1-minute message about mental wellness

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Mental health is every day (Image of a seagull in a sunset sky with words scrolling around in half circle)

It is not a one size fits all. (image of seagull  flying across a sunset sky with the words moving around the bird in a half circle)

I want people to know there is other thought processes with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, It is not just about washing hands. (image of a white female in their 30s with brown hair, white skin, dark red sweater looking outside of a window on a rainy day)

It seems so real, so I would do strange behaviour to feel safe. People may not understand all the parts of OCD. (Image of a young adult sitting on a box,  silhouette, sitting alone in the dark)

It is not just about getting over it and move on. We deal with it every second day of the day. (Image on a dark blue background with a yellow square and yellow ball moving around the square clockwise)

I don't have the flu.

our struggles with the healthcare system are real,  especially trauma. 

I am lonely.  I want to be accepted as I am. (Image - Person in black and white holding a hand to their forehead). 

The systems are designed for people to fit a cookie-cutter program. People are complicated.

We are turned down because multiple disabilities are not covered. (Image - dark photo in black and white female holding in their 40s a hand to their forehead).

A lot of mental health programs continue with online services only. 

Human-to-human services contact is zero. (Image: long red hair white female in her 30s wearing a creamy casual outfit leaning on a post gazing near their feet). 

Listen. Learn. Mental health affects a lot of good people. 

Take a course. Watch a film. 

(Image- a black female in their 30s smiling, holding white baby's breath and smiling). 

Ask politicians to fulfill the promises for improved mental health. (Image- microphones at a podium).

A message from the members of the Disability Action Hall. www.actionhall.ca (Image - white desk with felts and markers, with a cut-out drawing of a head with brain and the handwritten words in black pen says 'mental health' surrounded by smaller handwritten words in rainbow colours saying 'optimism, emotions, hope, love, best, control, positive, psychology, life, mood.)

Mental Health messaging by Disability Action Hall

Access: Communities need to be accessible all year long

Last week members of the Disability Action Hall talked about the need for accessible communities all year long. The City of Calgary is currently asking people to provide input into the snow and ice removal strategy until March 25th, 2022. Link to survey. 

Here is what people said about snow removal, active transportation, and shared spaces like pathways and how it affects our use of public transit.

Snow and Ice Removal 

"Ice sometimes has an attitude." - Angie

Sometimes you need a boat to get up the uncleared sidewalk

Lloyd is a full-time transit user in NE Calgary and walks everywhere. Lloyd is growing concerned about how frequently the sidewalks are shoveled and maintained especially around high-use transit routes. Lloyd happens to live at the bottom of the hill and notices people have a hard time wading through water and ice.  “Accessibility is important, especially for people using sidewalks. If you need a boat to go up the sidewalk, then there is no way you can get up the sidewalk.” 

Ice especially in April or May, I will likely fall

Not removing snow creates barriers to getting out and attending critical health appointments. Amy who relies on friends and family to help her walk safely in the winter says “Ensuring sidewalks are better cleared so people with disabilities can safely walk around, such as in April or May I will undoubtedly slip and fall. I went to an appointment with my dad yesterday and had to walk in the street around a huge patch of ice and people with assistive devices would not be able to use the sidewalk the way they need to.”

AJ lives in NW Calgary and talks about the long-lasting impact for people with disabilities when sidewalks are not cleared. In one outing a poorly cleared sidewalk damaged their wheelchair (a repair not easy to repair living on a fixed income). "Back in December my partner was trying to push me up a snowy hill and my partner fell, and my caster was bent and now goes to the left." 

Bent caster on my wheelchair from an uncleared sidewalk

Alison who uses a wheelchair and lives in SW Calgary says - “The ice and the snow, getting around in the wintertime is treacherous. ” Angie adds “In front of my house there is a massive piece of ice and almost fell over backward."

Sidewalk and pathway maintenance all year round

Parks and pathways have been the spaces many people have tried to get to during the pandemic. Kristen also uses a motorized chair and accessible transit. She would like to get outside more but is reliant on others to get to places and says “When it is cold outside, and it would be great to think about these spaces during the winter when it is cold outside as spaces for everyone.”

We need to think about cleared pathways all year round 

Lloyd talks about the trip hazards when sidewalks are in place beyond their life cycle and how unsafe they may become and says,  “The City knows the sidewalks are 20 years old it would be nice the sidewalks are now in the ground, three inches below the ground are not safe. Every 20 years, they should check the sidewalks are in decent shape and wheelchair accessible. For sure the one on Edmonton Trail NE is not accessible.”

Old sidewalks three inches below the ground are not ok.

