Guest Post
A few of us in the MCS community have been burning the proverbial candle at both ends and in the middle, trying to generate public awareness and interest to persuade the NS housing authority to reconsider their 3 year battle to evict our good friend Wendy, despite no accessible alternatives being available.
Their unwillingness to understand and accommodate her disability and her medical team’s recommendations… well, it’s something a lot of us have faced and are facing.
Posted in Accessibility, Action, Disability, Environmental Health, Friendship, Housing, Human Rights, Medically Required Housing, Support
Tagged #LetWendyStay, environmental illness, environmental sensitivities, fragrance-free, homelessness, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS housing, petrochemicals, saving lives, systemic discrimination
“I use my mask any time someone comes to my door, when maintenance people come in my home, when a nurse comes to take my blood. In an emergency I have to wear it going to & in the hospital, and any time chemicals infiltrate from outside, like wood smoke, Northern Pulp Mill, lawn mower exhaust, snow blower exhaust, and vehicle exhaust, and laundry products.
I’ve also had to wear it for a few days inside because they used plastic plumbing parts that made me very ill.”
~ Wendy Kearley
Wendy uses a 3M series 7502 silicone half mask with a 60926 filter.
For more info on masks, please see Continue reading
UPDATE:
The bureaucrats expect Wendy to leave the only safe and accessible home Wendy has access to, the sherriffs could be there any day, and there is still no other safe and accessible place for Wendy to move to!
In a kind and sane society, disabled people would be treated with respect and dignity, and safe and accessible housing would not be taken from them when there is no place else to go to.
We need to treat people with invisible, inconvenient disabilities better!
Wendy has a safe-for-her-home, the ONLY place she can now be and remain functional, but the bureaucrats only see that it is a 3 bedroom home and not the 2 bedroom home her doctors have said she (at minimum) needs.
She cannot go to the mall, to the hospital, to a library, or to an apartment where people smoke, use fragrances, pesticides, or have dryer vents spewing toxic laundry products her way.
The only kind, humane, and sane solution is that she should be allowed to remain where she is, until the province has built MCS/ES accessible housing that is safe for her to move to…
UPDATE May 3rd:
According to this CBC interview, the housing authority has extended Wendy’s stay until the end of July, although a week or so ago they had told Wendy that she only had until April 30th, and they have not informed Wendy or her lawyer about this news (she learned via the CBC).
Hers is the 1st interview: http://www.cbc.ca/maritimenoon/2016/05/03/chemical-sensitivity-eviction-pot-pardons-your-thoughts/
∴ Wendy is NOT a widget. Widgets can go anywhere. Wendy can’t. “Widget” is used in texts and speech, especially in the context of accounting, to indicate a hypothetical “any…
Source: Wendy is NOT a Widget and She Shouldn’t be Treated Like One
Smoke and chemicals (such as fragrances, air “fresheners”, laundry products, pesticides, and other VOCs) do not respect property lines as they travel throughout space, often making others quite sick, even disabling them in their own homes. This is especially a problem in multi-unit housing, and where housing units are built close together.
This is also a very serious accessibility issue for people with MCS/ES, as there are few affordable housing options available, and most of these put people at risk of further harm due to indoor air pollution issues, despite HUD and other federal agencies in the US and Canada recognizing MCS/ES as a disability that needs to be accommodated.
The following webinar is about addressing smoke, but the issues are applicable to other forms of indoor air pollutants as well. It should also be available as a podcast later.
For those of you who are interested and able, the webinar is being offered on Wed, Aug 5, 2015 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT by the Asthma Community Network
Breathing Easy at Home: Partnering to Increase Smoke-Free Policies in Federally Assisted Housing
More info: Continue reading
People all over the industrialized world have been developing Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Environmental Sensitivities, or Environmental Illnesses. We are exposed to so many petrochemical pollutants, in our air, water, foods, clothes, furnishings, homes, and elsewhere in daily life, substances which are now known to cause many kinds of adverse health effects, and some of us just have the epigenetic disposition to feel the effects faster and more extremely than others who may develop cancer or some other condition many years later.
Amelia Hill (aka the Amazing Amelia Hill) lives in Australia and developed very severe, or extreme MCS after not being properly diagnosed for too many years. A lack of proper diagnosis and precautionary measures usually results in a debilitating worsening of the condition, which is best addressed with avoidance of the triggering substances, and building up health in very targeted ways. This is much more difficult to do the longer one isn’t able to take the steps to avoid exposures and rebuild life with safe alternatives.
Amelia’s life is probably unlike any you have ever heard of (even mine) although there are many similarities between the experiences those of us who have severe MCS/ES share. Amelia is known as “amazing” because of the ways she handles her life.
