photo Paul McGrath
WASHING THE dishes is one of several chores North Vancouver resident Silke Schmidt enjoys do-
ing now that she is fiving a more independent lifestyle. Schmidt is part of a pilot project started by
the North pohore Association for the Mentally Handicapped in which she has been given the chance
to live on her own.

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