Cooking and Friendship are the Perfect Ingredients

Two initiatives offered through Dakota Communities are providing a way for Angie to do her favorite things while simultaneously improving her health and quality of life.

Angie, a 24-year-old with mild cerebral palsy, moved into Paul’s Place, a Dakota Communities’ home, in September 2008. Almost before her things were unpacked, the staff discovered two of her favorite things to do.

“Angie likes to cook with the staff,” said Jodi Iverson, Angie’s Program Coordinator. “And she loves to talk!” When asked what she enjoys most about being a part of Dakota Communities, Angie responded, “Talking to the staff about my day!” And when asked about what she most enjoyed baking and eating with the staff, Angie replied, “Brownies!”

Angie has the opportunity to pursue her love of cooking with other people from Dakota Communities in a program called “Harvest Meals – Culture Cuisine,” offered through the Center for Therapeutic Horticulture and Recreation Services at the University of Minnesota. The program promotes healthy food choices, increases nutritional knowledge and encourages social interaction between participants. During the summer, the group meets at a farm where residents can see how foods they eat are grown and harvested. “Angie is planning to garden this summer,” said Jodi, “so this program is helping her learn what to put in her garden.”

Angie also combines cooking and friendship through Dakota Communities’ Wii™ Volunteer program. Once every two weeks, high school students Anna Koelsch and Miriam Snyder visit Angie at Paul’s Place and play Wii games with her. Angie was excited to discover Miriam’s Wii cooking games.

“When we started volunteering with Angie in January, we had to teach her how to use the Wii controller and remind her which buttons to hold down,” said Anna. “She likes to do it by herself now.”

“The Wii is great because things in the game remind Angie of stories, and then she talks about those things,”
said Anna.

“Wii has been really good for Angie’s hand-eye coordination,” said Jodi. “Angie is also working on holding her head up; focusing on Wii games is helping that. But one of the best things about Wii is that Angie loves to socialize and loves one-on-one time with people, and playing Wii with Wii volunteers has provided this for her.” Angie also enjoys bowling and yoga breathing exercises on the Wii.

“We like to play Wii golf with Angie because it takes a long time, and we can talk while we play,” said Miriam. “It becomes social hour,” added Anna, “and Angie really loves to talk.” Angie smiled and said, “Anna and Miriam are good at Wii. They usually talk to me. They’re my friends.”

About Dakota Communities

Dakota Communities partners with people who have disabilities to realize their potential in their lives and communities. We provide residential and in-home services to people throughout the greater metropolitan area.

A small group of Dakota County parents and volunteers formed the non-profit organization in 1972, creating one of the first community-based residential facilities in Minnesota for children with developmental disabilities. As Dakota Communities has grown from one home in Dakota County to 32 homes in 18 communities in Minnesota, we have focused on good stewardship—­ stewardship of our organization, our relationships and our finances. More than 500 people work for Dakota Communities today. The vision of the organization, however, continues to be the same: to be a model of excellence in helping people with disabilities live, work, learn and play.

Respect of individual and family needs has been the philosophy of Dakota Communities from the beginning. Over time, a “person-centered program” was developed to emphasize what each person with disabilities wanted, needed and hoped for in his or her future.

Along the way, Dakota Communities has been recognized as one of the best providers in our field. We continue in our tradition of innovation and creativity – to develop new services that meet the changing needs of people with disabilities.