50 Faces of SECC – Deb

Deb is a highly intelligent and caring individual who lives with various health conditions including Cerebral Palsy, Arthritis, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Diverticulitis. Although uses a wheelchair to get around, she does not let this stop her from living her life. Deb registered for SECC’s accessible transportation service back in 1991 and since then has completed close to one thousand trips with SECC! It is safe to say that Deb is one of the programs longest standing clients!

Deb relies on her sister and caregiver, Karen, to advocate for her and to help get her around from place to place. Because of the important nature of her role, Karen is allowed to ride the bus for free which Karen is grateful for, especially considering the significant number of trips that they take together every month.

Both of them have come to depend on SECC for all of their transit needs. The duo use Transit to get from their home in Kingsville to Wal-Mart and Food Basics in Leamington on a weekly basis. They also rely on the bus to get to their medical appointments at the hospital, the doctor’s office and the dentist’s office. According to Deb and Karen, they don’t know what they would do without this help getting around.

Although the sisters live together and have one another, they are relatively isolated from the outside world. However, they have had the opportunity to attend different community events through SECC over the years. Both sisters attended a Hunchback of Notre Dame show at the Kordazone Theatre in Windsor along with 9 other local seniors and clients with disabilities. In addition to this, their weekly grocery shopping trips have piqued the interest of other Transit clients from Kingsville who now ride along with them into Leamington to do their grocery shopping at the same time.

According to Deb, “If I didn’t have SECC, I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere!” Both Deb and Karen have come to develop a very amicable working relationship with each and every SECC staff. How very lucky to provide services to such an understanding and dedicated duo!