Your Impact

Jason’s second-floor condominium had become more of an obstacle course than a home. His mobility was restricted by the multiple sclerosis (MS) that attacked his central nervous system. Navigating the condo in a wheelchair was often a dangerous and time-consuming activity, risking injury at every turn. He spent the majority of his time trying to create function in an environment that had none for someone in a wheelchair.

With the amount of time he spent working around his disease, Jason had little time left for himself. His lack of human interaction coupled with the continuous string of worries that occupied his mind – Would anyone hear him if he fell? Would any of his neighbours be around to help him? – made dealing with his MS much more difficult. He was trapped and the only way out was an accessible home. But, with AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped) as his source of income, the cost would leave him with limited options.

Jason found freedom when he discovered Fourth Dimension, a barrier-free group home through Accessible Housing with supported living and services for learning independent living skills. “There are people around 24/7 so I know I’m taken care of,” he says, adding that, after he moved in, his parents were able to go on a vacation for the first time in 10 years. And he instantly gained a new group of friends. “We share the same struggles and need the same supports. These are my people.”

Not only has Jason had time to build friendships, but he’s been able to work on a PhD in Mathematics as well. “It’s easy to get too involved with a disease like MS, to think about it too much,” he explains. “School allows me to focus on something else. It keeps me sane.”

Being a tenant at Accessible Housing has allowed Jason and others like him to harness their potential.“We want to contribute and this place gives us the tools to do more with our lives,” he says. “Everyone has some sort of challenge but we try to get past it. MS just happens to be mine.”

Lorne lives in a well kept apartment surrounded by plants and the tempting smell of a delicious meal lingering in the air. A talented cook, Lorne spent 15 years delighting Kananaskis with samples of his culinary delights before being unexpectedly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a condition that would change his life.

The restaurant that he worked for did everything to support him from providing accommodation in their building to staffing support to make it up and down the stairs. Unfortunately with limited accessibility it soon became apparent that permanent, accessible support was necessary.

Lorne was connected with Accessible Housing and plans were immediately made to provide him with the supports he needed. He now lives on his own in an accessible apartment and remains connected to the community through the resources and activities he accesses through Accessible Housing.

Lorne continues to do the things that he loves – simple things that include spending time in the kitchen preparing meals with his friends.

Accessible Housing helps me grow as a person. They make my life better by giving me a safe place to live and for loving me.

Here at Newbridge, at our home, we have our ups and downs, just like everybody else, but we are growing. We are a family.The staff at Accessible Housing care about me. They listen. They really hear me. They love people. They help people become more independent. They help people become whole.

Everyone needs to be loved and cared for and helped. Accessible Housing gives people a home where they can be loved and grow.

The staff make me feel at home. I have my own big room where I can have my fish and watch my soap operas. I have a place to do my crafts, read, cook and sleep, and a garden where I can grow flowers.

Three years ago I spent three months in rehabilitation and then another eight months just waiting in the hospital for a place I could go to…I wasn’t looking forward to living in a future in which I was institutionalized. Accessible Housing allowed me to escape the medical system and move on with living my life.

At Inclusio, our community is really a diverse group of people. We are a collection of very different individuals and what brings us together is the shared need for accessible housing, so it’s an opportunity to interact with a whole mix of people. We have university professors, students, lawyers and an instructor of Native Languages.

We have a range of personalities here and lots of people at different places in their life; we have those who struggle to overcome the issues that they have to face and we have those who are active members of the community. One of the ladies here, Gale, is always doing something! She really models the belief that “life goes on so do what you can”. Another thing about the community here at Inclusio is that it really is a peer group that encourages you to push your limits so that you can expand and grow further. This is an environment where we do what we can to challenge the limitations we are faced with.

Generally here at Inclusio we have two types of residents who experience limited mobility, those with spinal cord injury and those with Multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a progressive disease which means that it will only get worse as time goes on so those residents tend not to leave Inclusio until they need more intensive care. People with a spinal cord injury can work towards more independent living someday. In fact, I was able to get my room here at Inclusio because the guy who lived here before me had cerebral palsy and vacated his room because he got to be so independent that he could live on his own! Either way you look at it, the Inclusio experience is invaluable to the residents here, for many of us there would be few, if any, other real options.

