Maeve Bezaire found herself in the field of recreation therapy quite by accident. She’d been working in theatre when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. The restrictions on gatherings spelled the end of her job, so she found a position as a recreation aide at a seniors’ home in Edmonton.
She fell in love with the work and found it to be a very fulfilling profession in terms of helping others, but also benefited her own development and mental health. She decided to enrol in the Therapeutic Recreation program at ULethbridge. Now in her fourth year, she has continued to grow her knowledge and passion for the career.
Bezaire developed an idea called Accessible Recreation, a personal project and business endeavour. Accessible Recreation started as a vision board and a place to share all her resources and allow her to start taking clients. She works with mostly seniors, a lot of whom are dementia and post-stroke patients.
“Accessible Recreation is the best place to live in my values as a professional; I can live in my ethics,” says Bezaire. “Seeing people and connecting them with activities that speak to who they are fundamentally is really satisfying and a privilege.”
Bezaire works with many organizations and partners to bring her visions to life. Her latest partnership is called Arts Builds Skills, a community program in the Alberta Avenue community in Edmonton. As well as collaborating with Arts on the Ave, a non-profit organization in Edmonton developed to uplift the Alberta Avenue area, it also works alongside E4C, which is a supportive housing organization in the area. Arts Builds Skills is a workshop that will be brought to the residents at E4C housing, allowing them the opportunity for artistic expression guided by artists.
Jeff Collins is a painter and visual artist with a studio in the Alberta Avenue area. He is one of the artists working alongside Bezaire to facilitate Arts Builds Skills. Residents who sign up will be guided through various artistic activities and artistic practices such as visual arts, writing, and theatre. The main goals are to empower the residents, to build up the community, and to allow for community integration.
Bezaire’s knowledge of therapeutic recreation will allow her to accurately measure the program’s growth and its success at developing skills such as creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, and various other skills. Bezaire hopes this workshop will also develop emotional regulation, help residents identify emotions, and use art and art activities to build skills. If the workshop goes well, Bezaire hopes to offer it a few times a year.
Eventually, Bezaire hopes residents who have taken the workshop can move on to teach their own art workshops around the city, possibly at places like the Edmonton Public Library, allowing the residents to transform into leaders and become active participants in their community.
“The focus is community revitalization and being able to connect the community in ways that empower residents to become citizens,” says Bezaire.
