The Problem with ACCESS CALGARY

How would your life be if you have to rely on handi-bus every day? Let me share with you my experience with handi-bus. I grew up in Airdrie  and there was a handi-bus that serviced Airdrie and surrounding towns. I used that system until I moved to Calgary at eighteen. I like it because they know who I was and my mom was on the board.  Moving to Calgary was a big change for me because the city is so much bigger than where I came from. 

When I first move to Calgary If I wanted to go somewhere I had to book to days in advance. In fact when it came to personal trips such as going for coffee, or to the movie I had to book even further in advance and that's suck because you don't know what you'll do in a week. Now you can book a trip for anything you want one day before, but when you call you have to be on hold for 30-45 minutes. There is a 20 minutes window in which your vehicle will arrive. Often times the drivers will be late because Calgary is so spread out and sometimes there are unexpected accidents and mechanical failure. 

For me I hate waiting but I have no choice and I have to use Access Calgary to get around. Sometimes I go all over Calgary, because the drivers are fallowing this unorganized list of addresses. Even if I'm really close to my home I may go all over in Calgary before reaching my destination. 

Sometimes I can be dropped up at a location a half an hour earlier than I requested. For example, in the morning I booked a trip around 9, and they came to pick me up at 8. 

At the end of the day I'm grateful that I can get out just like everyone else, but I have to believe that we can do better like a community to support those who use this service. 

Disability Services Across Alberta

Good day everybody,

I hope everybody had a good summer. I am writing a blog on the province of Alberta and all the services that they provide to people who have disabilities. I live in Calgary, but when I was growing up, I lived in a little town called Airdrie 15 minutes away from Calgary. They didn’t have any programs for me when I was growing up. When I was 18, I moved out to get more opportunities in my life. That’s why I wanted to research the cities around Alberta to see what they’re offering. Note that this is not an exhaustive list.

Airdrie: Airdrie is outside of Calgary and it is a city now. They don’t have anything there for people who have disabilities.

Olds: Olds has some programs for people with disabilities. They are…

Accredited Supports to the Community (ASC)

Padnoma Support Services

Red Deer: Red Deer has some programs and they are…

EPSS (Employment Placement and Support Services)

Learning Disabilities Red Deer

Cosmos group of companies

Aspire

Living Independently For Equality

Grande Prairie: Grande Prairie has some programs for people who have disabilities. They have a lot of community service organizations and employment.

Disabled Transportation Society (DTS)

Accredited Supportive Living Services

Canadian Mental Health Association

Community Life Acceptance Independence Resources (CLAIR)

Signature Support Services

Medicine Hat: Medicine Hat has some programs for people who have disabilities. There is also an Advisory Committee on Disability Issues with the city of Medicine Hat.

REDI Enterprises Society

Next Step

There are also a lot of little cities and little towns all over Alberta, and I will be researching them in the near future, and make comparisons for what’s out there for people who have a disability. The next city I will research is Lethbridge.