7 hours Ago By Joseph Ruttle
When Annie Dean experienced a serious workplace fall in Ontario in 2016, a whole cascade of challenges followed. The injury led to a long period of surgeries, hospital visits and doctors prescribing pain meds to which she discovered she was allergic. The pain lingered, and now Dean has chronic pain far more debilitating than the original injuries — a syndrome that can sometimes be brought on by just such a major injury.
She manages what she calls her “healing journey” as much as possible by holistic means and says she is slowly making progress. Dean’s symptoms are worse in winter because cold weather makes the pain especially debilitating. That is why, after visiting her father on Vancouver Island in his final days a few years ago, Dean was attracted to the milder climate here and decided to move from frigid Ottawa to beautiful B.
C. After struggling to find housing and services for people with mobility issues on the Island, Dean was eventually able to find a place big enough — and that she could afford on her modest income — in Maple Ridge. Dean still finds getting around a challenge, relying on a cane around the house and a mobility scooter for longer treks such as grocery shopping.
That’s a lot to deal with for a single mom with six kids, four of whom are still at home. Still, Dean says she feels “blessed.” She is more concerned with letting people know the whole community is struggling these days, and that we can all do more to help each other.
Living primarily on her disability income means Dean visits the local food bank regularly to help feed herself and her kids. For the past couple of years, she has also been extremely grateful to have access to a Christmas hamper program in Maple Ridge that operates with funding from the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau. For example, Dean has been helped by a seasonal program called Rudolph’s Recycle Gift Shoppe in Maple Ridge where people can fill up a bag with donated used toys, clothing and household items on a few Saturdays in December.
When she waited in a long lineup the first year, only to find the shelves were starting to get bare, she vowed to return each year with a big bag of things she and her kids had decided they no longer want or need. “It’s giving while you’re receiving,” says Dean. “I like the idea of giving back.
“Love makes the world go around.” All these hamper programs, of course, rely on donors to be able to make the gifts as eye-popping and smile-making as possible. For Dean, donors’ generosity meant the Maple Ridge program coordinators were able to offer bikes as gifts this year to her two youngest.
(Don’t tell them yet!) “It’s such an extravagant gift,” she says. “New bikes for Christmas is a dream come true.” • For 106 years, The Province’s Empty Stocking Fund has been dedicated to making the holidays brighter for B.
C. residents who are less fortunate. With the generosity of our readers and supporters, the fund gives money to 25 B.
C. community organizations that provide food hampers and gifts to children, needy families and single people. Donations can be made by: Scan the QR code here.
Online at: https://theprovince.com/esf By mail to: The Province Empty Stocking Fund 968 East Cordova St., Vancouver, B.
C., V6A 1M6 By calling: 604-253-6911 [email protected].
