Michelle hewitt
Michelle hewitt
Michelle hewitt
Disability advocate
Michelle is a disabled woman - a full time wheelchair user with MS and diabetes.
A former musician, school principal, even scuba diver instructor at one point, in 2008 Michelle woke with strange feelings in one leg. During the following days they intensified, and 4 days later she received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. She entered a whole new world of disability, and has been reliant on a wheelchair to get around ever since. More surprising was the severe fatigue, leaving Michelle out of bed 7 or 8 hours a day.
No longer able to continue her career, Michelle looked for new ways to fill the time she did have available. She had always thought that she was an ally to the disability community, through her work in schools and volunteering with Special Olympics, but now she was disabled herself she saw the reality of how disabled people were treated.
Michelle decided to devote her time to volunteering, and the natural place to start was MS Canada. She decided to do a deeper dive into their advocacy goal of age appropriate housing. This was to develop into a passion to create systemic change - she could not believe that there was a small population of younger disabled adults in our long-term care institutions, where over 90% of the population were aged roughly 85 and had some form of dementia. This led to academic work, research and her doctorate. More details can be found here.
Through volunteering for local and provincial organizations, Michelle found that she was continually drawn to the deep inequities that exist for disabled people. Invited to volunteer for a fledging organization that ultimately became Disability Without Poverty, Michelle continues the fight against actions that keep disabled people in poverty, alongside a crew and talented and devoted disabled people.
Michelle volunteers from her home in the Central Okanagan, and typically, given her severe fatigue, from her bed, with the loving support of her husband, Victor Enns, and her service dog Leo, and the grudging acceptance of their cat, Gus.
Michelle is a disabled woman - a full time wheelchair user with MS and diabetes.
A former musician, school principal, even scuba diver instructor at one point, in 2008 Michelle woke with strange feelings in one leg. During the following days they intensified, and 4 days later she received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. She entered a whole new world of disability, and has been reliant on a wheelchair to get around ever since. More surprising was the severe fatigue, leaving Michelle out of bed 7 or 8 hours a day.
No longer able to continue her career, Michelle looked for new ways to fill the time she did have available. She had always thought that she was an ally to the disability community, through her work in schools and volunteering with Special Olympics, but now she was disabled herself she saw the reality of how disabled people were treated.
Michelle decided to devote her time to volunteering, and the natural place to start was MS Canada. She decided to do a deeper dive into their advocacy goal of age appropriate housing. This was to develop into a passion to create systemic change - she could not believe that there was a small population of younger disabled adults in our long-term care institutions, where over 90% of the population were aged roughly 85 and had some form of dementia. This led to academic work, research and her doctorate. More details can be found here.
Through volunteering for local and provincial organizations, Michelle found that she was continually drawn to the deep inequities that exist for disabled people. Invited to volunteer for a fledging organization that ultimately became Disability Without Poverty, Michelle continues the fight against actions that keep disabled people in poverty, alongside a crew and talented and devoted disabled people.
Michelle volunteers from her home in the Central Okanagan, and typically, given her severe fatigue, from her bed, with the loving support of her husband, Victor Enns, and her service dog Leo, and the grudging acceptance of their cat, Gus.