Win-rows and respect how people use public space safely

Alex also lives in NW Calgary says transit, roads sidewalks are connected by win-rows that impact how easy they are to use. Winrows cause a big problem as its not roads, its not pathways or transit, but it can be a big mountain that affects the use of all three. We need to raise awareness of invisible disabilities even on pathways and how we all have different levels of when we know when a pathway or sidewalk is safe to use. 

Sidewalks near busy public transit use areas need to be a priority.  We need to look at ways of making bus shelters a nice warm space to wait. “Sidewalks should be wide enough so people in mobility devices can pass each other comfortably and be so darn cold outside there need to be more shelters with heaters around to keep people warm.”

Win rows affect transit, roads, and sidewalks.
We need bus shelters to keep people warm.

“The sidewalks and transit routes need to be more accessible. As well, my experiences with transit and my physical disability are getting worse even. When I sat in the priority seating as a 20-year-old, I faced a lot of stares, but the second I got a cane, my physical disability became physical, and people were sympathetic.”

Facing stares on the bus when disability is not visible

Active Transportation & Shared Pathways

Amy has a hard time hearing and seeing and says “People who ride bikes on the sidewalk, sharing spaces especially when it is narrow and have enough space to get by especially when I have a mobility issue. There need to be bike lanes and wider sidewalks, so people have more space.”

Pathways need to be wide enough for everyone to enjoy

Rural Communities need to be accessible too

Angie says accessibility is not just the cities. Many people in large and small centers have no choice but to use the road with cars due to no accessible sidewalks. “High River is a place of 15,000 people and Okotoks, these smaller towns are growing enormously fast where there are no bike lanes. Only the Farmers Market is accessible but there are other places people need access to. We are on our bikes and scooters and then we have people who drive right up beside us. We have to wear reflective tape and carry flags for safety. Some drivers are not so understanding and we do not always feel safe.” 

When there is no safe sidewalk, you have no choice but to use the road

You do you! Gender Wellness

 We want to share this quick video about gender wellness titled "You do you!" as part of a "Love is for Everyone" campaign launched by the Calgary Alternative Services and Supports" (CASS). There is no audio, only music. 

Alternative Description for a 28-second video

1st screen: Pastel coloured balloons and abstract shapes fill the white background with hand drawn cartoons of three hand-drawn figures smiling and standing, each wearing different clothing, 1st figure has dark hair, a green t-shirt, long black tight shorts, green shoes and tanned skin. the second figure has dark hair, a beard, a black t-shirt, a pink tutu, and holding green/pink/blue striped gender diversity flags, their skin is tanned, and wearing blue boots. The third figure has short wavy dark hair, a blue t-shirt, short shorts, pink shoes and is also holding a pink green, blue striped gender diversity flag. The burgundy text on the screen says "Love is for all" and below the figures, it has a hashtag that says #Genderwellness in dark navy text.

2nd screen: Colorful pastels of the rainbow in the shapes of balloons and circle shapes white background with two portraits. The First-person is smiling on the left has short red wavy hair, white skin, dark-framed glasses, wearing a light sweatshirt, they are also holding out their left hand in a peace sign.  The second person has light brown short hair and smiling. The yellow text below reads "Us being us.

3rd screen: Colorful pastels of the rainbow in the shapes of balloons and circle shapes white background with two portraits. The first person on the left is smiling and has short reddish/brown straight styled very short hair on one side, spikey hair on the other side, white skin, dark glasses and is wearing a brown shirt. The second person on the right is smiling, has white skin, medium brown straight hair, a dark shirt, and is wearing a black headset and 3D eyeglasses (one red lens and one teal lens).  The yellow text above says "Right to Love."

4th screen: Colorful pastels of the rainbow in the shapes of balloons and circle shapes white background with two portraits. The first person smiling on the left has dark short brown hair and is wearing round sunglasses. The second person on the right is wearing a black fedora hat and a black mask that covers their eyes, they have white skin and wearing a dark shirt. 

5th screen: Colorful pastels of the rainbow in the shapes of balloons and circle shapes white background with two portraits. The first person on the left is smiling wearing a red kerchief tied in a bow on their head, white skin, dark eyeglasses, and a dark shirt. The second person is smiling, has medium coloured skin, wearing eyeglasses with one without a lens, one with a dark lens with a white lens flare above their head, wearing a white and black camoed patterned shirt. The yellow text below them reads "Us being us."

6th screen: Colorful pastels of the rainbow in the shapes of balloons and circle shape white background with one figure on the left wearing a red beret, smiling and they have white skin, hair is tied up in a ponytail and wearing a short v necked grey shirt.  The burgundy text above them is a hashtag that reads #genderwellness and in dark grey text another hashtag that reads #youdoyou