Can you enter a building without assistance? Can you enter a building and get from point A to point B without assistance and in a dignified manner? That is what is important to Anthony Frisina. Mr. Frisina works in Accessible Learning Services at Mohawk College. Upon graduating from the Enterprise Business and Office Administration Course at Mohawk College he maintained his “passion for accessibility and inclusion.” Presently he is an invigilator; administering exams for individuals with disabilities. He also oversees academic integrity, sets up exams and works with Distance Learning for handicapped students. Helping students with disabilities develop and understand computer skills in a one-on-one basis allows him to get to know more and more people, and assists them in learning technological skills that will be relevant in their future employment. That is his job! But he is also a volunteer. 

As a Member of the Rick Hansen Foundation for the past four years Frisina has been successful in bringing Wheels in Motion to Mohawk College; an annual event held in June to show and teach people all about inclusion. Wheels in Motion is an obstacle course for people not normally in a wheelchair. As the participants try out a wheelchair and experience some of the everyday functions of life, they find things that would normally seem very easy can become quite difficult. For example, participants try putting on a backpack while in a wheelchair, getting a drink at a water fountain or putting away laundry. Monies raised at the Wheels in Motion event are used to promote awareness and assist those with spinal cord injuries. 

Frisina’s volunteer work doesn’t stop there. Presently he is volunteering with the Catholic Youth Organization and has been assisting with the fundraising and accessibility of their new Camp Marydale. Camp Marydale was one of the first in Ontario to integrate children with special needs into its mainstream program. Marydale will open this summer in Hamilton for able bodied and disabled children from all economic, faith and cultural backgrounds. The new camp will also allow for teens and young adults with disabilities to experience a job as a camp staff member. 

Once upon a time, twenty-four years ago, when Frisina was seven years old, he went to the old Camp Marydale in Puslinch. “It was never about the guy in a wheelchair, when I went to camp. I loved camp from day one,” he says passionately. “I was in the one-on-one program and I still remember the names of all the counsellors who worked with me at camp, like it was yesterday. Because of them I participated in everything (such as) archery, fishing, boating, and swimming. I did everything! They helped me become who I am today. Towards the end of my camp days they put me in a wheelbarrow with a canopy and they pushed me all around that camp. Camp gave me such a great experience it made a significant input on my life.” According to Frisina, “The new camp will allow teens to stay on and work as camp staff members.” He shares, “I tried to be a Counsellor in Training, but the rough terrain made it just too challenging.” 

“Camp Marydale and the CYO have not left me out, they contacted me to help them with their promotional video, assist with the signage and I continue to speak fervently, whenever I do a talk on inclusion, about the importance of Marydale Park. Now I am helping with the Marydale Marketplace. A few of us (former camp staff) would like to help the new Camp Marydale open this summer in the proper fashion – with new supplies and equipment. So, on Wednesday, May 30th, we are hosting a unique event – the Marydale Outfitters’ Marketplace at Carmen’s; a fundraiser where the guests actually purchase a piece of new equipment for camp. For your $30 ticket, we’ll buy you a drink and feed you, not to mention that you might reconnect with an old friend or two.” “I really hope I get to see all of my old counsellors Vince Leone, Sam and Leo Farrauto, Leanne and Andrea Baird, Joanne and Tricia Miecke, and Heather Johnson.” 

By Ann Marie Rosser-Chechalk 

This story was originally published in Spring 2012 of the Mohawk Alumni In Touch magazine.