I’m a fifty-seven year old and I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago. I was born in Edmonton but my family moved to Victoria when I was only six months old. We lived in Victoria for a while but continued to move around, living in both Canada and the United States as we followed my father’s work. My father was a policy guy and worked with a number of provincial governments in Canada, including BC and Ontario. It wasn’t hard on me as a child to move around that much, as it was the only thing I knew.
I came to Montreal to study Canadian Studies at Concordia University. I was really interested in politics and welfare reform. After finishing my degree at Concordia, I continued to move around for a little while but then eventually came back to Montreal to settle down. While living in Montreal, I ran a food bank for several years in Côte-des-Neiges called Multicaf.
I have been receiving meals from Santropol Roulant for about a year now. I have really enjoyed the service and I like the philosophy of the organization – I like that they are very participatory and I like the role of volunteers.
About the blog series:
Santropol Roulant is a beautiful community of members brought together by food and community engagement. In an effort to capture the diversity of our members, we are launching Stories of Santropol Roulant. One of our volunteers, Monica (pictured below), is setting out to photograph our members and collect quotes and short stories to share on our blog and social media. If you see Monica at Santropol Roulant with a camera in hand, feel free to approach her and say hello. We would love to hear your story! Contact rachel@santropolroulant.org if you have any questions or would like to be interviewed.
