The roots of Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods began with an injury to my right wrist the summer after my graduation. Little did I know how absolutely life-changing this seemingly insignificant injury was to become. Within four months the pain was chronic and intolerable. I was forced to quit school, sports, driving and a job I loved. I had developed chronic pain, an acquired disability, and I was plunged into the disability world, which had a startling and very steep learning curve. For five years I lived with an invisible disability, barely leaving the house unless for medical appointments desperately searching for a diagnosis. This was a scary, confusing and distressing time and I could find very little information online, in books or in the community. Hoping to find others in similar situations, I started a chronic pain support group. The group was a success, sharing information, and using humour, support and empathy to create a community that made life easier.
By this point I was using a power wheelchair and discovering how inaccessible our built environment is; I joined a local municipal advisory committee hoping to make a difference but found myself increasingly frustrated by the slog of working from within the system with little of the urgency those who required accessibility needed. The breaking point was when it took two years to send a letter to the highway minister to move a traffic light pole blocking a sidewalk.
I shifted my focus to adaptive sports, playing Boccia because I could practice on my own as there were no adaptive sports near me. I competed in the 2005 Disability Games where i learned about adaptive sports and the sense of community it builds. I asked questions of athletes, officials, parents and supporters, so many questions that I was asked to join the board of the BC Disability Games Society, which I did. Upon arriving home, I wanted to increase disability awareness but I was stymied by an inaccessible bus system. Where I lived the bus came once an hour and half of the time drivers would lie and say the ramp was not working. It was beyond frustrating to have a sense of purpose and the freedom of my wheelchair to get me out of the house only to be stopped by people who didn’t understand the importance of their job in allowing me to access my community.
For five months I desperately tried to get a response from TransLink with no luck.
Mentioning this at a chronic pain meeting, someone suggested TransLink might respond to an organization. This rattled around my mind and the summer of 2005 l incorporated Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods – and yes, TransLink did respond when I contacted them with the same complaint, but as Heather McCain, Executive Director.