Accessible Housing has made such a huge difference to so many people over the years. Accessible Housing has made it possible for so many people to live, and in many cases, live more independently as a result of the assistance they get here at Inclusio. In fact, yesterday I was visited by a friend who used to live here and they now live in Inglewood.

The cooking is one of the biggest things that makes Inclusio feel like home! In a hospital meal plans don’t change week to week. You can tell what day of the week it is based on the food being served. Here at Inclusio the meals that are prepared for the residents are different for as much as eight weeks. For those of us who do our own cooking we have an accessible kitchen for the residents that makes a huge difference. Inclusio provides a mix of autonomy and support that can be matched to the individual residents and what works best for them.

Another thing that makes Inclusio feel like home is the setting, we are right in a neighbourhood. We are not shut away in some industrial area; we are situated in a nice neighbourhood – right next to a park! Living at such a nice location means a lot to us at Inclusio; it makes us feel like we are part of the larger community.

Accessible Housing deserves to receive even more assistance so that it can continue to have Calgarians address their basic need for shelter, and for a home. We really need another four or five places like Inclusio because we are all filled up. It’s great that Accessible Housing is able to help those of us here but all the spots available here are full and there are still people who need the same assistance we receive here.

Remy’s life was on-track for success. At 20 years old, he moved from Eastern Canada to Canmore and had recently completed his Journeyman ticket as an automotive technician. He was also enrolled in the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) guiding program, and enjoyed backcountry skiing, ice climbing, and mountain biking before his stroke at age 27. The stroke caused a severe brain hemorrhage, and as a result, Remy was paralyzed on the right side of his body. Remy recovered in hospital for five months, and spent one year in a rehabilitation program.

After this life-altering event, it was imperative for Remy to find an appropriate, accessible home that offered him safety and stability.

“I was never homeless, but I was going to be because I had nowhere to go. My only option was the hospital. Life on the street with my condition was not an option,” said Remy.

After moving into low-income housing in downtown Calgary, he was able to start gaining back his independence. Remy had to make changes to his apartment, which included attaching rope to doors so he could easily open them, and installing a temporary “super pole” in the apartment to allow him to get in and out of bed independently. But, life wasn’t easy living in an apartment not big enough for him, and Remy needed to find a more appropriate, long-term home.

It was then that Remy was connected with a caseworker from Accessible Housing’s Bridge to Home program. In a short period of time, the Bridge to Home team was able to help Remy find a safe, accessible apartment.

“Accessible Housing came to my rescue and they found me my dream apartment within one month! Without them, I would probably still be at the hospital. They took charge of everything including the moving truck. Everything a person could wish for, you were there to take care of it!” said Remy.

Remy is thriving in his new home, in part thanks to the caseworker support he receives from Accessible Housing. Without the constant stress and worry about his housing, and with his tenacity and drive, Remy is able to do things that he loves including climbing, skiing and kayaking. Most importantly, he now enjoys inviting friends and family over to his home, something he never felt comfortable doing in his previous home.

Kelly has lived in the same home for 14 years. As a wheelchair user, her bathroom had become a dangerous place. She’d even begun to avoid brushing her teeth in the bathroom because she was afraid of the pain she’d endure trying to shift and strain herself to get into the tiny space. A vent in the middle of the floor would catch her chair’s wheels, and the bathtub was so low she had to be lifted into it by a caregiver. The RAD Renovations team, working with contractor Stephen, tripled the size of the bathroom by borrowing space from an adjacent closet, installed an accessible sink, and created a beautiful tile roll-in shower with safety temperature valves to ensure Kelly cannot be burned by too-hot water.

Kelly’s beautiful new bathroom even has a rolling barn door that she can easily close herself, and for the first time in years, she has been able to shower independently, something that greatly reduces the severity of her anxiety attacks and pain.