Victoria Brain Injury Society launches housing program
Cynthia Johnson does art therapy at the Victoria Brain Injury Society to help with the effects of a serious brain injury she suffered more than 25 years ago when she was hit by a drunk driver while on her bike.
It was a hit and run that altered the course of her life.
“She hit me on the pedestrian walk and left me there,” Johnson recalled Tuesday, while showing off one of her most recent artistic creations.
She has felt the effects of her brain injury in most aspects of her life ever since that fateful day, and securing a place to live in Victoria’s tight rental market has been even harder because of her injury.
“I've had a lot of issues with my memory, been a bit of a unique one here, because up until a few months ago my memory wiped every day,” Johnson said.
She recently moved — leaving a rough building and difficult living situation where she had been assaulted and her apartment had been repeatedly broken into.
In securing a new apartment last month, she benefited from help from staff at the Victoria Brain Injury Society.
“Helped me weekly to just keep calling and narrowing down,” she said. “I think the hardest thing to do with the housing list is filling out that form and navigating different sites,” she recalled.
Those types of challenges are exactly what the Victoria Brain Injury Society is aiming to tackle with a new housing program that will include a housing coordinator to help the approximately 1,600 clients they work with each year – a number that has nearly doubled since the pandemic began.
“[If] you have a brain injury, oftentimes it takes a while to get back to work,” said Pam Prewett, the society’s executive director.
“Even when you’re applying for BC Housing, there are forms to fill out, and the forms are confusing even for someone without a brain injury, so that’s where we come in,” said Prewett.
Chandra Sundaram also lives with a brain injury after suffering a stroke a mere 25 minutes after he was born. He went on to become a university professor, but the impact of his injury manifested later in life.
It took him nine years to find a place to live in Victoria's housing market.
“It was quite soul destroying,” he remembered Tuesday. “Sometimes you'd just come home and cry.”
He says if a housing coordinator had been available to help him navigate the process — including cutting through the red tape and paperwork for subsidized housing — it would have made a huge difference.
“It would have meant the world,” he said.
The society is encouraging folks to donate to their cause next Tuesday — with donations helping fund their new housing program aimed at helping put a roof over the head of folks like Johnson and Sundaram in a market that’s hard enough without extra hurdles.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Accused of burglary at stepmother's home, U.S. senator says she wanted her father's ashes: charges
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
LGBTQ2S+ rallies to be held across Canada, billed as largest since marriage equality
Organizations across the country are gearing up for what they describe as the largest LGBTQ2S+ mobilization since the push for marriage equality.
Toronto Catholic school board trustees vote against flying 'pro-life' flag
Catholic public schools across Toronto will not be flying the "pro-life" flag in the month of May after school board trustees voted against it.