If you are already convinced this is a great cause to support and just want the link to where you can donate, then please click here.

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If you need to know more about why this is so important, then please keep reading…

Currently in Canada there are only  7 units of affordable housing built and maintained specifically for people with MCS/ES. These safer homes were not built by any government ministry for the health of its injured and disabled citizens, but by the efforts of a church group, a group of individuals like you and I, (well, much healthier and more able than I) who saw the need and did something about it.

I am one of the fortunate ones to live in one of these units, as like for many others, all other affordable housing was far too toxic for me to enter into, due to building materials, cleaning product residues, and neighborhood issues.

While I am forever grateful to be here, and while it is allowing me to slowly heal from my toxic brain injury to an extent, because this is in the suburbs and neighbours are close by, I am still housebound and often cannot even open my windows due to all the surrounding suburban dryer vents emitting toxic laundry products into my air. Pollution does not respect property lines. For those of us with disabling MCS/ES, getting sick and disabled in our own homes or yards from toxic trespass and re-injury is all too common.

A few days ago, for a couple of days, quite unusually I was able to leave my windows open without getting laundry fumes blowing in.  I had a lot more energy and cognitive clarity. It was incredibly uplifting! I felt like I was fully human again, that there was hope for the future, that I could develop my skills and eventually even get out in the world again. I was also able to almost get my kitchen restored to it’s pre-winter (preHRV and plywood exposure) state and deal with a lot of the dust that had accumulated (I don’t have a vacuum cleaner so have to do it all by hand).

Sadly this burst of health came to an end as the winds shifted direction and started blowing laundry and who knows what fumes my way again. Even with the windows closed, some gets through, and my energy plummeted and my brain became sluggish again. It’s really impossible to describe exactly what it’s like, but it’s kind of like living with the flu or being drugged all the time as a result of the exposures.

How disappointing, to have your abilities dictated by what is blowing in the wind, by what products your neighbors choose to use. The only way to get past this (until the toxic chemicals are removed from everyday use) is to live somewhere far from any neighbors who would use those products. Like to the Laurentian Mountains!

While I am far more fortunate than many, to finally live in safer housing now, my life is still severely restricted due to the surrounding environment. I am still housebound and isolated like I have been, pretty much since 2005. Just to have housing, I moved to an area where I know no-one and am not able to receive assistance from any organizations that help people with other types of disabilities. I still get re-injured because I have no control over what the neighbors put into the outdoor air, and this limits my ability to go out and do things for myself.

In order for me to heal even more,  to feel fully human and able again, to have a bit of a more normal life again, I need to get away from it all, and by that I mean get away from all the toxic chemicals people use everyday! I want to be able to think and read clearly, to develop writing and story-telling skills, to go outside whenever I have the urge, to make art again (outside),to go for walks, to be able to garden again, to have a life among other people or even some wildlife again, instead of being indoors and so alone all the time.

Governments and corporations are not going to build  safe, non-toxic housing anytime soon. They’ve known about our needs for decades. The CMHC did a lot of research on safe healthy housing too. The only way more medically required, and affordable safe housing units will get built anywhere, anytime soon, is if ordinary people like you help make it happen. This is one of many such projects that are needed in every community, state, province and country. Here is an immediate opportunity to contribute to making the world a better place for at least 40 people who really just need  a home that doesn’t harm them.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
~ Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

The Environmental Health Association of Québec (ASEQ-EHAQ) have now turned to IndieGoGo in an effort to raise money for the project. Please help make this ECOASIS a reality.

I want to move there so I can go outside again, so I can have energy and think clearly again, so I don’t have to breathe in toxic chemicals that disable me when I go outside or open the window if the wind is coming from the non MCS/ES units. This unit could then go to someone who was not repeatedly injured like I was to become as “sensitive” to pollution as I am, but who still needs a safe and protective indoor environment in order to live a full and productive life.

Please donate if you have anything to spare. This is a great investment in people and in safe, healthy community building! And please ask everyone you know to pitch in too. The only way this project will become a reality is if people like you and me make it happen.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  

~ Margaret Mead

ONE MILLION BRICKS

A healthy housing project in Canada for people suffering from environmental sensitivities. Join us to build a healthy community, one brick at a time!

http://www.aseq-ehaq-en.ca/index.html

http://www.aseq-ehaq-en.ca/1-million-bricks.html

Thank you!

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