Dalhousie SPRING

Dalhousie SPRING is a recreational program that connects Dalhousie students with youth aged 4-14 with disabilities. Dalhousie student volunteers and buddies (youth w disabilities) come together on Sunday mornings for one hour of dry recreational activity in the field house followed by an hour of swimming in the Dalplex pool. Students can choose to be involved in one of two ways: Full-time or Part-time. Full-time volunteers are expected to attend most sessions (allowed to miss ~2 out of 7-9 sessions) and will be paired with another student volunteer and a buddy (2 volunteer to 1 buddy ratio). Full-times will be with the same buddy over the course of the entire semester, allowing them to form a stronger bond. Part-time volunteers are asked to fill in when full-times can't make it. Emails will be sent out on Fridays to all part-time volunteers indicating how many fill-ins we need, and if you are available, you reply to the email and confirm attendance. This is a lower commitment option, and you will be paired with different buddies each time you attend. In the past, some part-times have only attended once whereas others have attended almost every session. How frequently you come is up to you with this option. Within the HRM, there are many recreational programs available to neurotypical and/or able-bodied youth, but there is a huge gap in recreational programs offered for kids with varying forms of disabilities. SPRING aims to help fill this gap while also giving the parents of our buddies 2 hours of respite on Sunday mornings. It is also a great opportunity for Dalhousie students to get exposure to working with the disabled community. Many of our volunteers hope to go into teaching, social work, medicine, and so on, and try SPRING to gain valuable experience.