Published June 2, 2010
By Martin C. Barry • NEWSFIRST
Pierre Fontaine, executive director of Centre du Sablon,
says Sablon Para Fit meets the centre’s goal of
interacting with the various communities of Laval
Centre du Sablon is entering a new phase in the ongoing development of its Sablon Fit physical fitness centre — one that will deliver an exclusive service for a special clientele. Sablon Para Fit is the name of a new physical conditioning program that has been adapted within Sablon Fit, especially for persons with limited physical mobility. Sablon Para Fit will be dedicated exclusively to persons who are paraplegic, who have had strokes, suffer from spinal cord problems, spinal traumas, neuro-orthopedic problems, congenital muscular dystrophy, etc.
Several partners
In a groundbreaking move, Centre du Sablon has established partnerships with the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital of Laval, the Viomax Foundation associated with the Centre Lucie Bruneau, the Quebec Wheelchair Association, and the Regional Association for Leisure-time activities for Handicapped Persons of Laval. It is hoped the move will position Sablon Para Fit as the resource of choice and preferred facility for physical fitness services provided to persons with limited mobility, after specialized physio treatments have been administered in readaptation centres.
Sablon Para Fit will be equipped with three units adapted for wheelchairs and/or the conditioning and fitness of the back and upper body. The machines will be installed right next to the entrance of the conditioning room to facilitate access and use by handicapped persons. Currently in this area of the floor, fitness machines and free weights are to be found.
Centre’s goals met
The fitness and free-weight area will be placed in a new section at Sablon Fit. In other words, the fitness room at Sablon Fit is expanding. Pierre Fontaine, executive director of Centre du Sablon, says Sablon Para Fit meets the centre’s goal of interacting with the various communities of Laval and by fulfilling a social obligation concerning health and physical fitness adapted to a specific clientele.
“When we launched Sablon Fit, we could have chosen to go the same way as so many other well-known fitness centres,” said Fontaine. “But we are a community centre, and this joint venture lives up to our mission statement in that we are doing something specialized while helping community organizations. It’s part of our mandate to not just be different, but also to serve the community.” Fontaine said that in launching Sablon Para Fit, Centre du Sablon wanted to be able to answer the needs of physically handicapped persons who want to keep physically fit.
Special needs met
“By creating Sablon Para Fit, we’re answering that special need to these people who are extremely dynamic,” he said. While the handicapped will be able to benefit from all the advantages of working out to be in the best shape, Sablon Fit staff will be on hand to take care of their special needs. “We’re equipped for that,” said Fontaine. According to Fontaine, Sablon Para Fit will be exclusive in Laval, since no other physical fitness centre here currently offers this kind of service to persons with mobility problems.
While physical fitness services for the handicapped are offered by Viomax at the Centre Lucie-Bruneau in Montreal, there has been nothing like it up until now in Laval. Handicapped users from the far reaches of the Montreal region travel long distances to use the fitness facilities at the Centre Lucie-Bruneau. For those in Laval, Sablon Para Fit will be easy to access. Fontaine hopes it will also become a popular training facility for future para-olympic athletes. For further information on Sablon Para Fit, contact Pierre Fontaine at 450-688-8961, local 223.