The Family
From left to right
Shane Marks (CNS Renovations), Bobby Assadourian (Triple R Inc),
Trevor Bouchard (QuickContractors.com Inc.), Adam McQuinn, John McQuinn,
Joanne McQuinn, Amanda McQuinn, Joe Blazik (QuickContractors.com Inc.),
Darrell Frazer (Cambridge Insurance Brokers Ltd.)
Click here to read about the surprise presentation
The McQuinn Family:
Dear Accessible Home Renovation Project;
Application for Barrier Free Home Renovation
Together, my husband and I have always been able to meet our obligations andlive a modest lifestyle until recently, when an unexpected turn of events in our lives has prompted this request for your assistance. The assistance is not actually for ourselves, but for our daughter, Amanda.
In October of 2005, at the age of three, Amanda was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The neurosurgeon is following her closely but feels that he was able to remove up to 99% of the tumor. Unfortunately, Amanda suffered a stroke during the surgery and was paralyzed on her left side. Through an intense therapy program that included Amanda and I living in Toronto at Bloorview Kids Rehab from Monday to Friday for six months, Amanda has regained a significant amount of strength. She is now able to use her left hand as a "helper" and can walk with a walker for short distances.
Now living at home again, Amanda continues therapy on a regular basis but has come to the point where we have to acknowledge that she will require assistance for quite some time and in order to promote her independence and mobility we will need some home renovations to make things more accessible for her. She is growing quickly and very soon we will not be able to lift her the way we do now, which will leave her quite restricted in her activities. Amanda's walker does not fit through most of the doorways in the house, so she ends up crawling. At almost six years old, very soon it will not be "appropriate" for her to crawl, nor does she want to continue crawling when she knows that she is able to walk with her walker.
We are very much like any other family, where we meet our financial obligations but there is definitely not enough money left and the end of the month for costly modifications to accommodate Amanda's needs. My husband has been without work since February of this year in addition to the fact that we have been without my income since Amanda's diagnosis.
Amanda is a smart, beautiful and determined little girl with an unparalleled sense of humour who, in terms of accessibility, deserves more than what we can give her and we hope you will select Amanda's application for the Barrier Free Home Renovation.
Sincerely,Joanne McQuinn and family
