New executive director for Timmins Seizure and Brain Injury Centre – Timmins Press

Anne Marie Sorsa, right, who was a vice-president of the Timmins Seizure and Brain Injury Centre, was with Rhonda Latendresse, as she's taking over as the centre's executive director from Latendresse. RICHA BHOSALE/The Daily Press jpg, TD

The Timmins Seizure and Brain Injury Centre didnt have to search far and wide to find its new executive director.

They found a match within their team of board members.

Anne Marie Sorsa, who was a vice-president for the past year at the centre, has replaced Rhonda Latendresse for the position of executive director.

The change comes into effect this week.

After serving the organization as the executive director for last 28 years,

Latendresse feels its time for her to spend more time with family and get back to some of her leisure activities and hobbies.

The last 28 years have been wonderful to see the agency grow from a one-room office, just giving out information, to a vibrant agency that does programming and services for both those affected by epilepsy and acquired brain injury, said Latendresse. I couldnt have done it with all the great volunteers and board members and donors. They made the big difference in our growth and the clients. Im going to miss the clients.

But Ive turned 65 and its time to hand it over to someone younger with more energy and COVID-19 was the icing on the cake.

Its time to pursue other interests I have and get back to my family. I want to rest for a while, and I love to cook and do crafts and get back into that sort of thing. Ive sort of let a lot of that go in the last few years, so just want to get back to the art part of me, said Latendresse.

She said she has a lot of mixed feelings while retiring, but happy that the centre has found a person like Sorsa to take over.

Sorsa was born and raised in Timmins. She has been on the centres board of directors for last three years with a background as a recreational therapist and a rehabilitation consultant.

I was a recreational therapist and spent 16 years in a hospital clinical setting providing social and recreational programming to variety of clients including seniors, people in rehabilitation and the people who suffered physical and neurological injuries, she said.

Sorsa went down to Southern Ontario to complete her studies, after which she started her career at Baycrest Center for geriatric care in Toronto. She then moved back to Timmins to raise her family and worked at the Timmins and District Hospital for 14 years.

Then I moved on to a rehabilitation consultant role, working as a case manager for people with physical and neurological injuries and that is where I became very acquainted with the Seizure and Brain Injury Association as my clients were connected to the centre. I then had a passion for it and became a board member where I sat for three years as a board member and the last year on the executive as the vice-president.

When this position became available, I was very keen on finding the right executive director. However, I realize that with COVID-19 and the clients already struggling with so many changes that it was a really excellent match for me to apply and be the successful candidate, Sorsa explained.

She is looking forward to this new role with a vision of helping the clients to adapt with the new normal during this time of pandemic. And with the help of virtual programming these days, she wants to expand the service to all of the Northern Ontario and get connected to more people.

Talking about programs at the centre, Sorsa has already started working on a program where she is excited to meet the clients in-person after a long time.

Getting back to the face-to-face with the clients is very important and we have now that opportunity with our outdoor programming. The summer and fall are seeing outdoor programming and in the fall and winter we have partnered with the Covenant United Church for a programming space where we will be able to offer three indoor programs cooking, crafts and chair yoga.

Sorsa said they were in between working on their programs and connecting with clients in-person but suddenly, they had to lose their physical location.

Were kind of homeless at this point as we are no longer housed at the childrens treatment centre (733 Ross Ave.). It was just a coincidence; there wasnt enough space for everyone with the COVID-19 situation. They needed to divide up their staffing so that they had more space and the church is perfect because it is big spacing so we can have the six-feet distance in between the clients which we couldnt do here.

So, the church on Eight Avenue will be our new location for programming. And for office space, we will continue to work from home.

Sorsa said she will give her best to continue their services in any tough condition like the pandemic. And with the COVID-19s changing work pattern, she has already thought about different ideas to continue virtual programming and fundraising.

We are looking at creative ways to continue with our fundraising. We definitely have some catch-up to do and I think what were going to be looking at is our online fundraising and were going to be looking for our donors, corporate sponsors to help us out into 2021.

Sorsa stepping down from the vice-president role means the centre is now looking to hire someone to fill in that position.

The Timmins Seizure and Brain Injury Centre is a non-profit health organization which works towards serving people with seizure disorders by providing them information, support services, advocacy, education and research.

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New executive director for Timmins Seizure and Brain Injury Centre - Timmins Press