Rhonda Stone searched for years to find adapted swimming lessons to accommodate her daughter’s needs, before discovering Vecova’s SwimAbilities program in 2021.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do for her when they close down in June,” says Stone.
Vecova, the Calgary organization that dedicates itself to serving people with disabilities, recently announced the closure of their main facilities next summer.
As a mother to a young girl living with autism, Stone knows that the typical swimming environment can be challenging for many families raising children requiring special needs. For her family, most public swimming pools are simply not an option.
These busy facilities often attract hundreds of people daily. For a child living with autism, attempting to wade through the overwhelming commotion that comes with navigating public swimming pools can quickly become unbearable, making those with sensory sensitivities want to avoid it completely.
From Stone’s perspective, swimming is more than just a fun family activity. It is a crucial life-saving skill that children of all abilities should learn.
“She was a little fish. She absolutely loved the water.”
Rhonda Stone
Stepping into Vecova’s aquatics centre was a game changer for her family. Equipped with a small, therapeutically warm saltwater pool and staff dedicated to supporting and empowering those with disabilities, it was the perfect place for her daughter to learn how to swim.
It took her daughter a while to work up the courage to leave the change room, but the swimming instructors at Vecova helped her overcome her fear. Once she built up the courage to dip her toes in the water for the first time, Stone was surprised to see how naturally her daughter took to swimming.
“We instantly felt those barriers drop,” says Stone. “She was a little fish. She absolutely loved the water.”
After her first lesson Stone’s daughter started crying, wanting to stay in the pool. Stone recalls how patiently the instructor guided her to transition out of the water, a moment she marks as a major breakthrough for her family.
Her daughter had never been scared of swimming, all she needed was the right environment to learn; one with patient instructors who knew how to navigate her daughter’s needs. Stone says that level of understanding is hard for families raising children with disabilities to find.
She’s been taking her daughter to swimming lessons at Vecova ever since.
Now, as Vecova’s aging facility is set to close at the end of June next year, families like Stone’s face limited options for finding alternative accessible programming in the city.
“As a parent, I am still navigating that loss,” she says.
No chance for a new facility
Considered a top-of-the-line facility when it opened in 1969, the Vecova Centre was initially designed for 50 years of operation. Today, the centre is entering its 55th year, and portions of the building have already shut down due to declining infrastructure.
Vecova developed the vision for a new facility to replace the legacy building called The Centre of all Abilities. The preliminary design was modelled to modernize Vecova’s existing services and reimagine a more inclusive space for Calgarians of all abilities.
The City of Calgary had set aside $9.1 million for the $122 million project, but the plan fell short after the provincial and federal governments failed to secure additional funding, and will not be moving forward.
Kelly Holmes-Binns, Vecova’s chief executive officer, explains that the proposed Centre of All Abilities was designed with a community-hub concept in mind. It would have introduced additional services that their current facilities cannot offer due to lack of space, like physiotherapy options and a running track.
“The new centre would have elevated the importance of people of all abilities having a place in our economy, and in our community,” says Holmes-Binns. “I think that’s pretty special, and it’s not something that exists anywhere else in Canada.”
The federal government’s decision to reject funding for the project notably contrasts Ottawa’s promise to create more accessible spaces for those living with disabilities through the Accessible Canada Act, which was created to help build a Canada without barriers by 2040.
With no new place to call home, Vecova’s recreation and aquatics centre, in addition to their bottle depot, which has employed many people living with disabilities over the years, will be forced to close down, resulting in nearly 100 people losing their jobs.
Looking for a new home
Despite the primary facility closure, Vecova will still offer several other services for those living with disabilities, including employment support, wayfinding, mental health services, the Community Access Program, and some of their social enterprises.
“We’re really grateful to have the opportunity to continue delivering those essential services to people with disabilities in our community and our determination to do that has not wavered,” says Holmes-Binns. “It’s just going to look a little different than it does today, and will be delivered from a different location.”
Holmes-Binns says they have yet to discover a location to carry out these services, but they remain hopeful that they will soon find a new home.