Calgary non-profit celebrates 30 years

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]A non-profit working with children and young adults with neuromotor conditions is celebrating 30 years of helping others. It's known as FACE. That stands for Families of Alberta for Conductive Education. Its programs are focused on building life skills to help participants become more independent.

[00:00:15]Here's Kevin Fleming.

[00:00:17]She's 19 years old and Maddie Pelkey has been coming to FACE for more than 8 years. She's working on some fine motor skills by moving balls from one area to another while standing. Maddie has a seizure disorder that seen her lose a lot of her mobility and speech.

[00:00:32]>> When Maddie was younger, her needs she just presented a lot differently. She wasn't in a wheelchair. She was running, walking, talking.

[00:00:39]All that all that running, really running. Like she was a runner.

[00:00:45]And so over time she's lost those skills. Joanna Spooner says Maddie thrives in a group environment.

[00:00:50]>> She's most motivated by relationships, quality, authentic relationships. The people who work here are exceptional.

[00:00:57]Um they genuinely love your kid. And which as a mama bear your your standards are pretty high. Families of Alberta for Conductive Education, known as FACE, got its start in Calgary in 1996 and has more than 50 participants daily from toddlers up to young adults. We're non-profit. We work with people who have movement disorders, so known as neuromotor disorders. So what you think of normally is a cerebral palsy as well as spina bifida and a range of other genetic disorders as well. The holistic form of therapy originates from Hungary and sees one caregiver for every participant. Annabelle Peter has been here for 10 years and has watched the children grow. When I started like most of our adults were all kids. They all grew up. I stayed the same height.

[00:01:46]Peter is working with Danny who's celebrating her 20th birthday. She says it's rewarding to help participants learn skills to be more independent.

[00:01:54]>> You feel like so successful. Like there is something that you could do for others. So, that gives like a very positive effect on me on myself. Like and that keeps me going. Kevin Fleming, CTV News, Calgary.

[00:02:08]Faces hosting an awareness campaign to let families know about the resources that are available. We have more information on our website.