You will see why here.
Amelia’s story has been featured as the cover story in what may be South Australia’s most popular newspaper weekend magazine: Continue reading
Posted in Chemicals, Disability, Education, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Food, Health, Healthy Environment, Human Rights, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Public Health
Tagged allergies, Amelia, asthma, Australia, Chemicals, chemicals in clothing, EHS, elecrtosensitive, Food, fragrance-free, health care access for people with MCS/ES, indoor air quality, MCS, MCS housing, pesticides, petrochemicals, sensitive to pollution, wireless
∴
Wendy is NOT a widget. Widgets can go anywhere. Wendy can’t.
“Widget” is used in texts and speech, especially in the context of accounting, to indicate a hypothetical “any-product”. Companies in such texts will frequently be given names such as “ABC Widgets” or “Acme Widget Corp.” to indicate that the particular business of the hypothetical company is not relevant to the topic of discussion.
(Widget economics – wikipedia)
“Economists often use the term widget to refer to an abstract unit of production.”
∴
Wendy is NOT a widget as her local housing authority seems to believe. They have a capacity problem, but instead of addressing the need for improved (and accessible) capacity, they want to re-arrange people’s lives as if they were widgets, with little to no regard or understanding of the consequences.
∴
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS ‘Capacity’
“The widget manufacturer may be able to produce 150,000 widgets in a month. However, due to downtime because of equipment maintenance and worker illness, only about 130,000 widgets can actually be produced per month. Over the long run, a business can increase its capacity and output by acquiring more factors of productions. For example, if market demand for widgets spikes, the widget manufacturer can buy more equipment and hire more workers, and thus increase its capacity to 175,000 widgets per month.”
∴
Wendy is not a widget. She is a living, breathing, human being, a human being with a complex, chronic environmentally linked condition and disability related needs, needs that widgets don’t have.
Wendy Kearly photo by ADAM MACINNIS – THE NEWS
The housing authority from which Wendy rents her safe home has deemed her over-housed, and are in the process of evicting her, despite the fact that Wendy has no other option for medically required, safe housing available, and no safe access to any of the other places most people take for granted (see below).
In the following audio interview with Wendy, among other things, she talks about the process her grown children take to detox themselves enough to be able to safely visit with her, so that she is able to safely hug them when they come to town.
Safe, medically required, non-toxic, EMF/EMR safe housing CAN be built. I linked to another article and the architect’s website in the 1st comment below.
“Because Barbara Tudhope has severe allergies and acute sensitivities to dust, pollen, electromagnetic radiation (EMF) and a long list of construction materials, the couple designed their home to foster an environment that doesn’t cause her any adverse reaction.
… “Almost all construction and renovation uses building materials that off-gas volatile organic compounds [VOCs], and contractors generally pay little attention to electrical and magnetic fields in the homes they build,” says Mr. Tudhope, a business writer. “But both can have serious acute and chronic health consequences for someone like Barbara, and, in truth, for almost anyone.”
– Articles about the neurotoxic pandemic
– From Harvard… on Everyday Toxic Trespass
– Powerful article about perfumes for children
– Pesticides in flea collars harm children too
– Important news about ALL pesticides
– Someday there will be less toxic clothing
– Driveway sealants are bad for Your health
– Doctors can’t be counted on to help treat oil related illnesses
– Illnesses linked to toxic chemicals increase health care costs
– Chemically injured woman has to sleep in a tent
– Some Things We Can Do
Why do we need much better laws and regulations to protect us and future generations? Have a look at the following articles:
Posted in Air Quality, Brain, Child Health, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Neurotoxicity, Pesticides, Toxic Trespass
Tagged asthma, autism, cancer, Chemicals, chemicals in clothing, end ecocide, fragrance chemicals, hazardous air pollutants, health care access for people with MCS/ES, MCS housing, mind the store, news, Research, toxic chemicals
Enlightening (in a relative way)…
Before watching, it might be helpful to get really grounded and plan how you will deal with the emotions that come up.
These interviews and the roundtable discussion were filmed in Sante Fe, New Mexico in 1995. Parts of this piece are in the full documentary, Homesick: Living With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.
Also check out MCS Under Siege by Ann McCampbell, MD
http://annmccampbell.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/
Learn more about the film Homesick at: http://www.homesick-video.com
Posted in Environmental Health, Human Rights, MCS/ES, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Pesticides
Tagged Chemical Injury, child health, GWS, MCS, MCS housing, New Mexico, Sante Fe, video
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Seriously "Sensitive" to Pollution 