June 25th, 2025
Amanda’s Perseverance
Amanda loves crafting, friends, work, and her boyfriend. She had originally tried a knitting group with a friend to do their crafting. This craft group wasn’t sharing the same values and didn’t make for a great experience, so Amanda decided not to return to that group and to find something else where she could find belonging. Amanda is now part of a crafting group where she is welcomed and experiences belonging. They exchanged cards around the holidays and she shared a cake for her birthday. It is a crafting group of like-minded folks from all walks of life.
Another passion of Amanda’s is contributing at Maurita’s Kitchen by doing the dishes. She greets people with open arms and adds a welcoming presence on top of her consistent dishwashing. Amanda takes the bus to and from work. Throughout the year, she got the bus route down but, like many, gets turned around when the bus is on a detour. To try and alleviate the confusion while keeping her independence, Amanda collaborated with Grand River Transit to see what accessibility things they could change and where WALES could create tools to support Amanda in taking the bus. Amanda now has the tools, like bus cards and the WALES phone number so that she can call WALES when she needs help. She has gone right back to busing week after week, even after she has become lost. She has now mastered the route and WALES Facilitators no longer travel on the bus with her as Amanda is confident and knows what to do.