Pandemic alters services for region's transgender community, people with disabilities
Services like group meetings moved online, in-person help limited for many in community
With a second state of emergency, more of us are staying home, while businesses and organizations have had to once again shut their doors and move their services online.
That has been especially hard for some in the community including people in the transgender community and people with disabilities.
CBC Kitchener-Waterloo spoke with people who have seen these services become less accessible to understand what the past 10 months has been like for them.
Pandemic's impact on people with disabilities
Edward Faruzel said he didn't leave his apartment for over 100 days at the beginning of the pandemic. He said he relied on people to do simple things for him, like going grocery shopping.
Faruzel lives with a physical disability and is the executive director of KW AccessAbility, a non-profit information and resource centre for adults with a physical disability.
Throughout the past 10 months, he said the pandemic has added another layer of challenges and isolation for people living with physical disabilities.
"A lot of people with disabilities receive attendant care services for their daily living needs and since the pandemic, a lot of that has been cut back," he said.
"Motion exercises, house keeping services, even the number of showers people received in non-COVID times has been reduced in a lot of cases."
Listen to the full piece below.
Pandemic's impact on the transgender community
Melissa Kennedy says she regularly checks in on the people that haven't been able to attend Spectrum's transgender peer support group.
Kennedy, who coordinates the organization's three transgender support groups, said she's noticed a drop in attendance now that those services have been pushed online.
"There are certain people who are not comfortable being on camera and there are those who are still in situations where they couldn't join because they don't have anywhere safe or private," she said.
Kennedy said some in the transgender community have had a mix of good, frustrating and difficult experiences during the pandemic. While others have felt a loss of community.
Lexi Watt, a transgender woman in Kitchener-Waterloo, said she attributes her positive experience so far to having a good support network from work, friends and family.
"I consider myself one of the lucky ones," she said.
Listen to the full piece below.