Walking back in time to the start of Pathway to Wellness

By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com

There’s a saying that goes like this, “Don’t despise small beginnings,” and Pathway to Wellness in Kindersley is a prime example of how that plays out. What began as walking track days and educational classes soon evolved into many more opportunities.

Now those opportunities include gentle chair stretches, circuit training, an all-level mobility and strength class, chair mobility and strength classes, a special needs kids program, pickleball, yoga, and supervised time in a wellness room. Pathway to Wellness also helps youth with cognitive impairments like autism. Many of the programs offered are held at the West Central Events Centre, but other activities are held outdoors, such as pickleball.

All of this is made possible with passionate volunteers, the Town of Kindersley, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority. But how did it all begin? Joanne Kosolofski, from Kindersley, helped fill in all the details of the birth of Pathway to Wellness (P2W)
“In 2011, my husband, Randy, survived a widowmaker heart attack, and two weeks later had blood clots in both lungs. After a few scary weeks, he was on his road to recovery. One of our first appointments was at the Field House in Saskatoon, where I believe the seed was planted for P2W,” Joanne explained. Her husband began working with an exercise therapist, and Joanne first began envisioning similar opportunities being added to the walking track in Kindersley.

Once at home, her husband began to walk and go for runs, and Joanne began to ask herself how other people could start to participate in an exercise program.

“Long story short, I began P2W,” Joanne said. It began by offering educational classes and walking track awareness days. “Heartland Health then provided us with an exercise therapist who would come to Kindersley to run a couple of programs twice a week.”

In June 2016, P2W developed a partnership with the Town of Kindersley and Heartland Health, with the Wellness Room addition, which opened in November 2016. Pathway to Wellness charged members $50 for three months.

Pathway to Wellness has far exceeded Joanne’s original expectations. “I just wanted a cardiac rehab centre, so people didn’t have to go into the city,” she said. Over the years, her efforts have been rewarded by witnessing many people who live with chronic disease come faithfully to maintain their mobility as they work out with the exercise therapist. “It makes my heart happy,” Joanne concluded.

PHOTO: Randy and Joanne Kosolofski