Gateway Resources filled the Buttercup Celebration Hall near Winkler May 7 with supporters for its annual gala.
“It’s truly wonderful to see so many people gather tonight,” observed CEO Kim Nelson. “Tonight is about connection, community, and purpose.”
Funds raised from the gala go to support the non-profit, which provides life skills programming, employment opportunities, and assisted housing in Winkler and Morden for 232 individuals living with an intellectual disability.
“At Gateway, our mission is simple but deeply meaningful,” Nelson said. “We support individuals to live full, inclusive, and meaningful lives within communities. Every day, our teams walk alongside people of all abilities, helping them build independence, develop skills, find employment, and create connections. We believe that everyone deserves to belong.”
Guests got the chance to hear firsthand about the impact of Gateway’s programming from several of its staff and participants.
Chrissy Peters has been at Gateway for 25 years, working on the recycling sorting line, taking life skills classes, and helping out with cleaning.
“The skills Gateway has taught me is how to sweep, how to recycle, and how to work with other people and how to focus on myself,” she shared. “Gateway has also taught me how to be kind to people.
“Gateway has helped me stay focused and to work hard,” Peters added. “Gateway has taught me life skills and given me a job to go to every day.”
Peters is also an accomplished Special Olympian, bringing home medals in track and field and snowshoeing from events in China and Austria.
“Gateway celebrated me by having a community party to celebrate my medals,” she recalled.
With the help of Senior’s Activity Program manager Patrick Simoens, Annie Fehr reflected on some of the highlights of her days at Gateway.
“We play bingo, go shopping, do puzzles, or go to the Winkler Senior Centre,” she said, noting the senior’s program gives her plenty of fun things to do to fill her day, and Gateway’s residential staff help her out at home with making meals and doing her laundry.
In her younger years, Fehr worked at Gateway in the kitchen, washing dishes and helping prepare meals.
“I have learned kitchen skills and how to make things, like crafts,” she said. “I learned to be kind to others.”
Simoens also outlined his time with the organization, starting out as a direct service provider in 2008 and working his way up to manager
“I work with a team of three other staff who provide programming for some of the older individuals that attend day services at Gateway,” he explained.
“I’ve learned a lot since joining Gateway,” Simoens reflected. “How to support others through life’s challenges. I’ve learned to be more patient … how to be a leader.”
Asked by Fehr what his favourite part of Gateway is, Simoens noted it’s, “hearing the participants say they’ve had a good day.”
If you missed the gala, you can still get a behind-the-scenes peek at the inner workings at Gateway at their annual open house on Thursday, May 28 from 1-3:30 p.m. at 1582 Pembina Ave. in Winkler.
Putting her faith in God
After shining a spotlight on Gateway’s work, the evening wrapped up with a “fireside chat” between six-time Olympic medalist Cindy Klassen and MC Chris Sumner.
The hour-long conversation ranged from Klassen’s childhood to her drive to make Team Canada and compete in the Olympics (initially, unsuccessfully, in women’s hockey) to her bronze medal win at the 2002 Winter Games in speed skating and her record-setting five medals—a gold, two silver, and two bronze—four years later at the Olympics in Turin.
Klassen credited her success to the work ethic her parents instilled in her, and to God.
“It hit me that I had done all the preparation to get ready for that moment,” she said of her first race at the 2002 Olympics. “There’s nothing else I could do. All I had to do was trust God, go out and race the best that I could to His glory. That’s all He’s asking of me.”
When she returned to the Games four years later, she was simply looking to do her best—she never imagined she’d be the first and only Canadian athlete to win five medals at single Olympics.
“I really didn’t have a goal except to do better than I had done at the Olympics before,” she recalled, noting she didn’t let herself succumb to nerves because she knew “God is with me, and He’s going to sustain me through whatever happens.”
Klassen reflected on how she seeks to live with her Christian faith very much on her sleeve.
“This is a gift that God has given me to be able to share my story and share how good God has been,” she said, noting she’s an introvert by nature but still tries to embrace the speaking opportunities that come her way. “If I can be a light and make a difference in someone’s life, then it’s all worth it.”
Rooting her life in faith made leaving speed skating behind in 2015 after years of injuries much easier, Klassen shared.
“I think the big part of that is that my identity didn’t lie in being a speed skater,” she said. “My identity has always been in Christ.”
Looking back, Klassen said the things she misses most are the personal connections she forged.
“I don’t think about the podium finishes. I think about the times of being with my friends and my teammates, because they’re kind of like family,” she said. “All those crazy moments that we had.”
After her retirement from sports, Klassen completed her degree in psychology and became a police officer in Calgary for a few years before retiring to be a stay-at-home mother and motivational speaker.
“Whether you’re a teacher, whether you’re a mom, whether you’re an executive, whatever you are, whatever walk of life you’re going through, you can be a shining light to others,” Klassen said, stressing the importance of living one’s life for God. “Anybody can do it, and I think that it’s a high calling.”
