Family Visions welcomes new van

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This article was published 14/06/2023 (1085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A donation to Brandon’s Family Visions will mean freedom for those with intellectual and physical disabilities, says the executive director of the nonprofit organization.

The $50,000 required to purchase a 2019 Grand Caravan was raised over a two-year period by former supporters of a popular event in the Wheat City called Monte Carlo, which was an annual fundraiser for Family Visions.

The event was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but for 30 years raised up to $10,000 each year, with the last one held in 2018.

But the fundraising carried on, thanks to event founder and well-known Brandonite Murray Blight, according to Laurie Jackson, the executive director of Family Visions.

Family Visions supports individuals with intellectual disabilities in their own home and helps them integrate into the community through employment, recreational and social activities.

The van is fully converted for someone in a wheelchair with a ramp for easy access and has enough room for four other passengers and a driver.

And now that the organization has wheels, that means giving individuals more opportunities, said Jackson.

“This is awesome. We just had a young woman come into our care, and we wouldn’t have been able to accept her without this because she needs full wheelchair access,” said Jackson. “Plus, using handi-transit can be very expensive. You have to book ahead, and you can’t really do anything spontaneous.”

The agency started with one apartment in 2000 to give families short-term relief when they needed support. Now, there are 41 individuals living in 20 homes throughout the city.

Contributing to the build of half a dozen homes was Jim Kauk, a past board member of Family Visions who said when he saw some of the individuals’ living conditions, he thought, “they deserve a nice place.”

One home is on a single level with six bedrooms, so everyone can live together with a caregiver on site 24 hours a day, and built according to the needs of the residents, said Kauk.

“We have everything — it has sprinklers inside, toilet lifts, bigger bathroom and showers, everything for those with special needs. Even the doors are 42 inches wide, instead of your regular 30-inch door to a bedroom,” Kauk said.

A past chairman of the United Way Brandon and District, Len Isleifson, admired the new van, and said even though he has watched Family Visions grow over the years, the necessity to raise funds will never change.

“When they get funding, it goes towards operations because you have to keep the programs running. That’s why they rely on opportunities for donations, so they can spend more on capital,” Isleifson said. “So it’s just awesome seeing the community coming together.”

United Way Brandon and District CEO Cynamon Mychasiw says that these days, more requests for funding come into the United Way than they can do fundraising for.

But she added it’s important to provide Family Visions’ clients with recreational and day programming and the transportation to do so.

“It’s just an incredible service for people’s dignity and for them to be treated the way that they should be treated, and to have a place where they can go and feel like home every day.”

And this transportation — so they can go out and do fun things in the community, is just a wonderful thing for that accessibility piece,” Mychasiw said.

The new Family Visions van will go into service next week when a group of individuals will head to Winnipeg for two days.

For more information about Family Visions, visit familyvisions.ca

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