Bus

     Today our daughter and I endeavored to educate ourselves about the transit system in our area. As a person with a disability, our daughter is able to book rides on HandyDART but her previous experiences with this mode of travel had their ups and downs. Among its shortcomings is that it has to be booked well in advance, it is frequently a taxi and not a bus, and therefore does not feel as safe, and you must allow a half an hour window timewise either way so arriving precisely on time is not always an option; there is a lot of waiting involved. We found that this is also true when using the standard transit offered here. We made it to our destination which was her soon-to-be new home address but we did not have as much luck with the return trip. Unfortunately, there is a rather complicated issue with certain buses changing their route number mid-trip. This experience made us both realize how spoilt we are to have access to a vehicle to go wherever we want to go, whenever we want to go there! Needless to say this will be an ongoing process. We pledged to keep trying and enjoy some bus riding and more walking this summer and see our cities of White Rock and Surrey from a slightly different perspective. Harmony's proximity to our local Dairy Queen will keep us inspired on those hot and sunny days! What could be better than a tasty ice cream treat at the end of bus ride with one of my favourite people in the whole wide world?

Harmony 3

 

Doug

      We had the honour of attending the retirement party for the former executive director of UNITI! What a wonderful event! The food was just what was promised: "Blundstones and Burgers" which with hot dogs, chips and cookies, really hit the spot. Folks met up with friends, old and new, and there was lots of conversation, smiles and laughter. I loved that the person who introduced her dad Doug, did so in such a beautiful, tender and humorous way.  Unbeknownst to me, she was the person to start this man on the path of advocacy for folks with developmental disabilities. They met when she was three years old and obviously their lives were never the same after that meeting.
     Our knowledge of Doug started when we became aware of Harmony, an inclusive and supported apartment building for folks with intellectual disabilities and others needing below market housing in our community. Our daughter was on the list to live in this building and we were disappointed that the municipal government in our area consistently voted against this project. Doug's passionate and unconditional resolve to make this building happen was unwavering. He rallied the supporters around UNITI and Harmony and with great leadership, determination and the support of staff, and many others, made it happen. Our daughter moves in there this year.

     Doug's remarks at his retirement party really hit home. He talked about "good trouble", the value of which was taught to him by his mum. He pointed out that there were representatives attending from every political party; inclusion is a non-partisan issue. He said folks with developmental disabilities are just not recipients of support, they are in relationship with all the various community and government groups and relationships are reciprocal. He talked about inclusion and that self-advocates do not want to just be invited to participate, they want to host the thing and dance with whomever they want. Yes! He is a hero to us and many like us and we will miss him more than he can know....Congratulations Doug!