Cardinal Awarded Grants from KCCF & KREMC

Warsaw, Indiana ─ Cardinal Services has received two grants for their new gaming club’s virtual training curriculum. The Kosciusko REMC Operation Round Up Fund awarded a $2,000 grant, while the Lilly Unrestricted Endowment Fund, a component fund of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, awarded a grant of $10,000. The awards will go toward the development of a virtual training curriculum for Cardinal’s gaming club and mobile gaming trailer, and use of the Transfr VR immersive job and skills training system.

The grants will enable Cardinal to work with people with intellectual/developmental disabilities, ages 14 and up, teaching through gaming and virtual experiences. In collaboration with Trine University, a curriculum is being developed that will enhance workforce readiness skills, increase soft skills, social skills, and independence of participants. For those still in school, it is anticipated that academic performance will also improve.

Because the Cardinal Gaming Club will be offered to middle and high school students with and without disabilities, the project creates an inclusive space for people to connect in our community. Cardinal Executive Director Vickie Lootens explains that Cardinal will host organized gaming opportunities through both the onsite gaming room and the mobile unit, which will visit community venues, offering tournaments and prizes.

Virtual reality skills training uses an oculus to allow individuals to experience various job scenarios to see what jobs they want to explore. The Transfr VR software system has over 250 scenarios and can be programmed with variations within a given scenario. For example, a simple grocery checkout experience can be programmed to include the need to do a price check, process a check, or help with bagging. Simon Ford, who recently completed the Certified Nurse Assistant training offered by Cardinal, took advantage of virtual training to experience taking a patient’s pulse and other vitals before attending his first day of clinicals at Miller’s Merry Manor. He says that it helped to practice and know what to expect when he was in the real situation, making his clinicals much easier and more enjoyable.

Lootens said this is the goal of virtual training, to open doors to new opportunities for people.