Fellow Rotarian, Chris Vanspeybroeck was a great host. He is the President Elect of the East Moline Silvis club. Our connection with the Therapy Center goes back to the 1980's, when George McDoniel was their Executive Director. Member Aidan Passmore has fond memories of his own involvement with the Children's Therapy Center and the ICan Bike program. Paul Neder found great value in the program and so brought it to the Endowment committee of his church. They now support the programs of the center too. Aidan's dad, Tom Pasmore, was instrumental in bringing the ICan Bike program to the Center. Our Rotary Club has been a financial contributor for years.
Movement and Play are the basis for all iCan Shine programs. Each program provides success through experience. Every effort is acknowledged for each unique person’s individual abilities. Recreational skills can be difficult to master for individuals with disabilities. Breaking skills into small, achievable goals and celebrating each accomplishment builds the self-esteem and confidence needed to continue the challenges of learning.
This is what they call the sense of “iCan”. Everyone needs to believe “iCan” in order to make the effort required to gain the skill. Positive encouragement and guidance from well-trained, energized instructors and volunteers allow each participant to discover and develop their “iCan” mantra in a safe, supportive and fun environment.
Participants undergo a transformation from not believing they are able to accomplish a skill, to believing “iCan” accomplish what I set my mind to. This impacts their well-being and opens them to try new activities. Choices in recreation should be available for everyone.
The ICan Bike program provides children with disabilities an opportunity to learn to ride a bike in just one week! They soon discovered that the high school volunteers were also learning and developing and improving their own self-confidence. Successes are seen by all.
Last year was a good year for the Center, outside of the success of the ICan Bike program. They had the best year ever billed, at $750,000 and a third was paid. They rely heavily on donations, grants, and fund raisers. Changing legislation will impact their financial condition negatively in the coming years. They have no intention of changing their mission so they continue to find creative ways to support the work they do. No child is turned away. They scheduled 17,000 units last year, coming in second to their all time high due to an unfilled therapist staff position. It costs about $1 Million to run them each year but only receive 25% back from insurance companies. They absorb any costs not reimbursed. Their efforts result in break-even at the end of the year.
New projects coming will include therapies related to daily living, including making their bed, good bathroom hygiene, and a kitchen for cooking skills that could also be functional for events planned in their Russel Center room.
The work they do is inspirational and changing the lives of the children they serve. We are glad to support their cause.
See below for more information.
