KBIA Local
(2009-12-18)
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COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
An organization has donated money to help fund recreational programs for residents with low-income and disabilities. KBIA's Ashley Moore has this story.
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"Storm door, or a screen door, from the building across the street that got put in a dumbster and I thought, 'Well, I might be able to use that.' So I sawed off its edges and cut off its bottom end and trimmed off the top. And I thought, 'That'll make a decent panel for a canvas.' So, I put new canvas on it.'
John Fry has been a resident at Paquin Tower for more than 14 years. He has also been an artist for most of his life.
"Yeah, it doesn't always take so much to make a thing. You can make a thing out of almost nothing."
He's now 62 years old. Fry is only one of the many residents of Paquin who takes advantage of its creative arts and recreational programs. But he couldn't have done it without the help of one local organization called CARE at Paquin.
After the program was forced to take a budget cut about a year ago, CARE at Paquin gathered donations from all across Columbia to raise money for the program. The organization collected $13,000.
At yesterday's ceremony, it presented a $5,000 check to add to the city's parks and recreation budget for the program at Paquin. Mayor Darwin Hindman attended the event. He says the types of activities Paquin provides are invaluable to the community.
"In tough times, one of the first things that tend to get cut is parks and recreation. I think that may be an upside down priority because the idea of government in my opinion is to help people have a satisfactory life. Parks and recreation are one of the greatest ways to reach the most people to have them have satisfactory lives."
Phil Steinhaus also attended the ceremony. He is CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority. Steinhaus says a person's quality of life involves not only interacting with people but also having support from the community.
"I think really it's just a wonderful job done by the community to come forward to say yes this is an important program for everyone in the community and that persons with disabilities should have equal access to recreation and arts programs like the one offered here by parks and recreation."
Sarah Bowman works directly with program participants at Paquin. She says the program is necessary because it helps to build people's self-esteem.
"It's important because a lot of these people are disabled and it's hard for them to attend regular recreation programs because a lot of the times they don't have the equipment or the needs that are specifically for those people with disabilities. So this is so important to have this program that is just for them to make them feel like that they can do whatever recreation need that they want."
Monies donated by CARE at Paquin will be added to the parks and recreation budget and City Council will then appropriate those funds accordingly.
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