Milly Zaletelj

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Milly, who was born and raised in Slovenia, had worked as a personal trainer for a decade before pursuing her academic studies at the School of Kinesiology. In 2017, Milly started her master’s thesis supervised by professor Andrea Bundon on the topic of “Disability in the Gym: Perceptions and understandings about individuals with disabilities”. Personal trainers and instructors were interviewed to explore how individuals with disabilities were perceived and understood, and how those perceptions and understandings broke down or reinforced barriers for people with disabilities when they visit the gym.

Upon graduating from UBC with her Master’s degree, Milly says that “the experience I gained about the current understanding of disability and people with disabilities in Vancouver, informed my career choice. I realized that there was a huge lack of physical activity services offered to people with disabilities in the able-bodied environment, and so I felt compelled to remain in the disability sport field.”

Consequently, Milly was delighted to have landed the newly created position of manager of PARC (Physical Activity Research Centre), which aligned well with her values and training. PARC is an interdisciplinary organization that started in 2013 as part of ICORD (International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries) which is under the UBC Faculty of Medicine and the VCH Research Institute.

With a mission to help support and improve the quality of life for those with spinal cord injuries, and to create a more livable life through physical activity, PARC is a community-based research centre that also offers a gym facility. Gym membership is free to anyone with a spinal cord injury in exchange for agreeing to partake in research studies. The facility is equipped with high-end fitness equipment, including HUR multi-function strength training machines, and it offers numerous exercise classes including adaptive spin classes, boxercise and circuit functional training.

While PARC is a research centre, it is also an important place of community; with over 420 registered participants, 1 full-time, 5 work-learn Kinesiology students and 50 volunteers – comprised mostly of Kinesiology students – PARC acts as an important resource centre and social network for the all the people involved.

Needless to say, it was a blow to the community when the facility was forced to close down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Milly, just 8 weeks into her job, moved quickly to ensure that the higher risk population utilizing PARC continued to receive access to exercise classes and social supports. Milly and her team worked round the clock to produce online classes and to implement a weekly phone check-in with PARC members. Milly’s dedication to this community has meant a world of difference to people with spinal cord injuries.

With the current social distancing protocols in place, Milly and 5 Kinesiology work-learn students acted quickly to design a number of new online exercise classes to offer to PARC members. Currently there are 5 classes being offered every week, Monday to Friday, that cover different intensities and types of training. During these classes, one student instructor leads the class while another demonstrates the exercises and offers variations to ensure an inclusive class in which all participants can partake. Using items found at home such as soup cans, elastic bands and sometimes dumbbells, three of the classes are focused on strength and cardio.

The requirements of social distancing and isolation have created further challenges for PARC members. In order to mitigate some of the impacts, Milly has added 2 more programs offered online for the community. “Namastay Fit” focuses on meditation and stretching, while “A Chat at the PARC” ensures that participants may continue to come together for social and conversational time.

“I appreciate reconnecting with my community at PARC through the online sessions that are being offered. The benefits of exercising, the pleasure of seeing the work-learn students take on new online teaching roles, talking with them and fellow participants, and continuing the mutual support that is so much a part of our community. This is so important to me as we continue social isolation, especially with so many of us being vulnerable.  Thanks to Milly and the students for all their efforts.”  – Linda Hunt, PARC Participant

Many PARC participants are immunosuppressed and are at higher risk of contracting COVID 19. This means that the ability to utilize an online platform that permits people to connect with one another is extremely important for their mental health, as well as for maintaining connections and to keep the community thriving.

“I’m motivated to go to work every day because of the small, but essential differences we’re making at PARC. Even though it’s hard for everyone to go outside, seeing everyone work out together online and the new connections being made makes my work meaningful” says Milly.

Not only does PARC offer great benefits to the participants involved, but it also provides great value to volunteers and staff. PARC opens the door to ask questions about disabilities, change perspectives regarding what a disabled person can achieve and hopefully, in the future, diminishes the stigma against those with disabilities in society.

It is hard to say when PARC’s doors will reopen, but the staff hopes to continue to offer online classes to better the health, both physically and mentally, for those with disabilities.

If you are interested in learning more about PARC, please contact: milly.zaletelj@ubc.ca