I have a story about life and where it unexpectedly “directs” us. In the last eight years, my direction has changed from my garden to lower Yates Street in Victoria. Gone is planning and certainty; in the world of disability, you live by reacting to the direction that the day, the hour and the minute dictates.

Recently, the Society I belong to had a booth in the Health & Wellness Show at Saanich arena in Victoria. I had put in a lot of years at that ice arena, with my two sons playing hockey and lacrosse; never did I think I would end up in my senior years in this booth, promoting our facility –  MOVE Adapted Fitness and Rehabilitation Society of B.C. – “a gym for persons with physical disabilities”.  My adult son had an accident and is now quadriplegic (his diagnosis was paralysis from the neck down). His accident was the direction that caused the Society to be formed. In 2006 his life, my life, “our lives” (family and friends) changed direction.

You have a paralyzing incident; you are flown to Vancouver; you spend months in the hospital and rehab centre; you are released on conditions. Released, if you can find a home that you can get into and someone to put you in and out of bed (a full time caregiver). My son couldn’t get into his existing home or mine; he had just built a three story house with a zillion stairs. The chances of finding housing that can accommodate the needs of a quadriplegic in a power chair were nil. He could go on a long waiting list for a nursing home or a long waiting list for housing.  The two hotels that had roll-in showers were in the high price range (unaffordable). The other huge problem was that there were no facilities that could accommodate assisted exercise and therapy for a person in a power wheelchair (in Canada). We left Canada.

We went to Portland Oregon for a year to Project Walk where he regained core strength and the use of both arms (no dexterity in his hands), all small gains but he could now sit in his chair without a headrest or a chest strap which was huge to his ability to live on his own with AM & PM care. We came home, opened a gym for the disabled, but realized that most people with traumatic injury do not have an income.  We closed the gym. With friends, I formed a registered Society in 2009 – Friends of PATH Spinal Cord Injury Society. We helped fund disabled persons to access therapy. With the existing gym closing, I started looking for a way to keep an assisted gym a reality.

I met Hillary Acosta a Neuro-Physiotherapist who had a dream to open a gym for clients to continue with assisted therapy and exercise programs and who introduced me to Adam DeLevie. Hillary is now the Vice President of the Society; Adam is the President.  We have added board members and changed the name to MOVE Adapted Fitness and Rehabilitation Society of B.C. The Society opened a non-profit facility in downtown Victoria at 531 Yates Street. The specialized equipment was donated, as was the use of the space for one year. We opened the facility in November 2013. We have on staff a kinesiologist and volunteers from the university and other adapted fitness programs in town.

We raise funds, apply for grants, seek sponsorships and donations. We are a registered Society with a mission to provide an avenue to health and fitness for adults and children with mobility-challenged disabilities, regardless of their financial status. We want to provide a program that will improve quality of life both physically and mentally. We endeavour to bring to the public information and awareness of the need and benefits of adapted therapy and exercise for the disabled. When a person is taken out of wheelchair and consistently assisted though stretching exercises on a plinth, or levered up to full height in a standing frame, the benefits are immense – improvement to circulation, aiding heart health, skin health, muscle mass, bone density, mental health – all the benefits the able bodied person gets by putting on a pair of running shoes and going for a run or a walk.

A life change? Yes. I still check out and appreciate gardens, but I question whether the person in a wheelchair could have access. Everywhere I go, I look at doors to see if they are wide enough – 30” is tight, wider is better. I check out entrances and floor space – every space I enter is with the question “can a wheelchair get in”? “Can they turn around, have a space at a table, is there room to pull up to a desk, can they get up the curb, will they be crowded????”  A person’s height doesn’t factor anymore; it is the width of a wheelchair – 6’3” tall is reduced to 5’ tall and approximately 30” wide.

The people I have met through the Society are special; they are kind and giving, and devote a good amount of their busy lives willingly. The clients are uplifting and dedicated; they work so hard to regain and recover – every small gain is celebrated. The staff and volunteers working in the gym are professional, dedicated and caring; they work with each client and tailor the program to fit the need – assisting or physically moving and manipulating the unused limbs while making everyone feel comfortable and connected.

Where we are as a Society at present is the beginning of the story.  We have a lot of work ahead, but looking back at the few years of existence is gratifying – the real life moments – the young son who saw his Dad in the standing frame at his full height for the first time; the man who could pedal forward on a stationary bike but could not walk; the individuals who decide to go back to school; being part of a program of therapy and exercise that allowed a young woman to prepare for her 3500 kilometer hand cycle ride through India; watching people who thought their lives were stopped find new meaning and an avenue to move forward; seeing interaction, motivation and support where there was once stagnation and despair. It is a different garden, but still one with much with growth. We have a long way to go and need so much help.

In a few sentences, I have taken you through the last eight years of our new life. I have learned a new language, a new way of life. “In a heartbeat” is a saying I always used, never really understanding that it is “all the time it takes” to change your life’s direction drastically. If anything, I want people to understand what it means to be here in our world – it can be the result of an accident, a stroke, a heart attack or disease – there are so many ways and so many levels of paralysis, BUT once you get through the trauma and the negativity, you can find a new direction.

We want the MOVE facility to be a beacon, a community in the centre of the negativity, a place to heal and move forward.

Joanne Rogers
MOVE Adapted Fitness and Rehabilitation Society of B.C.
302 – 531 Yates Street
Victoria B.C. V8W 1K7
Telephone: 778-433-6559
Email

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