Help Bill Have a mobility friendly & safe home!

Hi my name is Pam owner of Sunshine Tiny Homes Ltd. and I am raising funds as a passion project for Bill Proctor and his wife Frances.

Bill Proctor and his wife Frances are long term residents of the Sunshine Coast. They raised their 2 daughters here and for many years operated the Good Morning Sunshine, a small publication that brought weekly chuckles and puzzles to the Sunshine Coast, not to mention Joy to the publishers!

Back in 1981 Bill was involved in a car accident that nearly took his life and he spent a couple of weeks in Lions Gate hospital in a coma. Bill suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI to his brain stem. After about a year of therapy at G.F. Strong he had learned to walk, talk, and do all the things like feed and dress himself all over again. Due to the nature of his TBI Bill was left with a noticeable limp and some remaining weakness in his left side. He never let that slow him down. He returned to work at The Press newspaper that was owned by his parents and was still working there in 1989 when he met Frances.

Bill and Frances were married in 1990 and had 2 daughters. Near the end of 1992 Bill's parents sold The Press and Bill continued to work there until 1997. Bill's parents had started Good Morning Sunshine earlier that year and due to his dad's health issues he turned it over to Bill who with his wife Frances ran it for the next 18 years. In addition to Good Morning, Sunshine Bill also received a disability pension.

As the girls grew up, graduated from high school and began their adult lives Bill could no longer claim them as dependents, and he lost amounts of his pension. Bill and Frances tried to keep Good Morning Sunshine going but due to many regular advertisers turning to social media for advertising and increased competition for a limited amount of advertisers on the coast it got harder to make ends meet.

In 2013 A decision was made to close down Good Morning Sunshine and Frances went back to work in retail. Over the years Bill became less able to help do things around their home and while Frances did what she could herself their home slowly began to decline and it is showing it’s age significantly. Bill is now facing a future that will eventually include a wheelchair .

Bill’s mobility issues began to increase as he aged and he has started to take some nasty falls . The weakness in his left side began to cause more problems. Bill is also having more memory issues. Long term survivors of TBI often reach a point where they slowly lose the recoveries they worked so hard for. Bill has reached that point. Additional physiotherapy sessions and things like a walker to help keep Bill active have helped slow the decline. Bill is now mostly house bound, and no longer can drive, which was his favorite thing, to be able to head to the coffee shop and be social.

In 2017 Bill and Frances’s youngest daughter Sarah and her fiancé Riley found themselves in a financial crisis and Came back to live with Bill and Frances. Due to the housing crisis on the coast they are still living with Bill and Frances.

Riley has tried to do what he can to help out around the house but the house needs major work, new roof, flooring, and possibly electrical rewiring work needs to be done. Also due to the many times the roof has leaked in different spots the ceilings need work and walls need to be fixed. Add to this major renovations to the bathroom and kitchen are needed to accommodate Bill’s changing needs. The hallways and doorways are not accommodating for the wheel chair.

Other options have been looked at:

rentals- nothing is available that is suitable or affordable.

Subsidized housing: only one facility on the coast, and the home would have to be sold leaving the 2 young adults without a place to live.

The family just really wants to fix their home and stay where they are. Sarah and Frances are essential workers who worked tirelessly during the Pandemic, Sarah at IGA and Frances at London Drugs. Riley has been off work for some time because of Covid. He is currently looking for a new job.

Together they keep the bills paid and food on the table and manage the odd extra, but the huge costs of the major renovations needed are just too much for them to afford.

I own Sunshine Tiny Homes, a small construction company and have arranged for some of the work to be done by volunteers and trades, but most of the work needs professional help, and the materials need to be covered. I am asking that you please give in any way that you can for the work to be done on the house and for the mobility equipment that Bill needs now and in the future to be installed. He will need a wheelchair, a walk in tub/shower and possibly some lifting devices in the future. There is a dire need for a wheel chair access to the house, and a deck that is level with the house so Bill can wheel outside and join the family in the yard, where they often sit and have family gatherings.

We want nothing more than for Bill to enjoy his life and this will definitely make his home safe, and mobility friendly.

Thank you for your contribution!